A heads up about Edge Classic Sync

[tomscharbach]

I stripped down my favorites in Edge Classic on my primary computer (which has both Edge Classic and Edge Chromium installed) this morning, leaving just the Favorites Bar and a few essential bookmarks. 

I waited an hour for the stripped down favorites on the primary computer to sync through to my MS account.  I then opened up Edge Classic on my two Windows laptops (both of which have both Edge Classic and Edge Chromium installed).  The Edge Classic favorites did not sync at all on either laptop. 

My default browser in each case is Edge Chromium. 

Sync works fine on Edge Chromium (I renamed some favorites in Edge Chromium on my desktop and the changes sync'ed to both laptop computers within minutes). 

It looks like my MS Account is now linked to Edge Chromium, and that sync no longer works on Edge Classic.  That's fine with me (I'm using Edge Chromium as my primary browser going forward, and not planning to use Edge Classic any more except to compare features/functions as needed to isolated bugs/issues), but I thought I should let people know.

I was wondering how MS was handling sync with two versions of the Edge Browser.  Now I know, I think.  MS syncs one or the other browser (in my case Edge Classic), but not both.

Version 74.1.96.24 (Official build) dev (64-bit)

[#2]

A correction:

I was wondering how MS was handling sync with two versions of the Edge Browser.  Now I know, I think.  MS syncs one or the other browser (in my case Edge Classic), but not both.

should read:

I was wondering how MS was handling sync with two versions of the Edge Browser.  Now I know, I think.  MS syncs one or the other browser (in my case Edge Chromium), but not both.

Version 74.1.96.24 (Official build) dev (64-bit)

[#3]

@tomscharbach Thanks for your feedback. Edge Insider preview builds (Edge-Chromium) is not expected to sync with the earlier Edge (what you called Edge-classic). If you have Edge Insider preview builds installed on multiple devices, they all should cross-sync fine.

You should be able to import your favorites from Edge-classic to the Edge preview build. Also note that we currently support only favorites sync and are actively working on enabling other attributes. 

[#4]

@akhator   Thanks for the response.   This is a non-issue, but I want to make sure that your response doesn't confuse anyone about the nature of the issue.

The issue isn't that Edge Dev and Edge Classic/Spartan/Old/Stable (or whatever you want to call it) don't sync to one another.   The two are distinct browsers and shouldn't sync with one another, any more than Edge should sync with Firefox or Chrome or Vivaldi.

The issue is that since I installed Edge Dev on my three computers, Edge Dev syncs flawlessly across the three computers, but Edge Classic/Spartan/Old/Stable (which is also installed on those three computers) doesn't sync across the three computers at all. 

To put it in simpler terms, when I make a change in my Edge Dev favorites on one of my computers, the change syncs to the other two computers in 30-60 seconds.  However, when I make a change in my Edge Classic/Spartan/Old/Stable favorites on one of my computers, the change does not sync to any of the other computers at all.

Background:  As part of the installation process for Edge Dev on my desktop, I imported my Edge favorites, and subsequently reorganized them to work in Edge Dev.  After that was accomplished, I installed Edge Dev on the other two computers without importing, and then synced the two laptops to the desktop.  Worked perfectly, just as it does when I do a clean Windows install, log into my MSA and open Edge.   After I had tested Edge Dev enough to determine that it was stable enough for primary use, I stripped out most of the Edge Classic favorites (keeping just the ones I use daily) from my desktop, and opened Edge Classic on my two laptops, expecting Edge Classic to sync to the laptops, as it always had.  It didn't, so I tested some more, making changes in the favorites on one or the other computer, to ensure that I wasn't just imagining something.   Edge Classic no longer syncs across computers.  I also checked to see if Edge on my Android devices synced to Edge Classic on my computers, and that didn't work anymore, either.

I suspect that what is going on is this:  A Microsoft Account is not set up to sync two versions of the Edge browser, but instead can sync only one of the two browsers, and is set to sync Edge Dev rather than Edge Classic as a default.

This doesn't make a difference to me, because I'm not planning on using Edge Classic going forward.  It is not an issue that I reported to Feedback, and it is not an issue that I want the Edge team to waste a single brain cell on trying to solve.

