How to use Nest
Every button, what it does, and whether it needs Pro.
Opening Nest
Nest opens either in Chrome’s side panel, where it stays open beside the page, or as a panel on top of the page you are already reading. Switch between them in Account → Nest window; it applies the next time you click the Nest icon.
- Nest toolbar iconFree
Opens Nest in whichever surface you have chosen — the side panel, or a panel over the current page. Click again to close it.
- Account → Nest windowFree
Chooses between the side panel and the panel over the page. Chrome only lets one of the two respond to the toolbar icon, so the change takes effect on your next click rather than immediately.
- ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + SpaceFree
Same thing from the keyboard, without reaching for the mouse.
- Panel header (drag)Free
Drag the dark header bar to move the panel out of the way.
- ✉ ContactFree
Message us. It reaches a real person.
- 👤 AccountFree
Sign in, manage your plan, and change every setting.
- ☀ ThemeFree
Switch between light and dark.
- ✕ CloseFree
Close the panel. Escape does the same.
On pages where Chrome forbids extensions — its own settings, the Web Store, file:// pages — Nest opens in its own tab instead and explains why.
Backup — open and closed tabs
Nest keeps a record of every tab you have open and every tab you close, so an accidental close is one click from coming back.
- Search tabsFree
Filters open and closed lists at once, by title or by site.
- Tab card (click)Free
Selects the card. Click a closed tab to bring it back.
- Restore / Close (batch)Free
Appears once you select cards, and acts on all of them together.
- SyncPro
Forces an immediate sync. Status text next to it shows the last result or why it failed.
- Export → JSONPro
Structured file of your tabs, for keeping or importing elsewhere.
- Export → HTMLPro
A page of clickable links that opens in any browser. Good for archiving or sharing.
Closed tabs are kept for 24 hours by default. Change it in Account → Privacy & Settings → Closed tab backup retention: 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days, or 30 days.
With Pro, tabs from your other devices appear under their own heading (for example “Chrome · macOS”), so you can reopen a laptop tab from your desktop.
Organize — categories
Nest sorts your open tabs into categories automatically, and learns from every correction you make. It starts with ten: Social Media, Productivity, Development, Learning, Entertainment, Shopping, News, Documentation, Account, and General.
- Category header (click)Free
Expands the category to show its tabs.
- Drag a tabFree
Moves it to another category. Nest remembers that choice for that page.
- ⊞ (next to a category)Free
Creates a Chrome tab group from that category’s open tabs.
- Snooze (next to a category)Free
Hides every tab in the category and brings them all back later.
- EditFree
Reveals Add Category, and a ✕ on each category for deleting.
- Group in browserFree
Makes Chrome tab groups from every category at once.
- Tidy → Close duplicate tabsFree
When the same page is open several times, keeps one and closes the rest. Pinned and active tabs are always the ones kept.
- Tidy → Suspend inactive tabsFree
Frees memory by unloading background tabs. They stay in your tab strip and reload when clicked. Active, pinned, and audio-playing tabs are never touched.
- RulesFree
Opens domain rules — see below.
Automatic sorting is a guess; a domain rule is a fact. Add one and every tab from that site goes to that category, now and in future. The most specific rule wins — a rule for mail.google.com beats one for google.com.
Chrome tab groups
Tab groups are created in Chrome, not inside Nest — right-click a tab in your tab strip and choose “Add tab to new group”. Chrome does not allow extensions to create them. Once a group exists, Nest keeps it in sync.
- Rename a group in ChromeFree
Renames the matching Nest category too.
- Drag a tab into a groupFree
Moves it to the matching category in Nest.
- Sync with Chrome tab groupsFree
In Account → Privacy & Settings. Turn it off and Nest never touches your groups automatically — the ⊞ and Group in browser buttons still work, because those are actions you asked for.
A tab you deliberately placed in a group is never moved out by Nest — not on restart, not on reload.
Snoozing a whole category empties its Chrome group, and Chrome deletes empty groups. The tabs come back correctly categorized; press ⊞ to rebuild the group.
Snooze
Snoozing hides a tab and brings it back when you actually need it — the article for tonight, the invoice for Monday.
- For 1 hour · For 4 hoursFree
Quick presets for later today.
- Until tonight (6 PM)Free
Comes back this evening.
- Until tomorrow 9 AMFree
Comes back at the start of tomorrow.
- Until Monday 9 AMFree
Parks something for the working week.
- For [number] [hours/days/weeks]Free
Any interval you like.
- WakeFree
Brings a snoozed tab back right now.
- ✕ (on a snoozed item)Free
Cancels the snooze and drops the tab.
Snoozed tabs survive browser restarts and extension updates. If your computer was off when a tab was due, it comes back the next time you open Chrome.
Notes
Notes attach to the page you are on, so the context comes back with the page.
- Title + content, then AddFree
Saves a note against the current tab, storing its title and address.
