How can I get Edge to restore all the tabs I had open last session?

You can copy open session files via Shadow copy service / VSS. Hobocopy isn't maintained but works... via commandline.

You can even use %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Sessions for a universal path.

Now if those session files only were decodable / interactively browsable to extract just needed parts, instead of being a huge dumb monolithic snapshot. (Technically they are, but no convenient apps are available)

How can I get Edge to restore all the tabs I had open last session?

I suspect that like me, you opened a new window, and not realizing you had closed your main window (or some such) and now you only have the one "new" window even though you have tried relaunching edge.

I don't know why there isn't a menu option for this, but when you click the title bar, or press ctrl+shift+t, it re-opens the last tab in the same window. A second press of this key combo restores your previous window, tabs and all.

Alternately, the sessions are saved (at least on my machine) as:

C:\Users<USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Sessions

I've found that making a backup copy of that after closing edge (when edge is running, it prevents you from copying), then when you find that you've accidentally borked your tabs, restoring the backup (without edge running) fixes this. But! You have to backup every time you leave edge. It's difficult to manage.

Thank you for your feedback. I tried the process you explained in detail several times to no avail. I never had my previous tabs back.

I like to keep my answers or comments short.

Thanks,

Tareq

Hi Tareq,

I see that you replied just afew hours after I made my post, but that you made another post on 5/11, two weeks ago about losing tabs. So, you obviously have not just had this problem in the few hours since I made this post, so how can you possibly know that it doesn't work?, unless you have been losing your tabs every few hours since 5/11?

OR

Are you not actually talking about my solution to lost tabs at all, which 100% definitely DOES work! I have 300+ tabs and the 8 windows they are in, which I totally lost, sitting in front of me now as I speak, fully recovered and working absolutely perfectly. Are you in fact actually only talking about the very last section of my post, which has nothing at all to do with my solution to lost tabs, and is just giving a little additional tip telling people how to add another setting on Edge so your tabs reappear automatically in future whenever you turn your computer off then restart it without having to remember to click on the restore box which appears? Is that what you're saying "doesn't work at all"?? As I notice you complain about this not happening on your computer in your 5/11 post. If so I will be very happy to go into more detail about how exactly you set that setting.

Please clarify, or remove your above post saying my solution to recover lost tabs doesn't work, in case someone looks at your reply and actually thinks it doesn't, and permanently loses their tabs as a result - it works perfectly.

Many thanks Tareq.

Yeah, this has happened to me enough times I think I'm just done with microsoft edge. Thanks for nothing, edge!!