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Reinstalled Windows, switched to Edge beta from Dev and now getting Sync error

Iron Contributor

I recently reinstalled Windows and as a result, I decided to switch to Edge beta for more stability from Dev. I had hoped my Favourites would automatically be synced but as of now, I am getting a sync error that could not connect to the server. Tried reinstalling Edge but it hasn't helped.

 

Also, the sliders for syncing favourites and other stuff are greyed out in Settings.

 

Thoughts anyone?

Version 77.0.235.20 (Official build) beta (64-bit)

23 Replies
I'd use Canary for more stability. the Beta is no way more stable than Canary or Dev, at least not at this current state.

@Sumit Dhiman Canary is updated about everyday to every other day. I haven't had issues with Canary except an occasional bug here or there that's fixed within the day. If there is any bugs it's usually corrected in a day or so as Canary is updated almost daily. Beta is only updated every six weeks so what you have is what you get into the next update. Plus with Canary any new features that are added to Edge you can for the most part try out or at least see it in the browser before it hits Dev and Beta. 

 

If you don't want to use Canary than stick with Dev. Use Beta as your secondary browser alongside of Dev or Canary. As of the time of this post the Edge Beta you're using is the first released version and a lot of the newer features or fixes haven't reached it yet. 

 

As to your favorites not syncing others can help you with that (I'm only using/working within Canary). :)

Thank you both for the replies. On my work PC, I tried Edge beta and it appeared that it is a bit better performance wise.

Nevertheless, I switched to Dev and still my Favs are not syncing :(
It looks like I have to pull it through my other machine and import via HTML file.

You need to go to the install location of Edge insider beta and dev and then delete the "userdata" folder. there might be other places where Edge leftovers might reside but usually deleting "userdata" folder will fix the problem.

depending on Beta and Dev, the location might be different. for canary it's here:
C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS

Enter this in your address bar: edge://version/

and then look for this: Profile path

it will show you the location


you can also use the details tab of the task manager to find the location of Edge process.

I have quite similar problem as you @Sumit Dhiman but not involving reinstallation; it's very strange seems to be cloud-related:

 

Yesterday evening I witness all my favorites in favorite bar starting to dissapear on my laptop, both on edge dev and beta, after few minute all the favorites were gone and the password also!

 

I immediatly checked on my android edge ( on edgium channel) and most of the favorites and passwords were gone too,  but some were left maybe 10% of it.

 

I went then to check on my desktop and all favorites and passwords were gone, same as laptop.

 

Then over the course of maybe 30mn, passwords started to reappear , on laptop/desktop and android, every 10 mn I checked and some were coming back; after maybe 30 mn they were all back ( i have 1gbps internet)

 

On both computers in profile settings I get "syncing in progress" (translated from french) since ; on android i get " sync impossible (0x4)"

 

I just tried to install edgium on a very new PC and it's the same as on my laptop/desktop the passwords syncs OK but not the favorites, syncing in progress ==> so it seems it's not related to "userdata" folder but a cloud/account problem I believe.

 

 

@Sumit Dhimancould you maybe try to install edgium and connect to your account on a new pc, that as never "seen" edgium and your account before?

 

Also you could check on android edge to see if we have same issue?

 

His specific problem which is different than yours and is about reinstallations, might be related to the userdata folder.

Insider software or better say experimental software like Edge insider have no guarantee if loss of data happens because of them. it's in the terms of service of Microsoft's insider program. I never touched Beta, I only used Dev for 1 day but i've been on Canary since the start of the Edge insider program. at the same time I kept my passwords, favorites in sync, manually, with Google Chrome stable just in case. I hope you do the same and don't lose your data over experimental programs.
once Microsoft enables all of the sync options in this browser and run a bug bash on it to eliminate bugs, things will be more bug-free.
If on Windows 10 1903, there is no need for new PC, just start a Windows Sandbox and install the the Edge insider in it. that's exactly the purpose of Sandbox

I've been saying this since the 90's lol, but don't fully trust password saving programs or sync or cached browser data or password manager programs to solo remember your passwords. Anything can happen even a complete hard drive failing and then that's it. Write them down somewhere on paper or a pad and hide them away if you don't want others to see them. Maybe even make two copies. I have like two dozen passwords between home computer/programs, internet, and work and I keep them all written down and stored on writing pad.

 

Favorites. You can copy/past than save the website address of your favorites on to Word or notepad and save that too. So if you do lose all your favorites for whatever reason you know what is what and can just copy them over to the browser. 

 

It's the same for pictures. Back up your pictures and than backup the backup especially if it's on an SD or SSD drive. I don't know how many times over the years I heard people get upset because their family photos were lost during a hard drive or SD failure (or in cases of smartphones due to it being lost or breaking).

 

You can also copy and paste to a backup folder or drive your browsers userdata folder so if you browser is totally gone or you do a complete delete/install you can delete the new userdata folder and copy/paste your old one in it's place. That will restore most of your previous settings. 

 

 

@Sumit Dhiman, similar issue.  Favorites are not syncing at all.  If I delete the user profile folder and force Edge to start fresh, I can logon to my Microsoft account and start syncing.  Most settings and all passwords come over, but nothing for favorites.  If I import from Chrome on two computers, they still don't stay in sync.  This started yesterday, I believe.  Happens on Mac and Windows computers; most likely, this has to do with them working on sync.  Oddly, it works fine for my Azure AD account; just not my standard MS account.

@Richard_Bottiglieri @Sumit Dhiman 

 

Actually i opened a ticket about this problem, i was asked some logs from edge://histograms/ and edge://sync-internals/; the guy told me he would submit it to the sync team.

 

I have no response yet but this morning most of the favorites were back on android and desktop (both beta and dev) but still "sync in progress"; but on laptop only dev recovered  and beta gives sync error and no favorites.

 

If i install edge on another machine i still get sync error and only password will sync

 

@Sumit Dhiman Am having the exact same issue. 

Have followed the steps elsewhere in the thread. Other devices including mobile still sync. 

 

Reset desktop "couldn't connect to sync server, retrying..."

Ever since i reinstalled Edge canary (few hours ago), im getting errors too randomly and all of the sync options are disabled/unavailable/greyed out1

I had to manually import favorites from my other device-To be honest not impressed but I understand that it is a beta Software. I might ask someone from the Edge team(I am an Insider MVP so I have some links)

@Sumit Dhiman I did the same thing with favourites but I still had to manually manage all addresses/passwords/extensions. Annoying. 

best response confirmed by Sumit Dhiman (Iron Contributor)
Solution
That's not necessary.
They already acknowledged (the Edge team) via Email response that they are aware and are working on the sync problem. I'm using Chrome Canary 79 for now and it's very stable as always.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Discussions/Sync-Broken/m-p/854337

@HotCakeX I tried Canary, Dev and Beta and none of them will connect to the "sync server". 

Yeah i know, i always keep my bookmarks in sync between Edge insider and Google Chrome in case of problems like this..

HotcakeX, Thanks.

I can't use Chrome-that has well-outdated bookmarks =)

I saw your post regarding sync being broken but can't see the response by Microsoft. Is it a private conversation?

1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by Sumit Dhiman (Iron Contributor)
Solution
That's not necessary.
They already acknowledged (the Edge team) via Email response that they are aware and are working on the sync problem. I'm using Chrome Canary 79 for now and it's very stable as always.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Discussions/Sync-Broken/m-p/854337

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