Guides
Sleep and wake tabs
Free memory by putting eligible tabs to sleep with the Zzz control, then reload them when you need them again.
Switch to DeutschGuides
Free memory by putting eligible tabs to sleep with the Zzz control, then reload them when you need them again.
Switch to DeutschSleep puts eligible background tabs into a discarded state so Chrome can free memory. Wake reloads a sleeping tab when you open it again or run an explicit wake action. Sleep is manual by design — Tab Organizer does not suspend tabs on a timer.
Use Sleep when you want to keep tabs open but reduce memory use:
Sleep does not replace closing tabs you no longer need. For controlled cleanup, use Tab Close Recommendations or bulk close.
Each tab row exposes a Zzz lifecycle control when the tab is eligible.
The active tab always stays awake, including the active tab in any window. Chrome's own tab discarding can also sleep tabs independently of Tab Organizer.
Selection mode adds bulk lifecycle actions alongside close controls.
See Close tabs in bulk for scope and review habits that also apply to lifecycle selections.
Group headers expose a lifecycle action for their member tabs.
Pinned tabs and the active tab are skipped. Partial results report how many tabs slept, were already sleeping, were skipped, or failed.
The toolbar global lifecycle control applies to all extension-visible tabs in normal windows. Pin it to a quick-access slot from Customize the toolbar, or run it from More tools.
Use this after a long session when you want memory back without closing your tab set. The active tab and ineligible tabs stay awake.
| Tab state | Sleep | Wake |
|---|---|---|
| Active (any window) | Not eligible — stays awake | Not applicable |
| Already sleeping | Not applicable | Eligible — reloads |
| Awake background tab | Eligible | Not applicable |
| Pinned tab | Skipped — stays awake | Wakes only if already sleeping |
| Restricted or internal pages | May be skipped if Chrome refuses discard | Wake when sleeping |
Batch actions count only the eligible subset and report skips. No eligible tabs to sleep or wake means every visible tab is active, pinned, already in the target state, or restricted.
