Do I assume correctly that the 'x' doesn't work?

If you don't need tabs at the top, they can be switched off: Hamburger icon (top right)/Settings/Search for 'Tab' Scroll down to 'Open messages in' and choose something other than 'A New Tab' Personally, I don't use Tabs. I find them annoying.

Thanks. Yes x will cancel them but there are so many it is a pain. When I did as you suggested regarding tabs it made no difference.

When I did as you suggested regarding tabs it made no difference.

Changing the setting will make the way emails are opened different. It won't remove Tabs.

Does this mean I have to live with all these tabs and why did it suddenly happen

Does this mean I have to live with all these tabs and why did it suddenly happen

You never said that it had suddenly started happening. You just said you had blank tabs at the top of the program. And you've closed them by manually using the 'x'? And taken remedial action to prevent tabs from occurring again in the settings?

Not sure what extra needs to be done. Can you outline a bit more fully what the problem is?

Sorry about that I had written it in my original post, lost it when attaching screenshot and obviously forgot it in the re-write. Yes the problem has only appeared recently but I am not sure if it happened with the update. However I am no longer with my Windows 11 pc so will get back to you shortly.

If you right click on a tab, one of the options available is Close Other Tabs. Does that solve the problem?

Yes right clicking does solve it but I really wanted to know why it has happened and if it was preventable. I have really not worded my question correctly and wasted you helpful people’s time for which I apologise. I will just go on with the right clicking and maybe experiment with a few ideas. Thanks a lot to you both.