Devices on the same synchronization chain continue to be duplicated

[poun64]

Description

Devices on the same synchronization chain continue to be duplicated at my place, despite this bug having been fixed a few days ago.
Tested on 2 different PCs: one running Linux Xubuntu 22.04 and the other Xubuntu 24.04.
Both run Brave Version 1.70.117 Chromium: 129.0.6668.59 (Official Build) (64-bit).
Cookies are deleted each time the browser is closed.
In use, the two synchronized devices duplicate each other, and old duplicates have to be removed manually.

Steps to reproduce

1. Synchronize both devices on the same channel.
2. Delete cookies each time you close the Brave browser.
3. Start, browse and stop Bave several times a day.

Actual result

Devices are automatically duplicated in the synchronization chain and must be deleted manually on subsequent days.
Note: Only duplicates from device A are visible on device B, and vice versa.

Expected result

Devices synchronized on the same chain should not be duplicated.

Reproduces how often

Easily reproduced

Brave version (brave://version info)

Version 1.70.117 Chromium: 129.0.6668.59 (Build officiel) (64 bits)
Linux Xubuntu 22.04 LTS
Linux Xubuntu 24.04 LTS

Channel information

• release (stable)
• beta
• nightly

Reproducibility

• with Brave Shields disabled
• with Brave Rewards disabled
• in the latest version of Chrome

Miscellaneous information

The bug raised here: #40130 (comment) is still unresolved in my case.
Am I the only one?
Translated from the French by https://www.deepl.com/

[H2SO4JB]

Exactly the same for me, this bug is still NOT fixed. It is very easy to reproduce by simply enabling the "Delete cookies and data on exit" option. I try to enable this option every time an update is released, but so far (V1.70.117) duplicates are created as soon as it is enabled, so i have to disable it again.

I'm not sure why the dev team doesn't comment on these bug reports anymore. Can we at least get confirmation that someone is working on finding this bug? Or if no one is working on it, we'd love to know that too.

@AlexeyBarabash ???

[plexecutor]

Can confirm. I've been dealing with this issue for the past few days across 5 devices and the quantity of duplicates is getting out of hand. Not having cookies and data deleted on exit is a deal breaker for me so no way I am turning that off to fix sync.

[poun64]

Here's my feedback on Brave in Version 1.70.119 Chromium: 129.0.6668.70 (Official Build) (64 bits).
Still tested on my two different PCs: Linux Xubuntu 22.04 and Xubuntu 24.04.

Devices are not duplicated if:

1. Cookies are not deleted "On exit".
2. You don't activate the “Forget me when I close this site” setting in the “Protections” menu.

Notes
What I don't understand: is that even in this case, all cookies are deleted when Brave is closed.
You can check this at: brave://settings/content/all
Translated from the French by https://www.deepl.com/

[pokatomnik]

Same for me, I still have two or even three devices duplicated in the sync list. It's kinda annoying, and that's why I don't rely on Brave Sync anymore. Previously, I was synchronizing my passwords, but now I can't be sure that someday synchronization won't break.

[andrewteg]

I added a new device and noticed this issue, as my desktop and laptop were listed multiple times with dates going back to July 2024. I removed everything not October and am hoping that didn't mess up any sync devices but like @pokatomnik I'm concerned about my passwords so making a CSV backup of those now!

Edit: Got bookmarks and passwords backed up ok from these settings pages FWIW:
brave://bookmarks/
brave://password-manager/settings

[fmarier]

@poun64 I see that you're running 1.70 which includes the fix for #40130.

Did you manually remove the duplicated devices after upgrading to a version of Brave with the fix? Are the duplicate entries new, or they are the old ones from before that didn't get cleaned up?

[plexecutor]

I still have this issue on v1.70.123. Brand new sync chain. Only fix is changing On-device site data to 'Allow sites to save data on your device'. Having it set to 'Delete data sites have saved on your device when you close all windows' causes duplicate entries in the sync chain.

