How do I fix my tabs reopening as soon as I close them due to workspace syncing issues?

Question

My workspaces are not syncing properly. It says, "You can keep browsing the web, but your workspace may not be syncing to other devices". Because of this, every time I close a tab, it opens back up immediately. Minimizing the workspace does the same. It won't let me.

I haven't been able to close tabs for the past 2 weeks.

Answer 1

Hello, Claudine Nicole T. Mendoza

Thank you for your feedback. Your browser detected your local action (closing the tab), but due to the synchronization feature being stuck, it was unable to update the cloud server with this “closed” command. As a result, the old, “not closed” state on the server is forced to synchronize back to your computer, causing the tab to be reopened. Here are some troubleshooting options:

1. Log out and log back in to your browser account: This is one of the most effective ways to fix synchronization issues.

Go to your browser's “Settings”.

Find your account/profile section.

Click “Turn off synchronization” or “Exit”. Note: You may be prompted by your browser if you want to keep your local bookmarks, history, etc. It is recommended that you choose to keep them to avoid data loss. It is recommended that you choose “Keep” to avoid data loss.

Close and restart the browser completely (refer to the steps in Stage 1).

Re-open your browser, go to Settings again, log in to your account and turn on synchronization. This will force a fresh sync handshake.

 

2. Try to rebuild the workspace:

Backup Tabs: In the problem workspace, right-click on any tab and select “Bookmark all tabs” to save them in a new bookmarks folder. This will prevent you from losing important pages.

Delete workspace: Right click on the name of the workspace and select “Delete workspace”. It may resist deletion due to synchronization issues, try it a few times, or try it while disconnected from the Internet.

Create new workspace: Create a new workspace.

Restore Tabs: Open the bookmarks folder you just created, right-click on it and select “Open all in a new workspace” or similar option to restore them to the new workspace.

Observe if the new workspace is synchronized properly.

 

3. Check the synchronization settings

In the EDGE address bar type:

edge://sync-internals/

Click Stop Synchronization (to keep the data), and then turn on synchronization after that, you can observe the synchronization on this page.

I look forward to your feedback.

Sincerely,

Kai Ho | Microsoft Q&A Specialist