Brave Browser on Android Dumps Users on New Tab Page — A Single Setting Fixes It

A hidden settings change in Brave’s Android browser is forcing users back to the New Tab page every time they reopen the app after an hour of inactivity — and a buried toggle fixes it.

Instead of resuming the last open tab, Brave displays a pop-up reading “Get back to your most recent tab” or “Return to your most recently used tab,” requiring an extra tap each time.

What’s Causing It

The behavior traces to a setting under Settings > New Tab Page > Opening Screen, where Brave defaults — apparently after a recent update — to “New tab after 1 hour of inactivity.”

That option forces the New Tab page whenever the app has been idle for at least 60 minutes, triggering the pop-up rather than resuming where the user left off.

The Fix

Switching that setting to “Last open tab” removes the pop-up entirely and restores the browser to the previous tab on every reopen.

Multiple Android users on Reddit confirmed the fix works across different devices, regardless of manufacturer or Android version.

What Changed

The setting appears to have been flipped silently during a Brave update, with no prompt or opt-in from users.

Whether the change was deliberate product behavior or a side effect of another update is unclear — Brave has not publicly addressed it.

Still, the pattern is consistent: users did not knowingly enable the setting themselves, and most report having no memory of changing it.

The pop-up itself functions correctly — tapping it does return users to their last open tab. The friction is the extra step it adds on every single cold open of the browser.

About Brave

Brave is a Chromium-based browser developed by Brave Software, Inc., founded in 2015 by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich. The browser markets itself on privacy, blocking ads and trackers by default, and has reported over 85 million monthly active users as of recent company disclosures.

The Android version of Brave is distributed through the Google Play Store and receives frequent incremental updates, which occasionally alter default settings without explicit user notification.