- Users of Google Chrome on Windows 10 and 11 are reporting that they have suddenly found themselves using Microsoft Edge, with their Chrome browsing sessions appearing in Edge.
- This may be due to a bug or an accidentally clicked-through dialog box related to a feature in Edge that imports browsing data from Chrome.
- The setting, called “Import browsing data from Chrome,” continually imports data from Chrome every time Edge is launched, unlike the one-time import offered for Firefox.
- There have been concerns about Microsoft’s tactics for pushing its own browser, including notifications, pop-ups, and full-screen messages promoting Edge and Bing.
- Microsoft has become more aggressive in pushing various subscriptions and features in recent years, making a “clean” Windows install feel less so.
- It remains unclear whether the Edge data-import issue is intentional or a bug, highlighting concerns about Microsoft’s methods for promoting its own software.
On my work laptop, Teams has started to ignore my default browser settings. Firefox is still the default, and everywhere else links open there, but from Teams they open in edge anyway. Its really annoying
MSEdgeRedirect will fix that problem.
Oh sweet, the tool I knew that was similar to this got killed in Win 11 so it’s nice to see someone figured it out.
Yeah I’ve been using it in Win11 for over a year with no issues. It works perfectly for making sure everything always opens in Firefox (or whatever browser you use). Happy to help.
Outlook has been doing this for a long time too
Outlook is super buggy on FireFox for my phone. I found that Vivaldi has been running it fine enough though. It still fails to launch on first try from time to time, but I’ve never gotten frustrated enough to consider downloading the app.
Pretty much every Microsoft service does this. IIRC, it’s a large part of what landed them in court for an antitrust lawsuit in the EU a few months ago. Basically, another company (probably Google) was saying that Microsoft ignoring users’ default browser options and forcing their own services to open in Edge was anticompetitive. And I mean, they’re not wrong.
Same if you click any of the ChatGPT copilot shit baked into the start menu.
This makes some vague sense since the way its implemented copilot is pretty much served trough edge.
The whole start menu is pretty much a skin for edge that can also search local files.
It absolutely sux, definitely feels predatory as it basically includes a keylogger, everything you type is considered a bing search and collected.
Get linux when your tired of it.
Already on Pop_OS ;)
I have windows dual booted for a couple things I can’t live or do school without and don’t have viable options for Linux
I had same issue, some popup came up in teams I said ok to.
It switched my links to open in edge with teams pinned to the side. Very annoying
There is an option buried in teams settings somewhere that let’s you switch back to normal browser.
I’ve noticed that on my work laptop too. If I click a link in a Microsoft program, it doesn’t open in the default browser (Firefox of course), it opens edge.
But I’m doing anything important in a Linux VM anyway.
Oh, that also happened to me at work!
When it first happened, a popup showed up at the right corner of Edge telling me about how it was improving my browsing experience or some bullshit, and at the there was a button to continue opening links in my default browser instead, clicked that once and it hasn’t pestered me again.
Unfortunately I don’t know if you can call this popup back if you accidentally dismiss it, though there might be a checkbox buried inside Teams or Edge to disable this behavior. Expect it to be called “Improve your browsing experience/Privacy” or some completely obtuse lie like that.
Teams has its own one-off setting buried in its own settings menu, I had to go intentionally update it there to fix it for me. Sketchy.
I had that experience a few updates back. But it eventually allowed to set a preferred browser again in addition to allowing opening office files in the desktop app.
CTT Windoes Utility -> Tweaks -> Remove Microsoft Edge
Removed edge when I got my new computer about a year ago and haven’t seen it since.
That almost sounds like group policy bullshit
Yeah, the Microsoft group
It sounds like they are actually using the PWA and don’t realize it’s Edge under the hood. They are mad Edge is opening links in Edge. Why would it do that?!?!