diff --git a/src/components/App.vue b/src/components/App.vue
index a1cc48a..19c8629 100644
--- a/src/components/App.vue
+++ b/src/components/App.vue
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 <template>
     <div class="w-full">
-        <RouterView v-slot="{ Component, route }">
-            <KeepAlive :key="GlobalState.keepAliveKey">
-                <Component :is="Component" :key="route.fullPath" />
-            </KeepAlive>
-        </RouterView>
+        <RouterView/>
     </div>
 </template>
 
diff --git a/src/components/messages/MessageViewer.vue b/src/components/messages/MessageViewer.vue
index f0eccb6..0379c59 100644
--- a/src/components/messages/MessageViewer.vue
+++ b/src/components/messages/MessageViewer.vue
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ export default {
     data() {
         return {
 
-            isActive: false,
             messages: [],
             messagesSubscription: null,
 
@@ -145,20 +144,12 @@ export default {
             this.messagesSubscription = Database.Message.getNodeMessages(this.nodeId).$.subscribe(this.onMessagesUpdated);
         }
 
-    },
-    unmounted() {
-        this.messagesSubscription?.unsubscribe();
-    },
-    activated() {
-
-        this.isActive = true;
-
-        // update read state when coming back to message viewer
+        // update read state
         this.updateMessagesLastReadAt();
 
     },
-    deactivated() {
-        this.isActive = false;
+    unmounted() {
+        this.messagesSubscription?.unsubscribe();
     },
     methods: {
         async sendMessage() {
@@ -275,11 +266,6 @@ export default {
         },
         updateMessagesLastReadAt() {
 
-            // do nothing if route is not active
-            if(!this.isActive){
-                return;
-            }
-
             // check what type of messages we are viewing
             if(this.type === "node"){
                 // update last read at for node messages
diff --git a/src/components/pages/MainPage.vue b/src/components/pages/MainPage.vue
index 632b967..92f9ce6 100644
--- a/src/components/pages/MainPage.vue
+++ b/src/components/pages/MainPage.vue
@@ -43,11 +43,6 @@ export default {
         NodesList,
         ChannelsList,
     },
-    data() {
-        return {
-            tab: 'channels',
-        };
-    },
     methods: {
         onChannelClick(channel) {
             this.$router.push({
@@ -79,6 +74,19 @@ export default {
         nodes() {
             return Object.values(GlobalState.nodesById);
         },
+        tab: {
+            get(){
+                return this.$route.query.tab ?? 'channels';
+            },
+            set(value){
+                this.$router.replace({
+                    query: {
+                        ...this.$route.query,
+                        tab: value,
+                    },
+                });
+            },
+        },
     },
 }
 </script>
diff --git a/src/components/pages/NodeRunTraceRoutePage.vue b/src/components/pages/NodeRunTraceRoutePage.vue
index bcce921..b8eb768 100644
--- a/src/components/pages/NodeRunTraceRoutePage.vue
+++ b/src/components/pages/NodeRunTraceRoutePage.vue
@@ -110,10 +110,6 @@ export default {
         Connection.removeClientNotificationListener(this.onClientNotification);
 
     },
-    beforeRouteLeave(to, from) {
-        // ignore previous trace route when coming back
-        this.isRunningTraceRoute = false;
-    },
     methods: {
         getNodeLongName: (nodeId) => NodeUtils.getNodeLongName(nodeId),
         async runTraceRoute(node) {
diff --git a/src/js/Connection.js b/src/js/Connection.js
index 606b544..daa77cc 100644
--- a/src/js/Connection.js
+++ b/src/js/Connection.js
@@ -121,12 +121,6 @@ class Connection {
             return;
         }
 
-        // reset keep alive state. this forces kept alive pages such as MessageViewer to reset
-        // this allows them to be recreated with a new call to the "mounted" function, which sets up new database subscriptions
-        // without doing this, when the user opens the MessageViewer when a new database connection was created
-        // no events will be fired because the subscription is to a previously closed database instance
-        GlobalState.keepAliveKey++;
-
         // we are starting a new connection, so we want to allow config changes to happen
         GlobalState.isConfigComplete = false;
 
diff --git a/src/js/GlobalState.js b/src/js/GlobalState.js
index f7f2d71..6244235 100644
--- a/src/js/GlobalState.js
+++ b/src/js/GlobalState.js
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ import { reactive } from "vue";
 // global state
 const globalState = reactive({
 
-    keepAliveKey: 0,
-
     isConnected: false,
     isConfigComplete: false,
     connection: null,