Forcing Edge to scroll to an #id

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T17:42:54-0500

(This issue, if I'm not mistaken, is present in many browsers, not just Edge, but anyway...)

When URL ends with an #id, the browser is supposed to load the page and then scroll it down to the location of the given #id on the page. This works fine in Edge first time the page is loaded. However, when open pages with such URLs are stored "for later" (say, saved in a workspace, or simply restored when the browser is started) Edge refuses to honor the #id. The page is loaded but stays at the top. The browser does not scroll to the given #id.

OK, fine, let's say one day they might finally notice the issue and fix it. Or maybe not... But for now, is there a way to manually force the browser to scroll to the #id? Asking the browser to reload the URL does not help. Going to the address bar and pressing <Enter> for the same URL does not help. Copy-pasting the same URL to the address bar does not help either. The only way I found so far is to modify the URL in some way, visit the new location and then come back to the original URL. In that case the browser will finally agree to scroll to the #id. But this seems unnecessarily convoluted. Is there a simpler/more elegant way for force it to scroll to the given #id?

Berton · 2025-02-03T17:50:08-0500

Not nice to double post.

Is the #id a legitimate Web page on the site?

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T17:53:32-0500

Berton said:
Is the #id a legitimate Web page on the site?

Not sure what you mean by "legitimate Web page on the site".

The page does exist and the #id is present on that page. So, on the first load everything works perfectly: the page loaded and then it scrolls down to the requested #id.

For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijkstra%27s_algorithm#History

Berton · 2025-02-03T17:57:12-0500

https://w ww.elevenforum.com/t/forcing-edge-to-scroll-to-an-id.33017/#post-558108
I purposely broke the link for this page to show its URL, it shows the # and number so it must be calling a link on the page. That may be a question for the provider for the site.

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T18:01:22-0500

Berton said:
https://w ww.elevenforum.com/t/forcing-edge-to-scroll-to-an-id.33017/#post-558108
I purposely broke the link for this page to show its URL, it shows the # and number so it must be calling a link on the page. That may be a question for the provider for the site.

Not sure what point you are making here. Yes, your example is good (see another in my post above). However, "scrolling to an #id" is a purely client-end browser functionality. It has nothing to do with the provider of the site.

P.S. You can mark text as "code" to keep it "as you typed it". I.e. to prevent URL from being converted to a link.

Berton · 2025-02-03T18:04:40-0500

But as the URL shows, the number after the # is to this page. Copying the URL in the Address bar then Pasting in a new window opens another instance of this page.

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T18:11:40-0500

Berton said:
But as the URL shows, the number after the # is to this page. Copying the URL in the Address bar then Pasting in a new window opens another instance of this page.

I still don't understand what point you are trying to make.

Yes, web pages can specify 'id' entries, which can be used in URLs to facilitate page positioning, i.e. initial scrolling (among other things). The part after the # does not identify this page. It identifies a position on this page, like a bookmark. My question is described in my first post in rather great detail: how to force Edge to "re-scroll" the page to the requested "bookmark"?

If you wish, you can use your own example to play with it: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/forcing-edge-to-scroll-to-an-id.33017/#post-558108. In this URL the #id part is #post-558108. But it can be anything.

In the HTML code of this web page this token is present as

<span class="u-anchorTarget" id="post-558108"></span>

This id="post-558108" is exactly what the browser looks for (and then scrolls to) when it sees #post-558108 at the end of the URL. But this is too much information already...

antspants · 2025-02-03T18:51:43-0500

All of you examples work for me, multiple attempts. Tested with Safari/Edge/Chrome/Firefox

Do you use a VPN. Is it lag, how long do you wait for the page to load? If the page is loading slowly for whatever reason (connection/VPN etc) the browser can’t get to the #ID until the #ID has loaded on the page.

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T19:01:30-0500

antspants said:
All of you examples work for me, multiple attempts. Tested with Safari/Edge/Chrome/Firefox

What exactly works for you? What did you test specifically? You saved the page to a Workspace in Edge and when you reopened that Workspace the page properly positioned itself to the requested #id?

antspants · 2025-02-03T19:14:29-0500

AndreyT said:
What exactly works for you? What did you test specifically? You saved the page to a Workspace in Edge and when you reopened that Workspace the page properly positioned itself to the requested #id?

No I didn’t go through any mundane processes of creating a Workspace only due to the fact that a link is a link is a link.
If you think a workspace is causing this, I would give feedback, it might be greatly appreciated by Microsoft.

Providing Feedback for Workspaces

Microsoft Edge Workspaces

Learn about Microsoft Edge Workspaces and how they can benefit users in your organization.

learn.microsoft.com

There are some comments on navigation, not sure if they pertain to what you’re experiencing.
I think you would be hard pressed finding a member here that uses Workspaces, that isn’t to say there aren’t any. But I’ve never read of anyone using them, here.