I mentioned it solely as a "heads up" to other testers.  

[#5]

@akhator   Well, I have to take back what I previously said. 

While I was sitting here preparing my response above, Edge Classic on the three computers synced.  Whatever was broken the other day now isn't, and both Edge Dev and Edge Classic appear to be syncing internally.  But what is interesting about it is that the Edge Classic browsers synced to my OLD favorites, not the stripped down favorites I put on all three computers after I installed Edge Dev.  I guess the sync function in Edge Classic went to sleep for a few days, and work up again.

The only difference between the two environments (that is, when Edge Classic did not sync, and now when it does) is that I upgraded to Version 75.0.131.0 (Official build) dev (64-bit).

In any event, let me say that this is not something worth worrying about.

[#6]

Okay, not it is time to modify my "Edge Classic now syncs" reply.   I made a couple of simple changes in my Edge Classic favorites on one computer after I wrote that reply and the changes have not synced to the other two.  I think that sync on Edge Classic now works only to sync to the favorites list as it existed prior to installing Edge Dev, but doesn't sync in real time.   That is the only thing that makes sense given the timeline:  Install Edge Dev.  Make changes to Edge Classic and try to sync.  Nothing happens.  Manually make the changes on all three computers.   A week later, after install of the updated version of Edge Dev, all the Edge Classic instances sync to the favorites list as it existed before Edge Dev was initially installed.

Trust me, I'm sober as a judge and not crazy.

And again, no problem.  I'm not using Edge Classic any more.  But it is strange.

[#7]

@tomscharbach I appreciate your willingness to test the system and offer clarification to other folks. To summarize and to prevent confusion, I can confirm the expected behavior

• Edge preview builds should sync favorites across Edge preview builds on other devices. More attributes will start to sync over time. 
• Installing and using Edge preview builds should have no impact on the sync of old Edge eco system. Old Edge is still expected to sync deletes/updates/creates etc. irrespective of whether you tried Edge preview builds or not.
• Using the same account on old Edge as well as Edge preview builds plays no significant role on the sync behavior of either. 

I understand that you noticed a different behavior but we should consider them as bugs and not expected behavior. Please submit those issues as feedback using the in-app feedback options.

Hope this helps. 

[#8]

@akhator  "Please submit those issues as feedback using the in-app feedback options."

Okay, will do.  After the confusion reflected above, I did careful testing for about 48 hours using (1-3) three W10 computers running both Edge Classic and Edge Chromium, (4) one computer running only Edge Classic, and (5) an Android tablet using Edge Android.  I have good logs and I'll submit them.

Thanks for following up.

[#9]

@akhator I've completed testing and have reached a preliminary conclusion that Edge Dev prevents Edge Classic from syncing between computers if both Edge Dev and Edge Classic sync through the same MSA.  Uninstalling Edge Dev on an affected computer allows the computer to sync Edge Classic again. 

I am attaching the test summary describing the issue for anyone who is interested. 

I have reported the problem both through the Feedback button and though Edge Support, as you requested.  Thank you for your effort on this issue.

[#10 · Accepted solution]

@akhator  I just recieved confirmation from Microsoft Support that the support lead replicated the issue of Edge Classic installed on one computer failing to sync with Edge Classic on another computer when both Edge Classic and Edge Chromium are installed on the two computers.  The lead also told me that the issue is going to be submitted to additional teams for review and resolution.  The issue is tricky to test and isolate, but I am now confident that MS is aware of the issue and working on it.

This is probably not an issue for most Edge Chromium Insiders because few are doing what I am doing, testing Edge Chromium on three computers to allow me to compare performance in high-end, mid-range and low-end computing environments.

When Edge Chromium replaces Edge Classic, the problem will, of course, go away.   But it is likely to take months for Edge Chromium to be released, and so the issue is something to be aware of as you test.

[#11]

@tomscharbach Thank you for all your effort and due diligence. We will look into this further. 

[#12]

@akhator  I recieved a progress report from Microsoft Edge Support lead on this issue (BUG 21314632) this afternoon:  "I wanted to keep you updated, and let you know we are still digging into ways to fix this."