# Can you manually use Firefox's "restore session" feature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176 "2006-12-14T20:40:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/1 "2006-12-14T20:40:40Z")
If you crash while Firefox is open, when you open it again, it’ll ask you if you want to restore your old session or start a new one. So it tracks what you’re doing at any given time, and can open it up again automatically. Well, here’s my question: Can you do that voluntarily somehow, without crashing? Often I’ll have 20+ web pages open, eating memory, and I’ll want to play a memory intensive game - so I have to close it all down first. It’d be nice if I could shut it down, and then restore it when I was done. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/2 "2006-12-14T20:43:58Z")
Go get the [Tab Mix Plus](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1122/) add-on. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/3 "2006-12-14T20:59:19Z")
While we’re here… can the ‘restore session’ thing be turned off? It does nothing but annoy me - Firefox doesn’t crash for me, but I get the restore session dialog if I happened to shut down my computer with browser sessions open (which is usually the case because I often have a window minimized but ready to log into my helpdesk system and another for my mail server) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/4 "2006-12-14T21:13:54Z")
If nothing else, you can just kill it from the task manager. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/5 "2006-12-14T21:16:30Z")
Oh, and I mean kill the process from the task manager “processes” tab, not the application. Killing it from the app tab gives it a chance to clean up. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/6 "2006-12-14T21:25:19Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] While we’re here… can the ‘restore session’ thing be turned off? It does nothing but annoy me - Firefox doesn’t crash for me, but I get the restore session dialog if I happened to shut down my computer with browser sessions open (which is usually the case because I often have a window minimized but ready to log into my helpdesk system and another for my mail server) [/QUOTE] [Tools | Session Manager | Settings] Uncheck Enable Session Manager ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/7 "2006-12-14T21:30:31Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] [Tools | Session Manager | Settings] Uncheck Enable Session Manager [/QUOTE] That’s presumably provided by the add-on you mentioned above. The base browser has no such menu choice. ---
**Author:** ![Wordworker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Wordworker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordworker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/8 "2006-12-14T22:22:39Z")
From [http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/05/28/tweak-firefox-20s-session-restore-feature/](http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/05/28/tweak-firefox-20s-session-restore-feature/) 1. Start Firefox. 2. In the Address Bar type “about:config” and press Enter. 3. Right-Click and select New-\>Boolean. 4. A box requesting the Preference Name will popup and you should enter “browser.sessionstore.resume\_session” (without the quotes). Press OK to continue. 5. Select “True” from the box and press OK again. ---
**Author:** ![Wordworker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Wordworker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordworker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/9 "2006-12-14T22:24:24Z")
Damn. One, that was not a response to the OP, but to Mangetout, and two, I believe the flag should actually be set to false. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-manually-use-firefoxs-restore-session-feature/384176/10 "2006-12-15T00:59:23Z")
Wow. Lots of incorrect information in this thread. If you have Firefox 2.0 (the latest release), do this: Tools \> Options \> Main In the “Startup” section, from the dropdown menu, select the option “Show my windows and tabs from last time.” Easy.