Microsoft blocks other browsers from opening Edge links
When Microsoft launched Windows 10, one of the things that the company did introduce was the classic version of Edge. Edge would replace the aging Internet Explorer browser along the way.
To give Edge a boost, Microsoft decided to invent the microsoft-edge:// protocol and started to use it in some internal applications. The protocol was designed to open links only in Edge.
Edge would then display the content and, at the same time, prompt the user to make it the default.
In Windows 11, Microsoft introduced the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser. Just like its classic version, it is pushed through exclusive use of the microsoft-edge:// protocol. The new News and Interests widget in Windows 10 and the Widgets app in Windows 11 use the microsoft-edge protocol exclusively, even though they display standard web content and links.
To make things even less user friendly, Microsoft changed the way the default browser is set. On Windows 10, users could set a different browser as the default, and it would open all links that browsers can open, with the exception of locked microsoft-edge protocol links.
In Windows 11, Microsoft removed that straightforward option. All that is left for users is to set each protocol individually. If you want to switch completely from Edge to Firefox, Brave or Vivaldi, you have to set HTTP, HTTPS, HTML, PDF, WebP, SHTML, FTP, HTM, Mailto, News and others, manually to the desired browser.
See Ashwin's guide on changing default programs on Windows 11 for detailed instructions.
All of these changes have a simple goal: to increase the usage share of Microsoft's Edge web browser. There is no technical reason for using the internal protocol.
Programs like Edge Deflector or Search Deflector were created to unlock the microsoft-edge:// protocol for other browsers. Using it, Windows 10 and 11 users can set a different browser as the handler and it will be opened.
Behind the scene, Edge Deflector sets itself as the default handler for Microsoft Edge's protocol, and it redirects the request then to the browser of choice.
Browser makers Brave and Firefox started to implement similar functionality to improve the process of making them the default handler on Windows 10 and 11.
The developer of Edge Deflector noticed this week that Microsoft made changes to the latest Windows 11 build that prevents EdgeDeflector, and any other program for the matter, to set itself as the default handler for the microsoft-edge:// protocol.
Something changed between Windows 11 builds 22483 and 22494 (both Windows Insider Preview builds.) The build changelog makes a few mentions of changes to the protocol and file associations/default apps system. However, it omitted the headline news: You can no longer bypass Microsoft Edge using apps like EdgeDeflector.
EdgeDeflector won't be updated anymore according to the developer. While he suggests that there are ways to overcome the limitation, they would "require making destructive changes to Windows".
Closing Words
It is clear that Microsoft won't reverse its position on the change without outside pressure. Users of Windows 11 are blocked from making changes that they want to make. The only viable option at this point, other than not installing the operating system in first place, is to ignore programs and apps that use the internal protocol.
Now You: what is your take on this development?
Running this command will uninstall Edge:
cd %PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Microsoft\Edge\Application\9*\Installer && setup –uninstall –force-uninstall –system-level
Courtesy of Github: https://github.com/TheWorldOfPC/Windows11-Debloat-Privacy-Guide
I just sent an email to the address on the following site urging the EU Commission to take the necessary steps to nullify this onerous behaviour by Microsoft. I quoted this ghacks article together with a couple of others,
https://ec.europa.eu/competition-policy/antitrust/procedures/complaints_en
I suggest all users take similar action to dissuade Microsoft from continuing to block user choice in this way.
I wonder if this “problem” got fixed with insider build 22509.1000
https://www.ghacks.net/2021/12/02/windows-11-build-22509-1000-insider-preview-developer-channel/
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;:: Open startmenu web search results in your chosen browser, not the forced down your throat ChrEdge in windows 11, by AveYo
;:: This obviously blocks msedge. If you still need it, rename it’s executable to something else (suggestion: chredge.exe)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\msedge.exe]
“Debugger”=”powershell.exe -win 2 -nop -noe -c function ChrEdgeFkOff {$f=[uri]::unescapedatastring(([environment]::get_CommandLine()-join’ ‘-split’&url[=]’)[1]); [diagnostics.process]::start($f)} ; ChrEdgeFkOff –%”
;:: To undo, uncomment (remove the ; prefix) the following line
;[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\msedge.exe]
Winaero is clever. Love his work.
now it has a script to toggle it on off https://github.com/AveYo/fox/blob/main/ChrEdgeFkOff.cmd
I made the switch to Linux Mint a couple of months ago. I didn’t encounter any radical change. If the the biggest learning curve is the use of the CLI then it’s not that hard when you’re used to the CMD-box in Windows. I come from the MS-DOS days… The learning curve from the “Run” cmd line to the Windows powershell for me was way steeper than the one to the Linux CLI. Anyway, after a while when you’ve settled in and the setup of the OS is to your liking you don’t use the command line often, if at all. At least I don’t (have to).
