What is the best way to retain tabs

Question

I had a set of pinned tabs that were available when I opened Edge. After the latest update they all disappeared. I had tried tab groups but those disappeared too. Also, Edge at one point removed all my shortcuts. I don't know why.

Perhaps I don't understand how to manage these features. I want stable shortcuts below the search bar. I want pinned tabs or at least tab groups that I can open every time I used the browser.

AND I want a browser home page image and settings that don't periodically disappear and have to be reset for no reason I can fathom.

Any help much appreciated!

Answer 1

To retain tabs, shortcuts, and home page settings reliably in Microsoft Edge, configure three areas: startup behavior, sync/profile, and tab organization.

1. Configure Edge to reopen previous tabs on startup

This keeps the last session’s tabs (including pinned tabs) available when Edge is opened:

1. Select Settings and more (…) > Settings.
2. Go to Start, home, and new tab page.
3. Under When Edge starts, select Open tabs from the previous session.

With this enabled, Edge opens the tabs from the last session, including session cookies, so sites stay signed in. Note that InPrivate and Guest mode tabs are never restored.

If “clear browsing data on close” is enabled, the data types selected are deleted, but the URLs still persist for the next session.

4. In the same Start, home, and new tab page area, configure any Permanent startup pages if specific sites should always open in addition to the previous session.
5. Ensure the correct profile and sync are used

If Edge creates or switches to a different profile, it can appear that tabs, shortcuts, and settings are “lost” when they are actually tied to another profile.

1. Select Settings and more (…) > Settings > Profiles.
2. Confirm that the intended profile is active.
3. Select Sync, and turn on Settings (and other items as desired) so startup pages and other preferences are synced across devices.
4. Use tab groups and tab organization consistently

For stable tab groups that are easy to re-open and manage:

1. Turn on the Tab actions menu:
   • Settings and more (…) > Settings > Appearance.
   • In Other appearance settings, select Tabs, then turn on Show tab actions menu.
2. In the title bar, use the Tab actions menu button and choose Organize tabs to group similar tabs.
3. Edge can automatically generate relevant names for tab groups and suggest grouping for all tabs using the Group Similar Tabs feature in the Tab Action menu.

If the Organize your tabs service is disabled, new tab groups get generic names like Group 1 and must be renamed manually. To control this behavior:

1. Go to Settings and more (…) > Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
2. Select Search and connected experiences.
3. Turn Organize your tabs on if automatic naming and suggestions are desired, or off if only manual grouping is preferred.
4. Keep home page and shortcuts stable

Home page and new tab shortcuts are profile-specific and can be affected if:

• A different profile is used.
• Settings sync is off or overridden by organization policies.

To keep them stable:

1. Confirm the correct profile is active (see step 2 above).
2. Configure the home page and startup pages under Start, home, and new tab page.
3. If toggles or options appear dimmed or missing, the browser may be managed by an organization; in that case, contact the IT administrator.
4. Admin control (for managed environments)

In managed environments, administrators can control features like tab organization via policies such as TabServicesEnabled, and can preconfigure startup tabs, home page, and other defaults using Initial Preferences (for example, Session.restore_on_startup, Session.startup_urls, homepage, and homepage_is_newtabpage). These act as first-run defaults; users can change them later unless a policy enforces them.

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References:

• User data and privacy in Microsoft Edge
• Configure Microsoft Edge using Initial Preferences settings for the first run
• Archived release notes for Microsoft Edge Stable Channel
• Microsoft Edge update settings
• Microsoft Edge help & learning

Answer 2

Hello Stephanie Golden, thanks for posting in the community.

Edge usually keeps your pinned tabs, tab groups, shortcuts, and homepage settings as long as your browser profile is signed in and syncing correctly. If these disappear after an update, it often means the profile did not sync properly or the browser opened with a temporary profile. You can fix this by signing into your Edge profile again, checking that sync is fully turned on, and restarting Edge to make sure everything is saved. You may re‑pin your tabs, then set Edge to always open your previous session by going to Settings, Start, Home and New Tabs, and selecting the option to open previous tabs. If your shortcuts or homepage keep resetting, try restoring your browser settings to default and then set up your homepage again, as this helps remove corrupted configuration files without deleting your data. If the problem continues, it may mean the profile is damaged, and creating a new Edge profile is usually the most stable solution.

Kind regards,

John Oli