It is common for teachers to instruct students to organize their tabs in Chrome (read more) by creating tab groups or using the function to create virtual desktops (read more) on their Chromebooks. These tools can help students keep their work organized. However, when a teacher creates an assignment with Focus Mode (ChromeOS) as the security client, the tab groups or desktops the student created cannot be guaranteed to be restored to their original state after exiting Focus Mode. The tabs in the browser window will be restored, but they will not be grouped or organized in the desktops as they were before Focus Mode started.
We have tried to resolve this issue, but Google does not provide enough information to Trelson for us to be able to fully restore the tab groups and desktops as they were before Focus Mode. At this time, there is no technical possibility to fully restore these. However, we are monitoring developments and will update if Google makes any changes that affect this.
To assist students, we recommend that they instead use bookmarks to organize their tabs. The bookmarks bar in Chrome is always available, which makes it a reliable way to structure their digital environment. Learn more about how to use the bookmarks bar here.
This only applies to students using Chromebooks where the teacher uses Focus Mode via Trelson's Chrome extension as the security client. It does not affect students using the Kiosk app as the security client or those using Mac, Windows, or iPad.