Besides typical mainstream use (web browsing, e-mail, little office stuff) I mainly use my computers for my large Flac Music collection streamed on my network and all Linux Audio-Apps I have tried incl. CD-Burners/Rippers are no less powerful that their Windows counterparts. Except maybe Foobar2000 and Mp3Tag ’cause I am so used to them, but both run flawlessly using the compatability layer “Wine”.
I find Linux to be responsive and stable. Even installing my printer w/o a proprietary Linux driver was not an issue as there is tons of honest help on the internet. The other advantage is that Linux runs fast even on some of my 8-10 year old hardware, while it is very f-a-s-t on my fairly new main computer.
MS can’t even fix their print spooler issue…
So glad I move to Linux years ago.
> While he suggests that there are ways to overcome the limitation, they would “require making destructive changes to Windows”.
Hasn’t making destructive changes to Windows been the main activity of Microsoft on Windows since version 8, between spyware, ads, freedom restrictions… ? Can repairing Microsoft damage be more destructive than that ?
And why doesn’t Google pay the EU or the US to force Microsoft again to leave room for the Google browsers, like before:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu
I guess Microsoft didn’t learn their lesson with being sued for that the first time they pulled this crap. Hope the EU makes it hurt this time.
Its time to get rid of Windows. Windows 7 was the last version of Windows that mattered.
This too, shall pass. The apps mentioned above are the first ones I disable or remove anyway, so no biggie.
This Chredge version of Edge is easy to remove completely with powershell, the old one could only be firewalled. The PIA is updates install it again.
Install>Remove>Repeat as necessary.
Mainstream software is beyond mature so all they can do anymore is putz with it. Imagine the boredom inside MS or Google or FB with nothing new beside ideas for a few more ad bucks.
Not like I have one iota of sympathy for those clowns, though. Get a job! :)
BTW. Microsoft plans to add ads into Edge.
piomiq it’s not Edge, it’s real name is Bing Chrome and its purpose is to make Bing ads platform relevant.
They are already there in news on new pages.
There is more.
Last few days I was playing with diff. browsers to test memory usage, loading speed, color accuracy etc. and it turns out that the system back-end notifications are somehow preserved for Edge. After a clean installation, followed by a reboot, every other chromium based browser would stop using the OS notifications. Neither Brave, nor Chrome would work. But Edge was working perfectly! Not only that, but in the win10 notifications settings list only Edge exists, whereas all others are gone after the reboot.
Needless to say, FF was never there in the first place, but luckily it’s os back-end notifications always work – maybe because it’s not a chromium based browser, or just windows doesn’t recognizes it as a browser entity in the first place lol. The only thing is FF’s notifications don’t remain in the notification center and disappear completely after clicked on.
Brave’s “allow google push services” is just a joke – you need to manually visit the page so that it would wake up and notify you lmao.
But, then, how do you explain Chrome?
So… Microsoft wants to force you to use its own browser with its own products? …can’t say this bothers me much–I already don’t use any Microsoft products. If I were to use Windows again, then I’d probably install Firefox [Portable Edition], as I used to do, for some things but use Vivaldi for all the basic stuff I use a browser for. Using Windows would be like old times–just a way to run programs and load files (glorified DOS). As a rule I never used the default browser–never needed to since I didn’t open the browser from other programs; Windows never got the chance to open the default browser.
People here in the comments are missing the point. The problem is the forced use of the Edge protocol and not that this can no longer be bypassed. Bypassing this by hijacking the protocol is in fact a security threat.
Users do have choice and can vote with their wallet. I do wish mire people would be empowered to step out of these abusive relationships with brands and corporation but the sad realiy is that the average user is part of the problem rather the solution.
