"Continue where you left off" setting does not work

Brave Browser Desktop Support
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1

Description of the issue:
How can this issue be reproduced?

  1. “Continue where you left off” setting is set in settings

  2. Close Brave by clicking the X in the top right

  3. Open Brave to see that all the tabs that were previously opened are no longer open.

Expected result:

Brave Version( check About Brave): 1 92 444

Additional Information:

I just installed Brave today and imported bookmarks from Chrome so I can get rid of Chrome and use Brave.

I have disabled the 3 extensions that I added to Brave and this does not help the problem.

I toggled to “Open the New Tab page” closed Brave, restarted, selected “Continue where you left off” and that does not help.

OS: Windows 11

Additionally, “Continue where you left off” worked correctly after I imported bookmarks and added extensions. It was after closing Brave about the 3rd time when it no longer worked.

2

@FrostyIce

Brave Search (Answer with AI):

The Continue where you left off setting in Brave Browser restores the tabs and windows from your previous session whenever you fully quit and relaunch the browser. When enabled, Brave saves the state of your open pages in session data rather than keeping them in active memory, requiring the pages to reload their content upon restart. This feature is designed to help users resume their browsing workflow immediately without having to manually reopen previously visited sites.

Key behaviors and considerations include:

  • Session Restoration: The setting is intended for preserving specific site data to resume sessions, rather than for preserving bookmarks, extensions, or passwords.

  • MacOS Window Closing: On MacOS, clicking the red close button only closes the browser window, not the application process. Consequently, reopening the app from the dock will open a new window rather than restoring the previous session; users must Quit the application (Cmd+Q) for the setting to trigger tab restoration.

  • History Impact: Restored tabs may appear in your browsing history, and some users report that neighboring tabs might reload automatically to improve performance when switching between them.

  • Login Credentials: In some cases, this setting may retain login tokens or cookies, potentially logging users into sites automatically upon restart even if password saving is disabled.

  • Troubleshooting: If the feature fails to work, users can try toggling the setting off and on, ensuring “Clear browsing data on exit” is not interfering, or checking if imported profiles from other browsers have corrupted the startup configuration.

The Continue where you left off setting behaves differently when Private Windows are involved.

Core Difference: No Restoration for Private Windows

The primary distinction is that Private Window tabs are never restored upon restarting the browser, even if the “Continue where you left off” setting is enabled.

  • Design Intent: Private Windows are designed to leave no trace on your device. Consequently, Brave does not save the session state of Private Windows to the disk.

  • Outcome: When you quit and relaunch Brave, only tabs from regular windows will be restored. Any tabs or windows opened in Private mode (including Private Window with Tor) are permanently lost once the browser process ends.

  • Crash Recovery: This rule generally applies even if the browser crashes; Private Window tabs are not recoverable via the standard crash restore bar.

(AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.)

3

Very informative AI answer which left me with no solutions to fix my problem. Hoping someone else who knows a solution will chime in.

4

@FrostyIce what does happen when you launch the browser with this option selected? What does it open to actually?

5

It shows a blank page with the cursor in the search bar.

6

Can you try changing it to the last setting (Open specific page [...]) and tell me if that one works as expected?

7

Okay, I changed it to ‘Open specific page’ and then opened some websites. After closing Brave and opening it, the only page that opened was the blank page.

8

To clarify, did you actually add those pages to the browser in that setting? Or did you just open tabs with those sites?

image
image713×343 14.8 KB

9

I selected “Open a specific page or set of pages” and did not select “Add a new page” or “Use current pages”

I then tried “Open a specific page or set of pages” and selected “Use current pages”

Both ended with just a blank page opening after restarting Brave.

10

That is…very strange. Let me do some digging on this. In the meantime, can you share a screenshot of the blank page that appears when you open the browser?

11

brave
brave1919×1005 35.9 KB

I cropped out all my bookmarks in this screenshot.

12

@FrostyIce

For testing, create AN ADDITIONAL Brave Browser user Profile (Menu --> More tools --> Add profile). When creating:

  • Make no appearance adjustments other than to set user profile color at brave://settings/manageProfile.
  • Do not import anything.
  • Do not add any extensions.
  • Do not make any adjustments to content filtering at brave://settings/shields/filters.
  • Do not allow/enable any Brave Browser “bells and whistles” such as Brave Rewards, Brave Talk, etc.

After you create that new user profile, Exit / Quit everything and restart the computer … and then start up Brave Browser and choose the new user profile for testing your issue.

13

I created a new profile. In the upper right is “Action required” about a “New extension added (Application Launcher for Drive by Google))”

In my prior profile, I had selected “Remove from Brave”

Should I remove that also from the Test profile?

14

I have created a Test profile, opened Google Maps website on a 2nd tab, restarted the laptop and have opened the Test profile. It opened with 2 tabs: New Tab and Google Maps

15

I suspect that extension is what was causing the issue. I assume you ended up removing it?

16

I had removed Application Launcher for Drive by Google from my normal profile.

I have not removed Application Launcher for Drive by Google from the Test profile.

17

So what is the status of the issue? You’re saying

Yes, you should have.

So you’re saying that in the test profile the Continue where you left off is working – right?

18

I closed Test and reopened it. The tabs all opened as they should. I had not deleted “Application Launcher for Drive by Google” but I no longer see it in Extensions.

“Continue where you left off” is working in the Test profile.

I now switched to opening my regular profile, and “continue where you left off” seems to be working! A miracle?

19

I’m almost positive it was the app launcher for drive extension causing these issues. Either way I’m glad its working as intended again.