Edge Sync Stuck on Setup or Initialization? How to Fix It

Edge sits on "Setting up sync" or keeps initializing and never finishes. You are signed in, the sync toggles are on, yet nothing reaches your other devices.

Re-sync this device first, then sign out and back in. Export your favorites before a cloud reset, and sign back in on every other device once the reset is done.

In this guide, I have covered:

Why Edge sync gets stuck on setup or initialization

You signed in, switched sync on, and Edge has been showing “Setting up sync” ever since. Nothing reaches your other devices. The stall usually comes from one of three places: an account connection that never completed, a local sync state that went stale, or a cloud data set big enough that Edge is still working through it.

Start with the least destructive fix and work up. Edge can reset your synced data in the cloud, and that step removes it. Export your favorites before you go near it.

New to how the account side works? Sign in to Microsoft Edge and Manage Sync Data across devices covers the basics.

Check the Edge sync setup

Check the account and the toggles before anything else. Either the wrong Microsoft account is signed in, or the data types you expect to synchronize are switched off.

1. Open the Settings and more menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Open Profiles.
4. Review the account shown in the profile area and confirm that it is the Microsoft account you want to use for sync.
5. Open Sync and check the toggles for favorites, passwords, history, open tabs, and other data you expect to synchronize.

Not signed in yet? Select the user icon in the upper-right corner, choose the right account or Add new account, then pick Sign in to sync data.

Re-sync the current Edge device

Before you delete anything, ask Edge to pull your cloud data down to this device again. A re-sync is the gentlest fix on this list. It leaves the cloud copy alone, and it often clears a stalled initialization.

1. Open the Settings and more menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Open Profiles.
4. Open Sync.
5. Expand Re-sync data to this device.
6. Select Re-sync.

Give it time. A small account finishes in seconds, while one holding years of favorites, passwords, and open tabs can take several minutes. When the operation ends, the Sync page should list your account and each data type with no setup message in sight.

Keep Edge open and in the foreground while the re-sync runs. If the page still shows that it is setting up once the operation finishes, try the sign-in step below before you consider a cloud reset.

Sign out and sign back in

A stale account connection leaves Edge waiting for a handshake that never lands. Signing out and back in rebuilds that connection without deleting a single thing from the cloud.

1. Open the Settings and more menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Open Profiles.
4. Select Sign out.
5. Close the profile menu and reopen it using the user icon in the upper-right corner.
6. Select the correct account or Add new account.
7. Choose Sign in to sync data.
8. Select Continue if Edge asks whether to sync data.

Wait for Edge to load the account and initialize sync. You’ll know it worked when the profile area shows the correct account and the Sync page lists your data types instead of a progress message.

Use the sync diagnostics pages

Still stuck after a re-sync and a fresh sign-in? Edge ships two internal pages that tell you whether the account or the sync engine is at fault. Treat them as troubleshooting tools, not daily setup screens.

1. Open a new tab.
2. Enter edge://sync-internals in the address bar and press Enter.
3. Review the sync status and recent activity for errors.
4. Open another new tab and enter edge://signin-internals.
5. Review the account and sign-in information for signs that Edge has not completed authentication.

If the sign-in page points to an account problem, close it, sign out from Profiles, and sign in again. If the account looks healthy but sync never advances, the cloud reset is your next option.

Back up favorites before resetting Edge sync

A cloud reset can strip Edge data out of your Microsoft account, so save what you would hate to lose first. An exported HTML file lets you re-import favorites if the reset leaves the browser emptier than expected.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+O to open the Favorites manager.
2. Open the More options menu.
3. Select Export favorites.
4. Choose a location and save the favorites_month_day_year.html file.

For the full workflow, including mobile, see Export Favorites from the Microsoft Edge browser.

Reset Edge sync data

Reach for this only after signing out and back in has failed. A full reset removes your Edge data from the cloud, which is exactly why the favorites backup above is not optional.

1. Open the Settings and more menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Open Profiles.
4. Open Sync.
5. Expand Still having sync problems? Try another option.
6. Select Reset sync.
7. Keep Edge open and wait until the reset finishes.

Once the reset completes, sign back in on the device where you started it. Choose to resume syncing and Edge uploads that device’s data to the cloud, which then becomes the source for everything else. Skip that step and your Edge data stays out of the cloud and stops syncing.

ALERT: After resetting cloud data, sign in again on each other Edge device. Those devices must be signed in before they can receive the synchronized data.

Microsoft documents both options in its Edge cloud data reset guidance.

What to do if the reset cannot be completed

Sometimes Edge reports that the reset could not be completed, and clicking again does nothing. Do not restart the reset while an attempt is still running. Let it stop, keep the browser open, and give it a few hours before another try.

1. Check that Edge is still signed in to the intended Microsoft account.
2. Close and reopen Edge, then return to Profiles → Sync.
3. Repeat the Still having sync problems? Try another option → Reset sync process.
4. If the same error appears again, wait several hours before one more attempt.

If it keeps failing, contact Microsoft Edge Support. Include the exact message Edge displayed and list the steps you already tried, especially whether you exported favorites and whether the failure hit during sign-in, re-sync, or the final reset.

Verify that Edge sync is working

Sync counts as fixed only when data actually crosses devices. Confirm the account is active here, then check that a change made on this device shows up somewhere else.

1. Open the Settings and more menu.
2. Select Settings.
3. Open Profiles.
4. Confirm that the correct Microsoft account is shown.
5. Check Sync for the data types you enabled.
6. Open the same data category on another signed-in Edge device and check whether the latest change is present.

Here is a quick test. Add a favorite on one device, give Edge a minute, then look for it in Favorites on the other device. Delete the test favorite once it appears.

RELATED: Delete Browsing History from Microsoft Edge browser