I would love to go to Linux, but there is SO much you can’t do. 99% of Linux apps are pretty bad when compared to their Windows-only counterpart. And gaming on Linux is still not good.
@Trey: you said “99% of Linux apps are pretty bad when compared to their Windows-only counterpart.”
I did not have that experience. I found there were good alternatives for everything I did on Windows. No, it is not always the same app, but so what? What matters is to get the job done.
in a way, i’m not adverse to the option of opening certain things with certain browsers.. though not necessarily the lockdown.
let’s take an example. i use multiple browsers with varying degree of blockers/etc. default browser has the highest number of blockers. so if i were to say use intel’s driver support assistant.. opening it with default browser is a waste of time. it would be best opened with… edge (least amount of blockers)
but obviously, it should be an option for me to pick what to open what with..
In Soviet America operating systems owns YOU.
Lol, never had any problems with Edge. Maybe because I don’t use all kinds of rubbish like “News” and “Interests”?
I just firewalled it and haven’t remembered it since.
Agreed. I firewalled Edge as much as possible and would never use the built-in services garbage that comes with the OS.
Micro$oft = communism
Linux = freedom
Some quotes from famous people plus my modest additions.
“Even apart from a history of slavery, the same contradictions remain true for contemporary Americans who are pleased to believe they “live in a democracy” although they spend the far greater part of their lives in undemocratic institutions such as families, schools, capitalist workplaces—not to mention the military and bureaucratic organizations of government itself. Hey look, people: the democracy has no clothes.”
Marshall Sahlins
“when I see multitudes of entirely naked savages scorn European voluptuousness and endure hunger, fire, the sword, and death to preserve only their independence, I feel that it does not behoove slaves to reason about freedom.”
J. J. Rousseau
“See … how cruel the whites look. Their lips are thin, their noses sharp, their faces furrowed and distorted by folds. Their eyes have a staring expression; they are always seeking something; they are always uneasy and restless. We do not know what they want. We do not understand them. We think they are mad.”
Words of an old Pueblo Indian
Here are two additions from me:
“Good morning” The words without contents such as “democracy”, “freedom”, “choice” etc., actually sell infinitely better and more effectively than Microsoft, Google etc. This is why the show goes on!
Here is a very sad example. In history the poor, always majority, lived by sustainable economy. In fact they were obliged to. But the world goes crazy for a little rich girl that is pumped because she is absolutely ignorant. She actually believes the paragons of the palace lackeys, called scientists in polite circles, who serve all religions, all political regimes, all ideologies with the same mantra, i.e., “We are serving the humanity”. And they even blame the ignorants for what is happening to world. She, like those pomp her, is obliged too. Surely the rich want the Nature which is nothing but a cache-sex for Natural & Human Resources to be saved to go on as before.
Hi everyone!
Zorin OS 16.
Bye everyone!
This only scratches the surface of what MS will do to Windows in the future.
All big tech is now user and productivity hostile, designed to extract money and not allow the user to get work done.
Martin –
I believe it’s high time for Ghacks
to to write a simple article
on how to switch
from windows to LINUX
(Ubuntu, Mint, many other options),
for Users who are still undecided…
Recipe-wise,
stepXstep,
without tech jargon.
I did switch,
5 years ago.
Linux (Ubuntu in my case),
is stable, easy, reliable updates and… free .
Also has great GUI options.
I will never go back
to that windows nightmare.
That would be nice. But probably somewhat difficult?
I would love to go to Linux.
I do not use “store” applications on any Windows, and would not want to on any OS. I am over the top with trying to stop telemetry and data collection.
Linux still has those issues.
Take mint for example. I want to update stuff when I want to not when the OS tells me to. I don’t want software managers running telling me to update. I will control the process thank you very much.
Mint also comes loaded with bloatware. They call them useful apps but for the most part, I don’t use any of them.
I have some very complex excel spreadsheets which alternative programs struggle with. I’m sure I could modify them to achieve the results in other programs, I just don’t have the time. So it looks like Wine.
There are other programs like DVDFab that don’t run on Linux. But Wine doesn’t seem to be that great from what I read.
