New instance of Chrome when loaded second using multi window on Galaxy phones

suyeon i

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Feb 2, 2017
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I have had this problem on my Note 5, Note 7, and now my S7. Chrome is consistently having issues when loading it second using multi window. If I open Chrome alone, it has all of my tabs intact. If I then use multi window to open another app, no problems. All of my tabs are still there and work fine. However, if I open a different app first (ie not Chrome), THEN use multi window to open Chrome, I get an entirely different instance of Chrome. No access to my previously open tabs. Strangely enough, this new instance sometimes keeps track of its own set of tabs, sometimes it opens only a single new tab. So, the next time I load up Chrome as my second app using multi window, that other set of tabs are there about half the time. Also, Chrome alone (loaded first) has no access to the secondary instance tabs, but it does maintain its own set with no issues.

I have gotten into the habit of just trying to predict if I will need access to my primary set (those in Chrome when loaded first), but this is rather inconvenient. If I find that I want access to my primary tabs while in the middle of doing something (like watching something in MX Player), I have to close out of whatever I was already doing, open Chrome alone, then use multi window to open my original app, THEN swap them top to bottom (I like to have Chrome on the bottom half so that my keyboard is aligned with Chrome instead of blocking whatever else I was doing).

I could possibly find a way to put up with this if the secondary instance of Chrome was at least consistent, but it is not. Anyways, it's not a dealbreaker, but it is very annoying, and I can find no option to change the way Chrome acts when loaded second using multi window. Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: I tried to open Chrome second in multi windie again and got the error "unsupported number of Chrome instances". I looked at my open apps and found several instances of Chrome running. I closed all of them and then opened Chrome second (while watching something on MX Player) to see what it would give me and... all of my usual tabs are there as if I had loaded Chrome first. It seems that if I have Chrome already open in the background, forget about it, and then open Chrome second using multi window THAT'S when it gives me a different set of tabs. This would also explain why sometimes it remembers a secondary set of tabs and sometimes not.

This partially solves my problem, but I would honestly prefer for Chrome to never attempt a second instance in this particular manner and instead just switch back to the previously running one (something I cannot do by way of multi window when loading a second app). I switch back and forth a lot between different tasks and this regularly slows down my day. Again, any help would be greatly appreciated :)
 
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