My collections have disappeared, how do I recover them? Where is the "Get Started" button for Collections?

Anonymous
2023-02-12T17:25:24+00:00

I turned my computer on today, accessed Edge, went to Collections, and discovered that none of my saved items under Collections headings are available, they have disappeared. Previous Help articles say to click on the "Get Started" button -- I do not see the button. Where is the "Get Started" button on the Collections sidebar. Please help, I have important items in Collections which I need to access today. Thank you.

Microsoft Edge | Favorites, history, and downloads | Windows 11

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Anonymous
2023-04-04T19:47:10+00:00

Here's what I did:

-I browsed to: edge://sync-internals/

-Located "collections" at the bottom and saw my number of collections at 128.

-I clicked the three dots and created a new profile in edge browser and it generated as "profile2" (yours may different, like profile3)

-Went to C:\users\*****\AppData\Local\microsoft\edge\userdata\default\ in File Explorer

-Closed the browser

-Copied the "Collections" folder within that default folder

-Pasted the "Collections" folder into "profile2" of "userdata" (C:\users\*****\AppData\Local\microsoft\edge\userdata)

-Opened the Edge browser

-I clicked the three dots again and opened my original profile and clicked the settings wheel and selected "sign out" on the next page that came up.

-I checked "clear favorites, history, passwords..... from this device". Finished the prompt and signed out.

-This is the most important step: I went back to the home page of the browser in my newly created profile "profile2", clicked the three dots again and signed in with my original profile's credentials (email and password) while in "profile2".
-The browser did a full sync (took a minute) and kept the pasted collections from "profile2" which then all magically became my new original profile.

My collections are now synced across all of my devices, I've confirmed.

I've also saved the original "Collections" folder in safe place in case this happens ever again.

Daniel Stewart

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-02-26T03:12:57+00:00

    I wish this were explained in plain english. I was finally able to right-click the windows box, select run, and input: edge://sync-internals/

    I see that i have 41 collections. The rest of the instructions are not working and make no sense. I don't have another device to sync

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-13T03:32:42+00:00

    Hello, Peggy McGannon,

    Welcome to our Microsoft community.

    First we can check if the collections are missing. Open a new page and enter the following:

    edge://sync-internals/

    If you can see the collections here, it means that the content is not lost and you can try to log in on another device to check.

    The collections content in Microsoft Edge is stored locally on the computer. Specifically, they are stored in the %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Favicons folders. These folders can be found by inputting the path in the Windows File Explorer. You can also go to the path as above to see if there are any contents in the folder.

    If there is anything not clear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

    Best Regards,

    Olivia | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-02-26T13:54:19+00:00

    The same has happend to me. over 40 collections lost with 100s of links. The instructions are incomplete with the "new profile" where is the data for the collections located for the new profile?

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-03-16T16:07:26+00:00

    Hello Olivia. Regarding your reply to Peggy McGannon's question Created on February 12, 2023:

    First, let me say thank you for the information you provided wherein you wrote, "Open a new page and enter the following: edge://sync-internals/". Upon doing that, I located the green colored table like the example in your reply. The Collections row near the bottom of that table for my system indicates:

    Collection 145 145 Running

    You wrote, "If you can see the collections [there], it means that the content is not lost and you can try to log in on another device to check. The collections content in Microsoft Edge is stored locally on the computer. "

    I am encouraged that perhaps my Collections data can be recovered. However, and regrettably, I am unclear about what you mean when you say "...try to log in on another device to check."

    Since the Collections content in stored locally on this device, how would locally stored data on this device be accessible from a different device? Am I correct that the path to the Collections data can be copied to a new Profile? Am unclear about method to move the Collections from a new profile to my existing profile. I offer my apology if this is clear as mud...

    I am grateful in advance for any further comments/techniques that will help me to restore my Collections in the Edge browser I am using to create this inquiry.

    Kind Regards,

    Mike "Turk" Taylor

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