Of course, my comments are based on a lack of experience with Linux. I keep running into password and keyring issues. I’ll be damned if I am going to enter a password every 15 minutes every time I want to do something, and that kinda kills my Linux enthusiasm
I have been considering this for some time at home. I am thinking about trying Windowsfx (Linux) https://www.windowsfx.org/ as it can run Windows software. That was I am not stuck with Microsoft defaults.
It’s very simple, start with Mint Cinnamon and go from there if you don’t like it. It’s very much like Windows.
Most distros are easy, just download an ISO, make it bootable with Etcher, Rufus, whatever the distribution (distro) recommends and install. Follow the instructions.
(Installing Windows from an ISO ie exactly the same except the media creation tool makes the downloaded OS bootable.)
Some distros are beasts and definitely not for newbies. Arch and Debian are good examples.
Play with stuff here:
https://distrowatch.com/
You can trial a distro, run it online here without messing up your computer:
https://distrotest.net/index.php
Kinda cool, worked OK for the ones I’ve tried.
Linux terminology is the main WTF? confusion but understanding anything beyond the basics is not needed at first.
It’s a very good idea to have a dedicated computer to play with distros vs. dual booting or whatever.
@ddk
– I’ve been using Linux for 5-6 years now and I probably know 5-6 terminal commands. You may be a little exaggerating. ;-)
– Steep learning curve – come on, it’s a computer. You point a mouse and click. It took me maybe 3 weeks to be certain I won’t break something, but looking back, there wasn’t much danger. You just learn as you go. When you switch to iOS or Android there’s a curve too, a much steeper one.
– KDE Plasma looks like Windows 12 right now and is the most advanced desktop there is. Other desktops can easily be changed with an icon pack and a theme. No biggie. Only Mint sorta looks like it’s from the Windows 7 era.
– “OK just for very basic, casual use, your typical web browsing, email, social media confinements” – that’s what gamers say for any Windows system with less than 6 cores. Come on. :-D I record and mix music, edit photos, convert multimedia, listen to Spotify, do my finances, and whatever else I need to do on a normal, honest computer. I’m not a gamer, never was. And I don’t encounter bugs, if you follow this website they are listing Windows issues all the time. My relative makes a living as a Linux sysadmin. Get something Ubuntu-based, give it a few weeks and you’re set. The guy in that blog is trying to be smarter than he is.
I agree with @MdN.
Linux on the desktop is a reality. It’s functional and stable. You can have full control (if you wish), or let the distro do it for you.
The only thing you may have issues with are (possibly) high-end games and commercia software (Adobe stuff???). I don’t have a need for either, so not sure. Everything else you find in abundance and great variety.
If you want a clean/simple desktop environment, no problem. If you prefere eye-candy, it’s available.
If you absolutely cannot live without Windows, install it in a Virtualbox virtual machine inside Linux.
> My relative makes a living as a Linux sysadmin
Lol, here is the secret to a successful transition.
> whatever else I need to do on a normal, honest computer
Why not just use a normal, honest computer?.. I never understood why people without a professional need for GNU/Linux should torment themselves with half-baked, poorly working replacements for normal software.
Confirms Microsoft’s drift towards the Apple proprietary syndrome. Dictatorship, but with far more implications.
Not only have I remained a user of Win7 but moreover, the moment I realized Microsoft’s attempt to push on the upgrade to Win10 by *all* means had I decided to block connections to (boycott is the word) the company’s servers by all means. This is feasible for Microsoft, far tougher for Google where a radical approach is not feasible (in the latter case it’s the “block all except” approach).
I still happen to hesitate about my post-Win7 decision. The company’s steps as this latest one described in this article contribute to a “Win7 will be my last Microsoft OS” perspective.
hi tom, appreciate your thoughts. i too am on win7P…newly installed after giving up on 10. am amazed at how well everything works. i bought a refurbed Dell 990MT I7 just for this and all is quick and resonsive, sandboxed and tightened up as well as i can make it. its like coming home to a warm welcome. have tried the linux road and gave it a good shot…too many programs i use dont work with it.. nothing bad about it…just windows 7 is my cup of tea.
