Browser profile and syncing glossary

Why a glossary

Discussions about browser syncing go wrong because two people mean different things by “sync”. These are the definitions used throughout this site, and they match how Chrome and Edge actually behave.

Terms

Browser profile

A self-contained set of browser data — bookmarks, history, cookies, passwords, extensions and settings — kept in its own directory. Two profiles share the browser application and nothing else.

Profile binding

The link between a profile and the account it syncs with: a Google account in Chrome, a Microsoft account in Edge. One profile, one account.

Native sync

The browser's built-in synchronisation, which mirrors a profile to its account so the same profile appears on your other devices. It never moves data between two accounts.

Cross-profile sync

Sharing selected items between different profiles, which usually belong to different accounts. Not provided by any browser natively; the gap an extension fills.

Cross-device sync

The same data present on more than one computer. Native sync does this within one account; cross-profile sync does it for a shared set spanning several accounts.

Bookmark / favourite

The same thing under two names: Chrome says bookmark, Edge says favourite. Both are entries in the Chromium bookmark tree, with a title, a URL and a parent folder.

Tab group

A named, coloured cluster of tabs in the tab strip. Saved groups persist after the window closes, inside the profile that created them.

Collection (Edge)

An Edge feature for gathering pages and notes. It is a separate store from favourites, with its own sync path, and is not part of the bookmark tree.

Merge

Combining changes made in two places since the last sync. An additive merge keeps both sides' additions; last-write-wins discards one side silently.

Conflict resolution

The rule applied when the same item changed differently in two places. For bookmarks, keeping both and de-duplicating by URL is usually the least destructive answer.

Tombstone

A record that an item was deleted, stored so the deletion can be distinguished from the item simply being absent. Without tombstones, deleted bookmarks reappear on the next sync.

Resurrection

The bug where a deleted item comes back because another copy still had it. The classic failure mode of home-grown sync scripts.

Unloaded tab

A tab that exists in the tab strip but has not rendered its page, so it consumes almost no memory. Synced tab groups arrive unloaded for this reason.

Managed profile

A profile governed by an organisation's policy, which can restrict extensions, sync categories and settings. Common in Edge with work or school accounts.

Account-scoped URL

A link that only resolves for one identity — a Drive file, an Analytics property, an ad account. Copying it into another profile produces a permission error, not the page.

Where to go next

The mechanics behind these terms are covered in how browser profile syncing works, and the browser-by-browser differences in Chrome vs Edge profile syncing.