MS Edge keeps adding new profiles when I launch several Edge browsers with existing profiles from command line

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MS Edge keeps adding new profiles when I launch several Edge browsers with existing profiles from command line

Zhu, Ligong 260

Hi, I have code to launch Edge browser using existing profile (such as 'Profile 1') from command line (because we don't want their session merged). After several launches, it looks like Edge starts to create new profile on its own so the total number of profiles keeps growing. Can you confirm this?

Since a user may do this many times a day it means a lot of new profiles will be automatically created by Edge, can you confirm this? Is there any problem associated with this?

I can't find a way to reuse a profile after user closes the Edge because I can't find a way to retrieve profile name inside Edge browser using JavaScript, do you have any suggestion how to do it?

Thanks.

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Answer 1

Anonymous

Hi @Zhu, Ligong,

After several launches, it looks like Edge starts to create new profile on its own so the total number of profiles keeps growing. Can you confirm this?

I tried to reproduce the problem you mentioned, but it failed. Something like this:

User's image

and command line(execute 3 times): "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --profile-directory="Profile 1".

After I closed these edge browser instances, I checked the location files, and no change happened, no new profiles create(like profile 3, profile 4...), no multiple ones for same profile (like Profile 1(2), Profile 1(3)). So could you describe what has changed in these files since the problem occurred?

According to your command line path, find the Edge application and check its properties. Does the target contain other command parameters?

I can't find a way to reuse a profile after user closes the Edge because I can't find a way to retrieve profile name inside Edge browser using JavaScript, do you have any suggestion how to do it?

You can navigate to edge://version, and check the Profile path property.

Best regards,

Xudong Peng

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Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-08T13:17:41.6033333+00:00

Sorry I tried again today but it won't create any new profile at all.

In order to prevent sessions merge, we have to use a different profile name each time when Edge is launched on a client's machine, do you have any suggestion how to do that?
Anonymous

2023-09-08T14:34:06.2166667+00:00

Hi @Zhu, Ligong,

Sorry I tried again today but it won't create any new profile at all.

Do you mean that the problem went away on its own, and edge is working fine now?

In order to prevent sessions merge, we have to use a different profile name each time when Edge is launched on a client's machine, do you have any suggestion how to do that?

If you need to open Microsoft Edge with a new profile, you can achieve this through the option below:

If it is through the command line, you may need to modify the profile name all the time, something like --profile-directory="<any different name here>".
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-08T14:53:04.9266667+00:00

Thank you for your help. Actually now I see 8 profiles created on my machine now, most of them are new. I didn't create those new ones. Not sure they were created by Edge or by my workplace's background job or my repeated Edge launches from command line using different profile names.

I don't see "Setup new personal profile". I assume my workplace removed it.

I appreciate if you can explain how those new profiles are created in Edge without user interaction. Without clearing understanding of this will make it too risky to use different profiles in our production.
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-08T15:48:59.7333333+00:00

Another problem we have is how to reuse a profile name after its browser has been closed. Otherwise we may soon run of profile names since an user may launch browser to our site many times a day. We can't afford to always find a new profile for each launch.
Anonymous

2023-09-11T08:01:32.42+00:00
Hi @Zhu, Ligong,

Thanks for your reply, based on your description I'm not sure how to reproduce your issue (based on testing above).

So I need more details to narrow down the problem:

What version of Microsoft Edge is causing the problem?

What is the complete command line that you tested and found the problem, and is it any different from the example I tested?

Have you tried repairing/reinstalling Microsoft Edge?

I don't see "Setup new personal profile". I assume my workplace removed it.

In my environment, this option is available in both normal and workspace.

Trying to navigate to edge://policy and check whether special group policies are configured? If possible, you can also post the corresponding screenshot (with private information removed) so that we can better understand the problem.

Another problem we have is how to reuse a profile name after its browser has been closed.

If the user has and only uses one profile, you can try to set its properties in the Microsoft Edge shortcut and add the parameter --profile-directory= Default in the Target properties.

In addition, if you are opening Microsoft Edge via external links, you can check this setting:
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-11T12:11:33.4066667+00:00

Screenshot.pdf

Thank you very much for spending time on this.

