Chrome crashed.
Is your text still there?

What to try now

1. Reopen the page

   In Chrome, use Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows or Linux, or ⌘ + Shift + T on Mac, to reopen closed tabs. These are Chrome's documented shortcuts. Reopening the page does not guarantee that an unsaved text field returns.

2. Check the site's own drafts

   Look for a saved draft, autosave notice, version history or unsent message in the account you were using. If the text is still visible anywhere, copy it into a local document before refreshing again.

3. Check a saver that was already running

   If Lifeboat was active before the crash, open its popup on the original page and look for the field's saved text and earlier versions. Use Restore when the field matches, or Copy if you need to paste elsewhere. Keep the existing Chrome profile and extension data while you look.

4. Check a copy you made yourself

   If you copied the draft before the crash, try pasting into a private local document. A clipboard or clipboard history can only help if it actually held the text; Lifeboat does not monitor either.

Lifeboat was installed, but the draft is missing

There are several reasons a saved copy may not exist. On the free plan, the field must reach 25 characters before saving begins, drafts expire after seven days, and only the latest three versions are kept. A crash can also happen before the latest edit has finished saving.

Check that the extension was enabled for the website and the site was not paused. Password, payment and national-ID fields identified by their field information are excluded. Chrome internal pages and the Web Store cannot be captured. A custom editor may also be unsupported.

If you see the text in the popup but Restore cannot place it back, choose Copy. You still have the words even if the website has changed the field.

If nothing saved a copy

There may be no recoverable draft. Browser history can point you back to a page, but that does not mean a tool can reconstruct the words you typed there. Lifeboat only restores text it already saved; it cannot read an earlier crash's memory or rebuild text from an empty form.

Before rewriting a long or important response, consider putting the new draft in a document with its own save function, then pasting it into the website when you're ready.

Protect the next draft

Install Lifeboat before you begin. It saves eligible typed text locally and can offer that copy when a field comes back empty. Core saving, restoration, earlier versions, Copy and export are free.

1. Use the manual sample check in the current version. Confirm that harmless sample text is saved before reloading its disposable test page.
2. Test Lifeboat, coming in v1.0.2, will add a sample test inside the extension. You do not need to crash Chrome or risk real work.
3. Check important custom editors separately with harmless sample text. Site behaviour varies.

Saved drafts stay encrypted on your device, with no draft cloud or telemetry. The privacy policy explains exclusions and optional Pro licence checks.