Getting Started with Tab Valet

Tab Valet automatically parks your idle tabs into a sidebar so your tab strip stays clean — here's how to get it set up and what to expect.

Step 1 — Install Tab Valet

Add Tab Valet from the Chrome Web Store. Once installed, you'll see the Tab Valet icon (a P parking sign) in your Chrome toolbar.

No account is required. Tab Valet runs entirely on your device.

Step 2 — Open the sidebar

Tab Valet lives in Chrome's built-in side panel. To open it:

  1. Click the Tab Valet icon in the Chrome toolbar, or
  2. Click Chrome's side panel button (the panel icon near the top-right of the browser window)

The sidebar opens on the right side of your browser. It shows all your parked tabs in one place.

Step 3 — Your 30-day Pro trial starts automatically

The first time you open the sidebar, Tab Valet starts a free 30-day Pro trial with no credit card required. During the trial you get full access to all Pro features: unlimited parked tabs, automatic archiving, and search.

You'll see an onboarding card with your trial end date. Dismiss it whenever you're ready.

What "parked" means

A parked tab is a tab that Tab Valet has closed from your tab strip and stored in the sidebar. The tab is not gone — it's safely saved and ready to reopen with a single click.

Parked tabs work like valet parking: you hand them off, they're kept safe, and you get them back whenever you want.

What to expect in the first 20–30 minutes

Tab Valet doesn't park tabs immediately. It watches how you use your browser and parks tabs that have been idle for 20–30 minutes or more. So right after install, everything will look the same.

After browsing normally for 20–30 minutes, you'll see your first parking notification appear at the top of the sidebar. That's Tab Valet doing its job.

Tabs that are never parked automatically

Tab Valet always skips:

  • The tab you're currently viewing
  • Pinned tabs
  • Tabs in a tab group
  • Tabs playing audio or video

See How Parking Works for the full details on parking logic.

Next steps

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