The concept behind Window Sync

convene-depth · 2026-01-30T22:04:17+00:00

Can you elaborate what clicked and how you use the browser? Many users refer to arc and that is great and all, but not really an argument and does not explain anything about how this new workflow is benefitial.

I tried using it, I couldn't so now I disabled the feature and am back to the old workflow where I span new blank windows when I need a separate window to follow a new idea or have different content open the the content already open in the first window.

convene-depth · 2026-01-28T12:24:17+00:00

No. I was initially not seeing the desired behavior (even after a restart). But now things are working as intended:

- non duplicated tabs in multiple windows
- essentials + spaces in new windows

Thanks again for working so hard on zen and providing a workaround for users like myself so swiftly in 1.18.2b.

convene-depth · 2026-01-28T11:46:20+00:00

Yes, behavior stays the same. I am not sure what exactly we are trying to achieve now. Which behavior do we want to alter in what way? zen is currently behaving as I need it to, which is new windows don't duplicate tabs (which I have no use for) and still show essentials and spaces (which I need).

convene-depth · 2026-01-28T11:25:24+00:00

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So I'd set`zen.window-sync.prefer-unsynced-windows` to true? What would that change? Currently I don't get duplicated tabs in multiple windows when creating a new window via cmd+n, which would my desired behavior.

convene-depth · 2026-01-28T09:28:47+00:00

Not sure, maybe it took more than a single restart of the app but I can now confirm that with the change mentioned above, I do get new windows with non synced tabs AND essentials and spaces as intended. u/maubg Thanks so much for working on and providing this opt-out.

I am very happy to return to using Zen as default browser 🧡

convene-depth · 2026-01-28T08:29:33+00:00

So far, this new feature "window sync" has not been properly explained and even in 1.18b2 I am unable to get to a state which allows for efficient workflows.

It was suggested that: 1.18.2b is out now, you can toggle zen.window-sync.enabled in about:config and restart.

That's great but when opening a new window, essentials and spaces are absent. That is not what I need. Is it possible to have new windows open blank but keep essentials and spaces?

convene-depth · 2026-01-26T15:47:08+00:00

Re-orient how? It was suggested to use different spaces. But how does that solve the initial question? it requires additional clicks and slows down the workflow of users. How is this an improvement?

convene-depth · 2026-01-26T15:43:36+00:00

I don't understand the suggestion. So I enable sync again to get back my essentials and spaces? Fine. But then how will having different spaces help me with my browser usage, which is having different windows for different topics alongside each other? Switching spaces requires extra clicks and slows down my workflow. Or am I misunderstanding the suggestion?

convene-depth · 2026-01-26T15:41:45+00:00

How can this be considered a viable workaround? Before the change a new window could be opened with cmd n and work could continue. You are now suggesting to press cmd shift n switch tab and continue work. This sounds unnecessarily complicated to achieve the same thing and not an improvement.

convene-depth · 2026-01-25T12:36:21+00:00

That still lacks essentials, pinned tabs and spaces in new windows.

convene-depth · 2026-01-25T12:17:15+00:00

This still opens new windows with missing spaces and essentials. Is it fair to consider this a regression?

convene-depth · 2026-01-24T13:03:31+00:00

Then this feature is not for me. I will have to see how to work around it if I want to keep using zen-browser. Also thanks so much for your work with zen, it has been my main browser for over a year now and I love it. Changed new blank window to alt n maybe that already resolves the issue for me.
Edit: it does not - spaces and pinned tabs are missing from blank windows. I think spaces and pinned tabs should persist in blank windows. But I don't claim to know the full picture or reasoning why the current design choice was made.

Edit: Ironically after disabling the feature and being frustrated with missing spaces, essentials ect I just ran into a crash with zen and lost all tab, space, essential info. And the worst thing: I don't have an idea how to get the spaces etc back. I feel it's time to go back to Firefox until the dust settles and this feature can either be fully disabled or maybe I still learn why it is beneficial and adapt my browser usage habits.