I am still on Win7 as well. I am quite comfortable with it after all these years and plan to keep it as my main system for the foreseeable future. I also have a dual-boot machine with Win10 and Ubuntu Linux. Win10 doesn’t want to play nicely in that environment, so I have to remove it. Problem is, some important apps are starting to depreciate Win7 now, with PIA vpn being the latest.
I am Tom Hawack (don’t worry, no Hawack Tower here!) and I endorse Clas’ comment :=)
@Tom Hawack: MacOS is IMHO “OK”. I mostly use that for Garageband and some other artsy/crafty hobbies such as photography. There’s a LOT of hype with their products tho which isn’t always a reality for the end user.
@Klaas Vaak: True about Safari. BUT MacOS makes it VERY difficult to use software outside their ecosystem. Quite often I attempt to DL outside the app store just to be met with a popup stating Apple can’t scan the app for viruses and will not open that particular program. I think there’s something called Gatekeeper which I’ll have to take a look at.
If you make the switch to Linux, be prepared for quite a radical change in your computing experience.
Lots of bugs, steep learning curve, terrible themes and designs. OK just for very basic, casual use, your typical web browsing, email, social media confinements. You will HAVE to get used to command line usage, def no ways around that.
A good read on Linux is a site called “Main Linux Problems” by Artem Tashkinov. Long winded discourse on his experiences.
All that being said, MS has turned into a cheap cheesy outfit esp with the Edge fiasco.
They used to refer to them as the evil empire, many are finding out why.
@ddk: you said “BUT MacOS makes it VERY difficult to use software outside their ecosystem.”
That is patently untrue. I have been able to install every single non-MacOS app that I want without having to spend more time to get it done than I would on Windows or Linux. I have not even had to use workarounds.
hmmm ok. Then my setup might be worth looking into, I’ve had issues with a lot of blocks in place preventing further use of an app until I authorize its use thru settings,
I’ll have to look into it more.
BTW, most are mainstream programs, like Chromium but every update there’s a notification about virus scanning issues and can’t use the app until I reauthorize it in the system. Strange.
This is MacOS Monterey on their silicon chip with the firewall on.
@Tom Hawack: MacOS does not stop a user from using another browser than Safari. Installing another browser on MacOS is not a problem.
That is not to say Apple is a darling, far from it, but the kind of behaviour mentioned in the article is not what Apple does.
@Klaas Vaak,
> MacOS does not stop a user from using another browser than Safari. Installing another browser on MacOS is not a problem.
I didn’t know that. Remains what is to experienced with the MacOS other than browser tolerance. Half objectively half subjectively the company doesn’t trigger more than a distant curiosity. The price as well is enough to decide a few or more snobs which is not my case. Maybe am I dealing with clichés : I’ve never ran a Mac.
@Tom Hawack: I went from Windows to Linux to MacOS. MacOS has a lot of useful apps on board out of the box. It also has some I do not use, such as its spreadsheet app (proprietary file format), word processing, and some more. Overall I find the experience a pleasant one, although I am uneasy about the spying.
As for the snob side, undoubtedly there is that aspect which is actually nurtured by the snobs themselves. Nevertheless, I believe one gets good value for money, esp. if you consider the amount of messing around Microsoft puts people through, while with Linux that is part of the deal; even with a user friendly distro like Mint I spent more time trying to get it right than I do with MacOS.
This is nothing more than a vulgar monopoly creation.
This is not allowed in Europe and therefore a case for the European Union court to point out their errors to Microsoft.
Perhaps it is time for the European Union to also check whether the large influential software manufacturers can market their product at all.
I was an Edge Chromium ‘fanboy’ for months until it failed while buying an airplane ticket. Egde crashed unexpectedly in the payment process and I was not able to recover the same cheap flight. And this is how my love history with Egde ended. :[
Happy to see the hack is removed since it’s a security issue. What Edge Deflector was doing is termed as protocol hijack and can be used by hackers easily.
How much is Microsoft paying you?
> Is this something else that will be referred to court?
I do hope so.
EEF activism please.
Block Edge with firewall and hosts file, disable all Edge services and tasks. Boot from a usb drive with a linux os on it and rename/destroy each and every instance of Edge you can find on your computer. Never ever click on anything that says Edge while using windows. Microsoft Edge is malware. Microsoft Edge is spyware. And finally: Use anything but Windows on a computer that is connected to the internet. If you absolutely MUST use windows, re-evaluate your life’s choices.