- Page link on a noteFree
Reopens the page the note belongs to.
- EditFree
Change a note’s title or content.
- DeleteFree
Removes it. You are asked to confirm first.
- Search notesFree
Filters by title and content.
Sessions
A session is a named set of tabs you can bring back any time — “Client project”, “Tax return”, “Holiday planning”. Found at the bottom of Backup. The free extension keeps up to three; Pro makes them unlimited and syncs them across devices.
- Name a new sessionFree
What you will recognise it by later.
- Scope dropdownFree
Save All tabs, or just one Chrome group. The dropdown only appears when you have groups open.
- SaveFree
Stores the session.
- LoadFree
Reopens every tab in it.
- UpdateFree
Overwrites the session with your current tabs.
- DeleteFree
Removes the session.
On Pro, sessions sync across your devices, so one saved on your laptop opens on your desktop.
If you already had more than three saved before the free limit existed, they stay. Nest keeps your existing allowance and never deletes or hides a session — you simply cannot add new ones until you are back under it or on Pro.
Chrome’s own “save group” feature belongs to Chrome and cannot be extended by add-ons. A Nest session is the equivalent — and on Pro it works across devices, which Chrome’s does not.
Vault
Automatic local copies of your tabs, categories, sessions and notes, taken before anything that could change a lot at once. It sits below Sessions in Backup, because it is a recovery tool rather than a daily one — you go there when something has gone wrong.
- Snapshot nowFree
Takes a copy of the current state immediately, on top of the automatic ones.
- A snapshot rowFree
Shows when it was taken and how much it holds. Restoring one saves your current state first, so restoring can itself be undone.
Snapshots are stored on your machine, not in the cloud, and they are not encrypted. They are checksummed, which detects corruption or a truncated write — not the same thing as protecting them from someone with access to your computer.
Nest keeps up to ten snapshots within a local storage budget, so the Vault cannot grow until it crowds out your tabs and notes. The oldest go first.
The Vault is free, and needs no account.
Chat
Manage tabs by asking. “Snooze my development tabs for an hour.” “What did I close this morning?” “Summarize this page.” Chat understands around forty actions.
- Message box + SendPro
Ask in plain language. Chat replies and carries out the action.
- Quick buttonsPro
One-tap shortcuts for the common ones — List tabs, Closed tabs, Notes, Categories, Snoozed, Summarize tab, Key links, Translate.
- ClearPro
Empties the conversation.
Tabs: list, search, close, switch to, open a URL, find duplicates. Categories: list, create, delete, move a tab or a whole category, move everything matching a search, suggest a category. Snooze: snooze a tab or category, list what is snoozed, wake something early.
Closed tabs and sessions: list closed, restore one or all, back up now, export, save/load/list/delete sessions. Notes: add, list, search, delete, generate a note from a page, improve an existing note.
Reading a page — summarize, translate, ask a question, compare two tabs, find text in one tab or all of them, list links, extract details, detect language — needs content reading, which is off by default. Turn it on in Account → Privacy & Settings. Until then Chat still manages tabs, it just does not read them.
Settings
All in Account → Privacy & Settings.
- Allow content readingFree
Off by default. Lets AI features read page text for summaries, translation, and questions.
- Mask sensitive data before AIFree
On by default. Strips emails and phone numbers from text before it is sent.
- Share anonymous usage dataFree
On by default. Counts which features get used — event names only, never addresses, titles, or content, and never linked to your account.
- Sync with Chrome tab groupsFree
On by default. Two-way syncing between Nest categories and Chrome groups.
- Activate tabs during all-tabs searchFree
Off by default. Lets Nest briefly switch tabs to read them when searching across everything.
- Closed tab backup retentionFree
How long closed tabs are kept: 6 hours to 30 days.
- Category learningFree
On by default. Nest learns from tabs you move by hand.
Free and Pro
Organizing, domain rules, snoozing, notes, closed-tab history on this device, the Tidy tools and Chrome tab group syncing are free and stay free, as are up to three named sessions. Pro makes sessions unlimited and adds syncing across devices, exports and Chat. Monthly with a 3-day free trial, or annually. Cancel any time from Account.
Troubleshooting
Nest will not open on this page
Chrome blocks extensions on its own pages — settings, the Web Store, and file:// addresses. Nest opens in its own tab instead and says so.
A tab came back from snooze in the wrong category
Drag it where it belongs and Nest remembers. For certainty, add a domain rule so that site always lands in the same place.
My tabs keep getting rearranged
Turn off “Sync with Chrome tab groups” in Account → Privacy & Settings. Nest will then organize only inside its own panel and leave your browser alone.
Nest stopped responding after an update
Reload the page. Chrome disconnects panels that were already open when an extension updates.
Sync is not working
Check you are signed in with an active Pro subscription. The Sync button in Backup forces an attempt and reports exactly what went wrong.
Still stuck? Get in touch — a real person answers.