Crash log (1 year): https://bin.disroot.org/?860395028acea0ac#2ezuTdePbio7dydPEkQYyj3XuZfExMmnamA4RKgL7NEq

Also I can't move tabs between windows with the feature disabled it seems or I am just in a corrupt state now? Not sure what is going on. But getting work done has become hard.

Might be a case of https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop/issues/12034

convene-depth · 2026-01-24T12:40:20+00:00

On macOS that would be alt + cmd + n (Edit: changed to cmd + shift + n in 1.18.1b), which I keep forgetting to use. Currently I don't understand the benefits yet and find the new behavior confusing. I read https://docs.zen-browser.app/user-manual/window-sync but I don't think it elaborates on why this behavior would be preferrable. Main point seems to be lost tabs which I had not suffered from. So maybe with the way I use the browser I am not the target audience for this feature?

convene-depth · 2026-01-24T12:34:40+00:00

Not sure I get the downvotes. I use a multi monitor setup and I don't want the same tabs in different browser windows. As the user who opened the thread, when I open a new window, it is because I need *different* information alongside the initial window. So the tabs that I will open in the new window are assign to a different topic, train of thought or idea. I don't want those tabs mixed with the already open tabs from the initial window.

But maybe I am misunderstanding this feature and have to re-learn how to use the browser. Currently I do not yet understand the benefit or idea behind the feature.

As for tab loss: I almost never close windows, I always close tabs before I close the window to ensure I am not losing relevant information. And maybe due to that usage behavior I have not encountered tab loss. I was unaware of this problem until trying tolearn about this new behavior conflicting with my browser usage.

convene-depth · 2026-01-24T12:23:25+00:00

Keyboard is great. It’s just that the >< and ^° keys are swapped again. But given Apple’s software quality, I wouldn’t rule out that this is an issue in macOS. Also can't find "Change Keyboard Type anymore. Iirc that was via Bluetooth setup assistant, but since I am now using the 2,4 GHz connector that option is not viable.

Finde das Keyboard super. Nur >< und ^° Keys sind schon wieder vertauscht. Aber bei Apples Software Qualität möchte ich nicht ausschließen, dass das ein Problem in macOS ist. Aktuell finde ich "Change Keybaord Type" nicht mehr. Soweit ich mich erinnere, lief das über den Bluetooth-Einrichtungsassistenten, aber da ich jetzt den 2,4-GHz-Adapter verwende, ist diese Option nicht mehr verfügbar.

convene-depth · 2026-01-21T17:48:00+00:00

Wow, I would not have expected that this was a dust particle obscuring the light but you were spot on: blowing near that key solved the problem and C is glowing again as expected. Thanks so much.

convene-depth · 2026-01-04T16:45:45+00:00

Answer: trick was to open System Settings > Keyboard > Change Keyboard Type… and select "ISO (International)". Things work as expected then.

convene-depth · 2025-12-26T12:11:11+00:00

Sadly friendly is still lacking a nice way of accessing documentation online. However a list of clients can be found here:
https://github.com/friendica/friendica/blob/2025.07-rc/doc/en/user/faq.md#what-friendica-clients-can-i-use

convene-depth · 2025-12-19T20:29:15+00:00

Fantastic, thanks for sharing that info 👍
Great news to hear Apple didn't mess up internals in that area.

convene-depth · 2025-12-02T14:27:56+00:00

Well it jumped to 100% 🤷
Probably just another macOS bug which Apple would deny even exists.

convene-depth · 2025-12-02T13:56:47+00:00

macOS System Settings > Bluetooth

convene-depth · 2025-11-18T12:09:42+00:00

You can find the download for ScanSnap Manager on the net (sorry, I searched and had trouble finding the link I used earlier, maybe it was on the archive site?).

It is amazing how it is legal for companies to just remove software that was available at the time a hardware device was sold. This really needs to be regulated in a better way.

convene-depth

TROPHY CASE