I have used Windows since the 3.1. Put up with Windows 95 C version with Internet explorer which killed all your performance. Loved XP. Struggled with Vista. Upgraded to Windows 7. I even installed millennium for a very short time. Windows 10 had it’s faults and Microsoft’s insistence on us all using their web browser is nothing new, we have all put up with it and some of us have even found ways to allow freedom of choice.
Sorry but I’ve had it with being told what to consume, I don’t want software that comes back after every update after I have taken the time to uninstall it. There was a time when software that did this kind of thing was called a virus. Viruses also seem to have similar effects on system performance as Edge does, uninstall it and see the difference especially on an older PC.
I made the switch over to Linux more than six months ago when I first started hearing about Windows 11 and I’m not looking back. I get the choice of what to install without all the bloat, on a system that is fast, light and nimble. To be honest I wish I had switched long ago.
As long as we continue to buy newer faster machines in ordr to run the latest operating system then Microsoft will continue to dictate our use of inferior bloated resource hogging software. If you have a fast PC, that should not justify using badly written software ‘just because you can’. We all have a responsibility for the future of our planet to actively question this waste of resources in the name of corporate gain.
I’m with Buzz, 100%. I have been using Microsoft since before Windows. It had its ups and downs, but it is getting ridiculous. I have Linux Mint on an old laptop and it is running well. If I am forced to upgrade to Windows 11 before it becomes reasonably stable, I will quit MS altogether. And that includes two desktops and two laptops that are running Win10.
+1
I’ve been a Mac user since forever. On any particular release they are very good about such choices. However, they are FAR WORSE in abandoning support for old hardware. I have an old MacBookPro 17” with quad i7 and SSD which is very usable. It’s stuck at High Sierra-a crap release. I needed to install a new and very expensive graphics card in a beefy MacPro to upgrade. There are hacks to get around it and even run MacOS on PC but more trouble than worth. I have a decent PC I use for Win10 for a Software Defined Ham Radio, but it won’t support Win11 and I don’t need It. I also have a new and VERY beefy iMac PRO 4k 27”. 128gb ram and 2T SSD. I’m going to try a Win11 VM to see if that works when I get time.
As far as this browser crap goes, has anyone done a registry dive? Or is that what the current tools do?
Edge sucks. It brings up so much crap I don’t want. Currently running Brave.
So Martin, what would be some of the built-in apps and programs that use the proprietary microsoft-edge:// protocol (so that I can avoid them)? TIA
I suspect Intuit QuickBooks may also use this protocol. They have a habit of using the protocol to call up the Microsoft Browser only regardless of the default browser. Only a business would likely run into this.
Internet Search results of Windows Search.
News and Interests.
Widgets.
Support links.
There is probably more.
Then I guess I wouldn’t really be running into the situation very often, since I use none of these except (of course) the support links.
Is this something else that will be referred to court?
Indeed, how is this not the same as what Gates did in 1990’s when he kill Netscape with the same sort of practices with IE?
I use Edge in Windows 10 and so far I have been happy. But yesterday I clicked on “install Edge assistant” popup and it created 100 popups asking me to login. Had to kill Edge few times and clicked off all popups off. And yes, it was not a virus, but a Microsoft creation.
I have too many needed programs and apps in Windows 10 to realistically completely learn Linux yet, and I’ve had Zero interest in becoming an Apple “byte” just yet. But I recall having bought and paid for (I know, licenced) the earlier MS operating systems from Windows 3.11 forward to be ready to adopt Win 11 just yet. But those other two are out there, though not without some cost in time and cash, if I get tired of the constant struggle with the “free” Windows. Maybe no good deed really does go unpunished!
Hi Donal !
I was in the same situation as yours, six years ago. Spent most of my professional life on Windows, starting from… DOS. Get totally fed up with W8. So, at the age of 56, I migrated to Linux. Some hard times in the beginning, but once you’ve understood that you won’t and don’t need to recreate the **exactly** same working environment, you’ll never regret it. And never pay again for shitty scrap. A real liberation.
(Sorry for my English, I’m not native…)