Arc-Style Auto-Archive for Chrome
Nest’s Tidy away closes tabs you have not used in 14 or 30 days and keeps them 30 days, with Undo. It waits weeks rather than Arc’s default 12 hours, and asks first. Free, no account.
Nest’s Tidy away vs Arc’s archive
Both put idle tabs away on their own and let you reopen them. Arc does it after 12 hours by default and cannot be switched off; Nest waits weeks, and only once you have said yes.
| Nest | Arc | |
|---|---|---|
| Puts idle tabs away automatically | After 14 or 30 days | After 12 hours by default |
| Can clear idle tabs within a day | — | ✓ |
| Can be switched off | Off until you choose it | — |
| Pinned tabs left alone | ✓ | ✓ |
| Using a tab resets its clock | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reopen what was put away | Kept 30 days, with Undo | From the Archive |
| Works in Chrome | ✓ | Separate browser |
| Still gets new features | ✓ | Fixes and Chromium updates only |
Tidy away: idle tabs put away, with a way back
Turn on Tidy away and Nest closes tabs you have not used for 14 or 30 days. The first time, it shows you the list and asks: Tidy now, or Not these. After that it runs at most once a day, at most 100 tabs, and keeps each run in Nest as one Tidied away session for 30 days, on every plan.
If you liked Arc’s 12-hour cycle
Nest does not do that: Tidy away’s shortest wait is 14 days. If what you liked was a lighter browser rather than an empty tab strip, Suspend is the closest light-touch option. Turn it on and tabs idle for 1, 3 or 7 days unload with Chrome’s own tab discarding. They stay in your tab strip and reload when you click them. Nothing closes.
More on both rules: Autopilot. For a tab you will need again on a known day, snooze it to that time.
Moving from Arc: what carries over
Most of how you worked in Arc has a place in Chrome now, some of it in Chrome itself and some in Nest. Nest is a Chrome extension, not a browser: it works with Chrome’s tabs rather than replacing them.
If Chrome comes back from a restart without your tabs, Restart rescue offers them back: Chrome tabs gone after an update.
FAQ
Close to it, with Nest. Its Tidy away rule does the same job: it closes tabs you have not used for a while and keeps them where you can reopen them. The differences are timing and consent. Arc archives after 12 hours by default and cannot be switched off; Tidy away waits 14 or 30 days, is off until you choose it, and asks before its first run. Tidied tabs stay in Nest for 30 days, with Undo.
It waits longer: 14 or 30 days, where Arc defaults to 12 hours and can be set to 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days. It is optional: off until you turn it on, where Arc’s archive cannot be turned off. And it asks: the first time, it shows you the tabs it would close, and you choose Tidy now or Not these. After that it runs at most once a day, closes at most 100 tabs a run, and keeps each run in Nest as one Tidied away session. Both leave pinned tabs alone, and in both, using a tab resets its clock.
It only closes tabs you have not used for 14 or 30 days, and it skips pinned tabs, tabs playing sound, the tab you are on, anything used in the last 30 minutes and sites you exclude. Tabs in a Chrome tab group are left alone unless you include them, and a group’s last tab is never closed. Turning it on starts its clock, so nothing closes until a full period has passed. If it does put away a tab you wanted, the run is in Nest for 30 days: reopen all of it, some of it, or press Undo.
No. Tidy away’s shortest wait is 14 days. If what you liked about Arc’s archive was a lighter browser rather than an empty tab strip, Suspend is the closer fit: it unloads tabs idle for 1, 3 or 7 days with Chrome’s own tab discarding. They stay in your tab strip and reload when you click them; nothing closes.
Arc no longer gets new features. In late May 2025, The Browser Company moved it to maintenance: Chromium upgrades, security fixes and patches as needed. The team moved on to its Dia browser.
Yes. The extension is free and needs no account, including Autopilot and up to 3 named sessions. Pro makes sessions unlimited and adds cloud sync and 30-day Automatic Session history. Tidy away and Suspend are free, and tidied tabs are kept 30 days on every plan.
Put idle tabs away, and keep a way back
Free, no account. Install Nest, then turn on Tidy away in Autopilot when you are ready: it shows you the list before it closes anything.
Add to Chrome — free