Managing 438 Microsoft Edge Tabs After Thanksgiving at Grandma’s: How to Close and Prevent Them from Reloading Upon Startup

How to Manage a Bounty of Tabs in Microsoft Edge: A Thanksgiving Dilemma

Ah, Thanksgiving—time for family gatherings, hearty meals, and, in my case, a slight technological crisis. During a recent visit to my grandmother’s home, I encountered a situation many of us can relate to: her Microsoft Edge browser was bogged down by an overwhelming number of open tabs—438 to be precise. Understandably, this was causing the application to freeze, making it impossible to close the tabs individually or even access the settings.

If you find yourself in a similar predicament, here’s how you can effectively manage excessive tabs and get back to a smooth browsing experience on Windows 10.

Step 1: Closing the Application

If Edge is unresponsive due to the countless tabs, the quickest way to force it to close is through the Task Manager. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Task Manager: You can do this by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting “Task Manager” or by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
2. Locate Microsoft Edge: In the “Processes” tab, look for Microsoft Edge.
3. End Task: Select Edge and click on the “End Task” button at the bottom right corner. This will close the entire browser, including all those pesky tabs.

Step 2: Restarting Edge Fresh

To reopen Microsoft Edge without restoring those tabs, follow these steps:

1. Open Edge: Launch Microsoft Edge as you normally would.
2. Check Startup Settings: Click on the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner, then go to “Settings”.
3. On Startup: In the left sidebar, navigate to the “On startup” section. Here, you can select the option “Open a new tab” or “Open a specific page or pages” to ensure that Edge opens fresh without the previous tabs.

Additional Considerations

While it may be tempting to suggest switching to a different browser, that could complicate things further, especially since Edge is already installed on her Acer Aspire E1 laptop running Windows 10. For now, managing the current setup is likely the best route.

Conclusion

Thanksgiving is a time for celebration, not technical challenges. By following the steps above, you can help your loved ones navigate the digital landscape without the burden of excessive tabs slowing them down. Here’s to a smoother browsing experience and more time enjoying holiday