This is the second time Zen has crashed for the past few months that I’ve been using it.

[samettok0]

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?

On macOS, Zen Browser crashes can be devastating, causing you to lose all your settings. This is a significant issue, especially since I save websites I want to revisit later. When I lose access to these websites, they’re gone forever. I believe Zen clears the cache during crashes, resulting in a completely new browser. The sync feature seems to bring back little.

Expected behavior

When it crashes, I resume from the point where I left off.

Actual behavior

I lost most of my settings.

Steps to reproduce

I'm not entirely sure how the crash occurs.

Screenshots and videos

No response

Version

1.12.10b

What platform are you seeing the problem on?

macOS - aarch64

What component is this issue related to?

Settings

Relevant log output if applicable

[Propheticus]

You can't restore the window with all the opened tabs from '... > history > recently closed windows' ?
I've 'lost' open pins and tabs, but never all my settings by the way. Are your settings (about:preferences) indeed reset?

For sites you can't afford to lose, I'd advise (also) bookmarking them. Of course it's better if tabs were not lost, but it can happen and they're more temporary in nature than a bookmark.

[samettok0]

I appreciate your response. To clarify, this isn’t just about restoring tabs from history. After the crash, I’m forced to:
• Re-login to all my accounts
• Reconfigure all settings (appearance, privacy, extensions)
• Recreate my saved workspaces

It’s as if the browser performs a factory reset. This makes Zen unreliable for professional or long-term use unless the issue is addressed.

I rely on Zen to retain sessions securely, and losing this data feels like a profile wipe. I understand bookmarks are more permanent, but workspaces, tabs, and local storage should not vanish unless manually reset.

Feature Request (if possible):
• An option to export/import profiles or settings
• Improve crash resilience so that sessions and logins persist
• A proper sync integrity check, especially for crash recovery

I’m happy to help debug this or provide logs if you guide me.

[illaech]

Almost the same thing happened to me after I tried to remove one of my extensions (on version 1.13.1b). Zen crashed even before I confirmed the extension removal, and it had closed all non-pinned tabs, cleared all the cookies, reset all the settings to their defaults, but kept workspaces and extensions. It really does feel like a factory reset.

"Recently closed windows" menu entry was disabled after the crash.

——

Also, while I was reconfiguring my settings, I found out that you can crash the browser just by toggling "Enable Container tabs" setting on and off (I tested this on two computers with Zen 1.13.1b and 1.11.5b):

Zen.Browser.Zen.Browser.2025-06-16.21-16-58.mp4