Microsoft fixes problem that let Edge replicate Chrome tabs without permission
Enlarge Microsoft reader comments 79 Microsoft has fixed a problem that resulted in tabs from Google Chrome being imported to Microsoft Edge without user consent, as spotted by The Verge. Microsoft has kept mum on the situation, making the issued update the first time Microsoft has identified this as a problem, rather than typical behavior
Microsoft has fixed a problem that resulted in tabs from Google Chrome being imported to Microsoft Edge without user consent, as spotted by The Verge. Microsoft has kept mum on the situation, making the issued update the first time Microsoft has identified this as a problem, rather than typical behavior for the world’s third-most-popular browser.
In late January, The Verge Senior Editor Tom Warren reported experiencing the puzzling Edge issue. After updating his computer, Edge launched with the tabs that Warren most recently used in Chrome. He eventually realized that Edge has a feature you can toggle, reading: “Always have access to your recent browsing data each time you browse on Microsoft Edge.” The setting is reachable in Edge by typing “edge://settings/profiles/importBrowsingData.” Interestingly, it allows Edge to import browsing data from Chrome every time you open Edge, but data from Firefox can only be imported manually. However, Edge was seizing Chrome tabs without this setting enabled. Others reported having this problem via Microsoft’s support forum and social media, as well.
Enlarge / The Edge setting as seen on a Windows 11 23H2 system running Edge 122. You can have data continuously imported from Chrome or on demand from Firefox, but other browsers don’t appear.
Andrew Cunningham
Microsoft didn’t respond to The Verge’s initial request for comment, but this week it released an Edge update that seems to address matters. Microsoft’s release notes from February 15 say:
Edge has a feature that provides an option to import browser data on each launch from other browsers with user consent. This feature’s state might not have been syncing and displaying correctly across multiple devices. This is fixed.
Microsoft seems to be saying that the status (enabled or disabled) of Edge’s importing data ability wasn’t syncing correctly across people’s Microsoft devices. However,
About a year ago, in a social media post, long-time Microsoft veteran Dave Plummer (who worked on Windows Task Manager) recounted the story of what’s now known as the most iconic Windows product key. We’re talking about FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8. This product key for Windows XP—which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary—made the rounds in the early
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About a year ago, in a social media post, long-time Microsoft veteran Dave Plummer (who worked on Windows Task Manager) recounted the story of what’s now known as the most iconic Windows product key.
We’re talking about FCKGW-RHQQ2-YXRKT-8TG6W-2B7Q8. This product key for Windows XP—which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary—made the rounds in the early 2000s… Read More
UPDATE AUGUST 24, 2026: The GTA 6 leaker has continued to release new gameplay clips, and is even running a poll to decide which video to leak next despite Rockstar parent company Take-Two’s ongoing hunt for people responsible. A tenth leaked GTA 6 video was released last night, this time showing plane at night gameplay.
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UPDATE AUGUST 24, 2026: The GTA 6 leaker has continued to release new gameplay clips, and is even running a poll to decide which video to leak next despite Rockstar parent company Take-Two’s ongoing hunt for people responsible.
A tenth leaked GTA 6 video was released last night, this time showing plane at night gameplay. There is no cutscene footage this time.
The watermarks are the same as those on the previous video, advertising the ‘CyberLeek’ token at the heart of the cryptocurrency scheme that is believed to be the motivating factor behind all this. Another watermark doubles down on the anti-all-digital future manifesto that formed part of the initial CyberLeek website. It reads: “They want to take your right to resell. The peaceful route got us nowhere. This was plotted by them for years. It is time to fight now or never.”
Meanwhile, CyberLeek has a new poll available on its website with a number of gameplay video choices people can vote on by sending tokens. People are currently spending hundreds of dollars’ worth of the token to vote.
This poll ends today, August 24, which suggests the leaker or leakers intend to continue to release gameplay videos even in the face of Take-Two’s subpoenas of Microsoft, Discord, and X / Twitter as part of the company’s hunt for identifying information.
We are now into the sixth consecutive day of CyberLeek releases in what has been one of the most remarkable video game leaks of all time. It is now just a few days until Rockstar’s official GTA 6 reveal, exclusive to Netflix for six hours.
UPDATE AUGUST 23, 2026: The GTA 6 leaks have stretched into a sixth consecutive day, as the person or group responsible shows no sign of slowing down even in the face of court action from Rockstar parent company Take-Two.
The latest leak is the ninth GTA 6 gameplay video to emerge this week from the ‘CyberLeek’ persona. It shows one of the two protagonists, Jason, driving to a gas station to cause havoc. There he steals a pickup truck from a conspiracy theorist. The video ends with another brief look at the same cutscene shown in the gameplay videos that were leaked yesterday.
And, as with all the leaked GTA 6 videos, this “gas” clip advertises the ‘CyberLeek’ token at the heart of the cryptocurrency scheme that is believed to be the motivating factor behind all this. A new watermark doubles down on the anti-all-digital future manifesto that formed part of the initial CyberLeek website. It reads: “They want to take your right to resell. The peaceful route got us nowhere. This was plotted by them for years. It is time to fight now or never.”
In other related news. Take-Two lawyers have issued a subpoena to X / Twitter to identify the person or persons behind three accounts that contain ‘CyberLeak’ within them. This subpoena follows two filed earlier this week requesting information from Microsoft and Discord.
ORIGINAL STORY AUGUST 22, 2026: The alleged GTA 6 leaker has released two further gameplay videos despite Rockstar owner Take-Two’s subpoenas requesting identifying information from Microsoft and Discord.
The ‘CyberLeek’ person or group released two new videos today, August 22, one showing more supercar gameplay and an armed robbery, the other strip club gameplay. The latter appears to taunt Take-Two and Rockstar by showing a snippet of a cutscene in which a character says they need to take “a leak.” This is the second cutscene to emerge this week, and there is growing concern that the leaker has access to a build of the game and may post significant story spoilers.
These new videos are the seventh and eighth to leak this week. And, like all the others, they advertise the ‘CyberLeek’ memecoin as part of what is widely considered to be a crypto scheme.
Every Detail in the GTA 6 Cover Art Explained
On August 20, Take-Two issued Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoenas in a federal court requesting information from both Microsoft and Discord as part of its hunt for the leaker or leakers behind the recent spate of GTA 6 gameplay videos. Take-Two wants identifying information associated with user accounts that were members of a number of Discord servers, including one relating to Australian GTA content cr
This morning I woke to social media teasers from both Nvidia and Microsoft, which seen many on social media speculating about it’s meaning. The identical posts feature a simple message – a new era of PC is coming. This isn’t jsut a new generation of an existing architecture…
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This morning I woke to social media teasers from both Nvidia and Microsoft, which seen many on social media speculating about it’s meaning. The identical posts feature a simple message – a new era of PC is coming. This isn’t jsut a new generation of an existing architecture… Read More
