Edge sync fails after restart — MSA key error

Edge sync works after signing in, but gets stuck on “Initializing” after reopening — persists after Windows repair and testing with a new Windows user

Hi everyone,

Microsoft Support suggested that I post here for further help.

My personal Microsoft account syncs successfully when I first sign in to Edge. However, after closing and reopening the browser, sync gets stuck on “Initializing” / “Setting up sync.” Signing in again can temporarily restore it, but the problem returns after restarting Edge.

The issue also reproduces under a newly created Windows local user account.

Environment

• Microsoft Edge: 156.0.4314.58
• Windows 11 Home China, version 26H2, build 26300.9711, 64-bit
• Account type: Personal Microsoft account (MSA), not a work or school account
• The same Microsoft account has been syncing successfully on my phone

Steps to reproduce

1. Sign in to Edge with my Microsoft account and enable sync.
2. Sync works successfully.
3. Close and reopen Edge.
4. Sync remains stuck on “Initializing,” and all data types show “Not Running.”

Current edge://sync-internals results

Transport State: Initializing User Actionable Error: None Disable Reasons: None Sync Feature Enabled: true Setup In Progress: false Sync Consent: true Auth Error: OK since browser startup MainSyncToken: Last Token Request Result: OK Has Token: true Last Token Error: None KeyDataToken: Last Token Request Result: OK Has Token: true Last Token Error: None MSA Account Key Status: Download Key Result: Fail Set Key Result: Fail Net Error Code: n/a HTTP Response Code: n/a Process Key Result: n/a Encryption: Cryptographer Ready To Encrypt: false Cryptographer Has Pending Keys: true Has Keystore Key: false Passphrase Required: false Passphrase Type: kKeystorePassphrase Server Connection: not attempted Sync Engine: Backend Status: Initialized BlockReason: None Syncer: Unset DataType Manager: Stopped All data types: Not Running Updates Downloaded / Successful Commits: 0

No enabled sync-blocking policies are shown.

Troubleshooting already completed

• Tested with a separate Edge user-data directory: initial sign-in synced successfully, but reopening reproduced the issue.
• Tested with extensions disabled: no improvement.
• Tested the separate Edge instance with --no-proxy-server: no improvement. This does not rule out system-level network filtering.
• Tested --enable-features=msForceOneAuthWAM: no improvement, although I did not independently verify whether the authentication library actually switched.
• Tried stopping sync while keeping data, then enabling it again: no improvement.
• Completed DISM repair successfully. Subsequent SFC and component-store checks reported no remaining corruption.
• Completed a Windows ISO in-place repair, keeping personal files and applications: the sync problem persisted.
• Created a new standard Windows local user and tested Edge there: first sync succeeded, but reopening Edge reproduced the same failure.

Authentication tokens appear to be obtained successfully, while the sync encryption-key stage remains unsuccessful. I understand that the n/a HTTP and network fields do not establish whether a request was sent or rejected.

Questions

1. Is this a known issue affecting personal-account sync in this Edge version?
2. What diagnostic logs would help distinguish a startup/key-loading problem from an account-side sync issue?
3. Is there a supported workaround or fix that preserves existing browser data and cloud sync data?

I can provide additional sanitized diagnostics. I would prefer to avoid further profile deletion or cloud-sync resets unless the logs indicate that they are necessary.

Thank you for your help.