[poun64]

@fmarier :
I'm now up to Version 1.70.123 Chromium: 129.0.6668.89 (Official Build) (64 bits) which I'm testing on three of my devices.
I'm still using my September 29 settings : #41196 (comment)
Since then, none of my devices have been duplicated, and cookies are deleted when I close Brave...
I still need to consolidate this for a few days, then check that deleting cookies in: brave://settings/content/all doesn't duplicate the devices again.

[fmarier]

Only fix is changing On-device site data to 'Allow sites to save data on your device'.

@plexecutor Where is this option? And which platform/OS are you on?

[plexecutor]

Only fix is changing On-device site data to 'Allow sites to save data on your device'.

@plexecutor Where is this option? And which platform/OS are you on?

brave://settings/content/siteData

I primarily use Brave on Windows, MacOS, and iOS. Though since the duplication bug started I switched back to Safari on iOS and Mac and only use Brave on Windows. The duplication bug happens whether I am only using Brave on Windows or using it cross platform.

When setting up Brave, I follow this guide to ensure maximum privacy:
https://www.privacyguides.org/en/desktop-browsers/#brave

[AlexeyBarabash]

thanks @plexecutor @poun64

I was able to reproduce the bug with settings at brave://settings/content/siteData .

The required missing step for me was to login into GMail account, otherwise device didn't duplicate.

[AlexeyBarabash]

Also these steps reproduce the problem:

1. Add devices A and B into the sync chain
2. On device B login into GMail
3. On device B logout from GMail
4. Restart browser on Device B
5. Unexpected device B is duplicated at A's list

even without need to modify browser settings.

[H2SO4JB]

@AlexeyBarabash :
Are we still talking about the same old bug (#40130) that is claimed to be fixed that several of us are still experiencing?

I don't have a Gmail account or am logged into one on any of my devices and duplicates are still being created for me immediately when I enable the option "Cookies and other site data" under brave://settings/clearBrowserData

Or is this issue about a similar bug?

[poun64]

Yes AlexeyBarabash, we're still talking about the same bug. As far as I'm concerned, nothing was solved with the previous fix.
Note that I'm testing Brave on Linux distributions.
Today, one of my three tested devices (the one I use a lot) was duplicated with my settings described above.
My solution is therefore not 100% effective.
Best regards

Translated from the French by https://www.deepl.com/

[joewood9364]

Is this still an issue? I have avoided using sync because of this and the broken password sync... Please can these issues be prioritised higher??

[H2SO4JB]

Is this still an issue? I have avoided using sync because of this and the broken password sync... Please can these issues be prioritised higher??

Yes, this bug is still not fixed. And as soon as someone mentions it either here or in the Brave Community, no one answers. I don't know why. If the devs don't find the bug or don't know how to fix it, it's better if they just write it so we users know, I think. This silent is very strange.

[AlexeyBarabash]

PR supposed to fix this issue is published brave/brave-core#25971 .

[snowbound]

I believe it will is fixed after a couple of months. I was told that 1.69.156 - Stable had a fix for this issue in the beginning of Sept 2024. That was not the case. Version 1.70.126 had just as many duplicates of my main system. In addition, all of the customized sync options were disabled and remained disabled even after turning them on. I just trashed the entire sync chain and started fresh.

[lxwulf]

So when this update is merged, would you recommend creating a new sync chain or is it enough just cleaning the faulty devices?

[scottf007]

I have experienced this issue - syncing three devices - using tab groups - so I can open my desktop and have the tabs from my laptop and vice versa.

I have noticed that the maintaining the sync is also flaky - it used to be more solid - it seems to be more prevalent since this issue started becoming more of a thing. I can not even see the sync groups from the other device anymore, and think I will need to recreate the sync chain - but my thoughts are that they might have been linked somehow to one of the duplicate devices instead of the current one.

I wonder if other people noticed lots of synced devices because the sync was not reliable.

[poun64]

Even if it's not perfect, the devices duplicate themselves much less often by applying my settings here: #41196 (comment)
Having said that, with these settings, my cookies are always deleted each time I close Brave...
I'm now testing this with three Xubuntu Linux systems.