Navigation Options

Microsoft Edge Workspaces

Learn about Microsoft Edge Workspaces and how they can benefit users in your organization.

learn.microsoft.com

Sorry that I didn’t make more of an effort.

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T19:24:09-0500

antspants said:
No I didn’t go through any mundane processes of creating a Workspace only due to the fact that a link is a link is a link.

Well, simply loading a fresh web page through an URL suffixed with an #id (if that's what you tested) works perfectly fine for me as well, as I clearly stated in my original post. That's not what this topic is about.

Also, reporting this behavior of Workspaces in Edge as a bug is not what this topic is about. Reporting it is a matter for a different time and a different place.

Meanwhile, this topic is about a very specific question: is there an elegant way to ask the browser (Edge, specifically) to reposition the already loaded page to the specified #id (specified in the URL)?

In my first post I already provided an inelegant and cumbersome way to do that, which becomes especially inelegant and cumbersome when multiple pages are involved (e.g. a Workspace). Hence the question. Maybe there's a browser extension someone's aware of? Maybe there's a trick?

---

This is not necessarily related to Workspaces. When doing ordinary browsing one often follows URL's with #id's, which open specific web pages in specific scrolling positions. While reading that page, scrolling it down or up, one can lose track the original position and might wish to return back to it. The original URL with the original #id is still present in the browser's address bar. How does one ask the browser to re-scroll the page back to that #id?

antspants · 2025-02-03T19:32:28-0500

I created a workspace and can confirm that the tab doesn’t reload the webpage to the original link ID when the workspace is reopened.

I will play around later today and see if I can work out if there is a modification that can be made. I doubt I will have any luck.

antspants · 2025-02-03T19:33:08-0500

AndreyT said:
In my first post I already provided an inelegant and cumbersome way

Are you insinuating people are stupid?

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T19:52:49-0500

antspants said:
Are you insinuating people are stupid?

What???

I would perhaps sorta/kinda understand your question if you quoted the "... works perfectly fine for me as well, as I clearly stated in my original post" part of my previous message. (And, if you are curious: yes, I sorta/kinda insinuated that there.)

But the "I already provided an inelegant and cumbersome way..." sentence? Why? Where did you see even the slightest hint of such "insinuation" in that passage? If anything, it is self-critical. The opposite of what you managed to see in it.

antspants · 2025-02-03T20:18:55-0500

I tried locking the tab, it had no effect.
I tried modifying the links to read: new window, new tab, blank none worked.
I tried finding out where Workspaces are kept because the only modification to a workspace that seems possible is to change the colour of the workspace.
I tried looking for info on the net to locate the saved workspaces but as far as I understand it, you need to be signed in to Edge (Microsoft Account) to use them and they are linked to your Microsoft Account, somehow. I cannot find a physical location on the PC or within edge.

I’ll keep looking.

antspants · 2025-02-03T21:20:23-0500

I think the Edge workspaces converts the tab link (albeit not visibly) to an Edge specific link like edge://.
Edge apparently blocks extensions to operate on the urls "files://" and "edge://" for instance, try saving a link to a PDF in your workspace, does it open a link with a .PDF extension?
So perhaps it has also blocked anchor or ID links. However I cannot finds any articles to confirm this.

AndreyT · 2025-02-03T22:04:31-0500

In my original post I was wrong about Edge's behavior when it restores open tabs on startup (if "Open tabs from the previous session" startup option is selected in Settings). It appears that Edge actually remembers the exact scrolling position of the page when the browser was closed and then restores that same exact position at startup. This is a pretty reasonable behavior as well. If Workspaces behaved like that, it would make sense too. (I mean, I'd still prefer it to scroll to the #id, but that just me.)

However, Workspaces do neither. They just open at the top of the page. Sigh...

P.S. This Workspaces feature is a pretty nice idea, especially in corporate environment where a lot of functionality rides on the browser these days. But it is not polished yet, apparently.

antspants · 2025-02-03T22:09:56-0500

AndreyT said:
I mean, I'd still prefer it to scroll to the #id, but that just me

So would I, it’s the whole reason you would bookmark that link.

What I am really finding frustrating, is the lack of complaints or questions about this on the web. It seems like a normal thing to query, if you and I are both experiencing the same thing, I can only assume it’s the norm. Surely someone else if frustrated, on the net?

Edwin · 2025-02-03T22:35:06-0500

Works for me!

antspants · 2025-02-03T22:54:34-0500

Edwin said:
Works for me!

Did you reopen the workspaces in a new Edge session? I tried 3 computers and the result was the same in each. Opens the page but not the anchor point when the workspaces are re-opened..

Forcing Edge to scroll to an #id

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