Tabstronaut is a tab management tool for VS Code. Archive tab groups and bring them back whenever you need them, save your current split-editor layout as a snapshot to restore it exactly as you left it, and keep ungrouped tabs organized alongside everything else so nothing gets lost.
Support the creator
Love this extension? You can support its development with a small donation - completely optional! Your support helps me keep creating and improving tools like this.
Features
- Create tab groups instantly
- Collect your current or all open tabs into organized groups with a single click.
- Drag-and-drop mastery
- Drag a group onto another group to reorder, onto a tab to nest it inside that group, or onto empty space to promote it to the top level.
- Share and revisit your workspaces
- Save tab groups for later, export them to share, or bring back archived sets whenever inspiration strikes.
- Tab Snapshots
- Save your entire split-editor layout, including pinned tabs, and restore it exactly as it was with one click. Click Create New Tab Snapshot (camera icon,
Ctrl+Alt+S / Cmd+Alt+S) to save the current layout, and Update Tab Snapshot (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S / Cmd+Alt+Shift+S) to refresh it later. Restore, rename, and delete it the same way as any other Tab Group. Shown with a square icon and a "(Tab Snapshot)" tooltip to tell it apart from regular groups.
Tips
Check out @tabstronaut_dev for Tabstronaut tips and how-to videos.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Every Tabstronaut action has a keyboard shortcut so you never need to touch the mouse.
| Action |
Windows / Linux |
macOS |
| Create a new empty group |
Ctrl+Alt+N |
Cmd+Alt+N |
| Add current tab to a group (only shows groups the file isn't already in) |
Ctrl+Alt+A |
Cmd+Alt+A |
| Add all open tabs to a group |
Ctrl+Alt+G |
Cmd+Alt+G |
| Add current split's tabs to a group |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G |
Cmd+Alt+Shift+G |
| Create a new Tab Snapshot from the current split layout |
Ctrl+Alt+S |
Cmd+Alt+S |
| Update the focused Tab Snapshot (sidebar must have focus) |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S |
Cmd+Alt+Shift+S |
| Open / restore a group |
Ctrl+Alt+O |
Cmd+Alt+O |
| Rename a group |
Ctrl+Alt+E |
Cmd+Alt+E |
| Rename focused group (sidebar must have focus) |
F2 |
F2 |
| Delete focused group (sidebar must have focus) |
Delete |
⌫ Delete |
| Restore focused group (sidebar must have focus) |
Ctrl+Alt+Enter |
Cmd+Alt+Enter |
| Remove current tab from a group |
Ctrl+Alt+R |
Cmd+Alt+R |
| Delete a group |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R |
Cmd+Alt+Shift+R |
| Restore group 1–9 by number |
Ctrl+Alt+1 – Ctrl+Alt+9 |
Cmd+Alt+1 – Cmd+Alt+9 |
The letter shortcuts (A, G, Shift+G, O, E, R, Shift+R) open a quick-pick menu — start typing to filter the list. N silently creates a group with no menu when the Prompt for Group Details setting is off (the default). The number shortcuts restore a top-level group immediately without any menu. F2, Delete (⌫ on Mac), Ctrl+Alt+Enter, and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S work when a group is selected in the Tabstronaut sidebar — navigate with arrow keys, then press F2 to rename, Delete/⌫ to delete, Ctrl+Alt+Enter to restore in place, or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S to update a selected Tab Snapshot with your current layout. Ctrl+Alt+S saves your current layout as a brand new Tab Snapshot, prompting for a name.
Tip: All of these can also be reached from the Tabstronaut sidebar, the right-click menu in the editor tab bar, or the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).
Extension Settings
To tailor Tabstronaut to your preferences:
- Click the "..." (More Options...) button in the Tabstronaut title bar and click "Settings".
OR
- Open VS Code Settings:
Ctrl+Shift+P → "Preferences: Open Settings (UI)" and search for "Tabstronaut".
Your changes will be saved automatically.
Privacy
Tabstronaut includes a tab group suggestion feature that learns which files you tend to open together. Here is exactly what it does and does not do.
What is always true regardless of AI:
- What is tracked: The file paths of tabs you have open in VS Code, and how often those files appear open at the same time.
- Where it is stored: Entirely on your local machine, inside VS Code's built-in workspace storage (
workspaceState).
- File contents are never read under any circumstances.
You can clear all tracked data at any time by running Tabstronaut: Clear Tab Usage Data from the command palette.
AI-powered naming (optional):
If you have a VS Code language model provider installed (such as GitHub Copilot), Tabstronaut will use it to generate a better group name. In that case:
- What is sent: Only the bare file names of the suggested files (e.g.
Button.tsx, Input.tsx) — never full paths, never file contents.
- Where it goes: To whichever language model provider you have enabled in VS Code. For GitHub Copilot this means Microsoft's servers, subject to your existing Copilot agreement.
The suggestion item shows a sparkle icon when AI naming is active, and a lightbulb icon when using the local heuristic only.
Settings:
Both features can be controlled independently in VS Code Settings (search for "Tabstronaut"):
- Enable Tab Group Suggestions — master switch. Turn this off to disable all usage tracking and suggestions entirely.
- Enable AI Group Naming — turn this off to keep suggestions but use only the local heuristic for naming. No data will leave your device.
Known Issues
If you encounter any other problem, please open an Issue on the GitHub repository.
Release Notes
For a detailed list of all updates in bullet point format, see our Change Log.