I attached the screenshot you asked, including our Edge policy and profile path. I also included those new profiles created on my machine for unknown reason.

It is critical for us to understand how those 6 or 7 new profiles were created since I didn't do it. Now even I tried to delete them on one day they will come back on next day. If a new profile can be created at runtime from command line, then how to do it?

This is one example how I launch Edge from command line:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe -profile-directory="Profile 1" http://localhost:9080/ebb

This line works fine but how to obtain a different profile name for each launch is a problem.

We have to use a different profile name each time since we don't want its session merged with another Edge session and each user may launch Edge many times each day.
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-12T14:01:22.12+00:00

This is what I found online:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/edge-keeps-creating-an-empty-default-1-profile-on/e8ebdc1c-725c-498f-9b81-8436c698f959

According to this, since I tried to launch Edge using profile that doesn't exist (by mistake) so Edge starts to create new profile automatically, can you confirm this? Does Edge always create new profile in this case?
Anonymous

2023-09-12T15:04:33.1466667+00:00

Hi @Zhu, Ligong,

Thank you for your reply. For what is mentioned, you can check the following：

Now even I tried to delete them on one day they will come back on next day.

I think I should have reproduced this behavior.

Do you delete this file directly in the registry? Try to find them under this path: C:\Users\<current user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data, I think you may not have Microsoft Edge completely closed before trying to delete these profiles. In this case, if you close and reopen the registry it will still exist.

If a new profile can be created at runtime from command line, then how to do it?

When a non-existing profile name is used as the value of the profile-directory attribute, it will dynamically create a new profile with that name. This is by design.
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-13T11:35:02.9266667+00:00

You are totally correct. Thank you so much.

Can you confirm one last thing, when a new profile is created by Edge because a nonexistent profile is used from command line as you said, will the new profile name always be like "Profile 2" or "Profile 3" or "Profile n" where "n" is always equal to existing number of profiles plus one, no matter what that nonexistent profile name is?
Anonymous

2023-09-13T14:44:08.6833333+00:00

Hi @Zhu, Ligong,

If you do not specify the --profile-directory argument, by default it will use the last opened profile to open Edge. Once you specify this argument, the specified value is used as the profile name. For example, --profile-directory="my profile", then the created name is my profile instead of profile 2, profile 3 or profile n you mentioned. You can check the profile info by navigating to edge://version after opening the page.
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-13T15:02:06.0433333+00:00

That's not I see. If I use a name like "Profile A" it will create a profile "Profile 2" (if there is only one existing profile), not "Profile A". The new folder name inside that registry entry is indeed "Profile A" but it shows "Profile 2" on Edge screen "Profiles" tab.
Anonymous

2023-09-14T06:24:35.7266667+00:00

Hi @Zhu, Ligong,

That's not I see. If I use a name like "Profile A" it will create a profile "Profile 2" (if there is only one existing profile), not "Profile A".

What you mentioned should refer to the shortcutname of the created profile. You can view their values in the registry. The actual profile is named with the defined attribute value. Something like this:
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-14T10:22:36.6266667+00:00

Thank you for your response. Yes you are correct. They are called "ShortcutName" inside registry. But they are the names displayed on Edge profile screen and will always be named like "Profile n" where n is the current number of profiles plus one for a new name, can you confirm that? It is very important for us to be sure about this so that we can predict the new profile name for profile reuse purpose. Thanks again.
Anonymous

2023-09-14T11:42:05.06+00:00

Hi @Zhu, Ligong,

But they are the names displayed on Edge profile screen and will always be named like "Profile n" where n is the current number of profiles plus one for a new name, can you confirm that?

Usually it is defined based on the number of existing profiles. For example, if there are 3 profiles and you create a new one through the command, then it defaults to profile 4. Secondly, it may also fill in the missing values, such as the existing 1,2,4,5. When you create a new profile, it will default to profile 3 as the shortcutname.
Zhu, Ligong 260 Reputation points

2023-09-14T11:47:02.78+00:00

That's very helpful. Thanks a lot!

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MS Edge keeps adding new profiles when I launch several Edge browsers with existing profiles from command line

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