macOS profile lost pinned tabs and Essentials after Windows sync – folders remain but are empty

[lorenzenv]

Preliminary Checks

• I have read and understood the important section above.
• I have searched existing issues and avoided creating duplicates.
• I am not filing an enhancement request.
• I have checked that this issue cannot be reproduced on Mozilla Firefox.
• I have checked that this issue can be reproduced once I removed all my Mods and Custom CSS.

What happened?

Environment

• Zen Browser on macOS
• Zen Browser on Windows (fresh install)
• Sync enabled (signed into same account)
• Using multiple profiles (e.g., “Work” and “Private”)
• Each profile has its own containers/spaces setup

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What happened

1. I use Zen on macOS with two separate profiles: one for work and one for private use.
2. In the private profile, I had multiple pinned tabs and Essentials configured.
3. I installed Zen on Windows, signed in, and enabled sync.
4. After returning to Zen on macOS, in my private profile, all pinned tabs and Essentials were gone.
5. The folders for pinned tabs still exist, but they are now empty.
6. The work profile appears unaffected.

Expected behavior

Syncing Zen on Windows 11 should not remove pinned tabs and essentials on macOS Zen

Actual behavior

Syncing Zen on Windows 11 removeed pinned tabs and essentials on macOS Zen

Steps to reproduce

Use Zen on macOS with multiple profiles and create pinned tabs and Essentials (organized into folders) in one profile. Install Zen on Windows as a fresh install, sign into the same sync account, and allow sync to complete. Then return to Zen on macOS and open the same profile.

Result: All pinned tabs and Essentials are removed, while the folder structure remains but is empty.

Screenshots and videos

No response

Version

1.18.5b

What platform are you seeing the problem on?

macOS - aarch64

What component is this issue related to?

Sync

Relevant log output if applicable

[mr-cheffy]

Zen doesn't sync tabs between devices yet, not sure how you managed to do this?

[lorenzenv]

Yeah, i'm wondering the same. Maybe it has to do with the update? I didn't get an update notification though. Also for one profile/space everything is still there and messing with the backuped sessionstore.jsonlz4 files didn't change anything.

[mr-cheffy]

Are we talking about cross-device sync? Also, you should restore files at zen-sessions-backups