On June 4, 2026, Microsoft released Edge version 149 and with it, quietly killed the Collections feature that had been part of the browser since 2020. At the same time, the company has redesigned Workspaces to be strictly solo affairs, removing sharing and joining capabilities. These changes—combined with the deprecation of old tab-saving methods like Set Tabs Aside and Reading List—reshape how Edge users manage, restore, and preserve their browsing sessions. If you’ve relied on Collections to stash tabs for later, or used Workspaces to collaborate, now is the time to adapt.
A Clean Break: Collections Removed, Workspaces Trimmed
The most jarring change is the outright removal of Collections. Starting with Edge 149, rolled out on June 4, 2026, you can no longer create or view Collections. Microsoft had already blocked new additions to Collections in version 145, but now the feature is gone entirely. Any pages you had saved there are no longer accessible through the Collections pane.
Workspaces, meanwhile, still exist—but barely resemble the earlier collaborative tool. From Edge version 144 onward, Workspaces require a signed-in Microsoft or work/school account, work only on Windows 10, Windows 11, or macOS, and are strictly for individual use. The old sharing and joining mechanics have been stripped out. Microsoft’s messaging is clear: Workspaces are now a personal tab organizer, not a team feature.
These moves are part of a broader cleanup. Over the last few Edge releases, Microsoft has also deprecated other legacy tab-recovery tricks. The ancient Set Tabs Aside feature and the Reading List are long gone. Even the more recent Collections removal leaves a gap for power users who used it as a light bookmarking tool.
Core tab-recovery methods, thankfully, remain unchanged. The Ctrl+Shift+T shortcut (Command+Shift+T on macOS) still reopens your most recently closed tab, and pressing it repeatedly works backward through closed tabs. Right-clicking the tab bar offers the same option. Full History (Ctrl+H / Command+Y) lets you search for older pages, and the “Recently closed” section in the History menu recovers entire closed windows. After a crash, Edge still shows a “Restore pages” prompt if browsing data is intact. And the startup setting “Open tabs from the previous session” continues to work as a safety net.
What This Means for Everyday Users, Power Users, and IT Admins
For everyday users, the immediate task is a rescue mission. If you’re still on Edge 148 or earlier, open your Collections now and export what you can. There’s no automatic migration path—you’ll need to manually save each page as a Favorite. Press Ctrl+Shift+D to save all open tabs to a Favorites folder, or bookmark individual pages. Then embrace Favorites as your primary long-term storage. For temporary tab sets, the new solo Workspaces are a viable alternative, but they come with a learning curve.
Power users and developers lose two key tools. Collections had become a scratchpad for research, comparable to Chrome’s tab groups but with a dedicated sidebar. Its removal forces a switch to Favorites folders, yet those lack visual previews and easy reordering. The old Workspaces supported sharing—a boon for team projects—but that’s now dead. If you need collaborative tab sharing, you’ll likely have to rely on third-party extensions or external link-sharing.
IT administrators should note that the crash-recovery prompt and startup-restore behavior are still controllable via policy. The RestoreOnStartup policy remains in effect, so managed devices can enforce or block session restore. Additionally, the removal of Collections and the Workspaces redesign don’t introduce new group policies; they’re simply feature removals. However, admins must communicate these changes to staff who used Collections or shared Workspaces, and direct them to Favorites and the new solo Workspaces.
Privacy boundaries remain strict, as always. InPrivate tabs and Guest sessions still leave no recoverable trace in History, Recently Closed, or sync. Clearing browsing history will also erase those records—so don’t rely on session restore as a substitute for deliberate bookmarking.
How We Got Here: A Timeline of Edge’s Tab Evolution
Microsoft introduced Collections in early 2020 as a way to group web content into visual boards. It gained a following, but integration with the broader Edge ecosystem was always uneven. Collections never synced reliably across devices in the way Favorites do, and the feature often felt bolted on.
Workspaces launched later as a collaborative innovation, allowing teams to share a set of tabs in real time. But that vision is now shelved. The pivot to individual Workspaces suggests Microsoft is streamlining Edge’s feature set, possibly to reduce maintenance overhead and focus on core browsing performance. The removal of Collections aligns with a broader trend in browser design: browsers are cutting seldom-used features to stay lean and secure.
The timeline is instructive:
- Edge 100+: Crash recovery prompt introduced.
- Edge 144: Workspaces redesigned as solo tool.
- Edge 145: Adding pages to Collections blocked.
- Edge 149 (June 4, 2026): Collections removed entirely.
Old-timers may remember Set Tabs Aside, which vanished in early Chromium Edge builds, and the Reading List, which was scrapped years ago. Each removal was a stepping stone toward today’s simplified (some would say barebones) tab management.
What to Do Now: A Practical Action Plan
1. Check your Edge version. Type edge://version in the address bar. If you’re on 148 or earlier, act immediately. If you’re already on 149, your Collections are gone, but you can still search your browsing history for the pages you might have saved.
2. Migrate Collections (if still possible). Open the Collections pane, right-click each collection, and choose “Open all” to load the tabs, then press Ctrl+Shift+D to save all open tabs to a Favorites folder. Name the folder clearly. For larger collections, repeat the process. There is no built-in export tool.
3. Set up Favorites as your permanent archive. Favorites sync across devices, survive browser updates, and are the most durable way to save pages. Use folders to organize, and consider the Favorites or Bookmarks Manager for bulk management.
4. Adopt the new Workspaces for project tabs. Ensure you’re signed into Edge, update to version 144 or later, and use the “Search tabs” icon (top-left corner) to create a workspace. Give it a name and a theme. Workspaces are ideal for projects where you want to recall a specific set of tabs quickly, but remember: they’re local to your device and profile, not shared.
5. Enable session restore as a safety net. Go to Settings > Start, home, and new tabs, and under “When Edge starts,” select “Open tabs from the previous session.” This will automatically restore your last session if Edge closes normally. It won’t protect against crashes or InPrivate windows, but it’s better than starting from scratch.
6. Master the quick-recovery shortcuts. Commit to memory: Ctrl+Shift+T restores closed tabs; Ctrl+H opens full History. These work regardless of Collections or Workspaces status.
7. Turn on sync for extra resilience. Sign into Edge with a Microsoft account, then go to Settings > Profiles > Sync and enable “History” and “Open tabs.” This lets you access tabs from other devices. Do the same on mobile (Android/iOS Edge) by signing in and enabling sync in the app’s settings. Privacy note: Syncing history sends your browsing data to Microsoft’s servers; don’t enable it on a shared or public profile.
8. Know what you can’t recover. InPrivate tabs, Guest sessions, pages visited after history was cleared, and tabs from a different profile are all unrecoverable. If you must preserve a page, bookmark it or add it to Favorites before closing.
Looking Ahead: A Tab Management Strategy That Sticks
Edge’s simplification doesn’t spell the end of robust tab management—just a shift in habits. Expect Microsoft to continue polishing Workspaces, perhaps adding gentle touches like visual tab previews or better integration with Favorites. There’s also the possibility of AI-powered tab organization, a feature Chromium browsers have been experimenting with. For now, Favorites and the solo Workspace should cover most needs.
IT departments should review their Edge policies to ensure RestoreOnStartup aligns with organizational goals, and prepare user documentation that replaces the old Collections workflow. Home users, meanwhile, can take comfort that the core recovery tools—Ctrl+Shift+T, History, and session restore—are as reliable as ever. The lesson is timeless: if a tab matters, save it. Don’t trust a browser feature that might disappear in the next version.