Microsoft is sneakily trying to import tabs from other browsers into Edge

Martin Brinkmann
Nov 13, 2024
Updated • Nov 13, 2024
Microsoft Edge
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Windows users who use a browser like Chrome on their devices as the main daily driver may be targeted by Microsoft's latest attempt at persuading them to switch to Edge.

The details:

  • Microsoft Edge suddenly starts on system start on the devices.
  • It displays a prompt that advertises the benefits of Edge.
  • This prompt includes an option to import data from other browsers; checked by default.

When Edge launches on start, it displays the "Enhance your browsing experience with Copilot in Microsoft Edge" prompt.

The main focus of the ad is Copilot's AI capabilities that Microsoft baked into Edge. Observant users may notice a prechecked settings. It reads: "Bring over your data from other browsers regularly. You can manage your preferences at any time in Settings".

The prompt has a big highly visible "confirm and continue" button. There is no "decline" or "cancel" button next to it. You find a small x-icon in the top right corner of the prompt. It may be difficult to spot, as it looks similar to the star icons that Microsoft placed near it.

If you do not want Edge to import your browsing data from other browsers, you need to uncheck the option first before selecting "confirm and continue", or activate the x-icon to close the prompt.

The new pop-up in Edge that includes the Chrome import option (image credit: The Verge)

The Verge says that it has received confirmation from Microsoft that the prompt is indeed a new Edge feature. Microsoft also pointed out that users could turn it off, if they did not want it.

Clearly, Microsoft seems to believe that it is perfectly normal to introduce intrusive behavior on user systems. Let Edge suddenly start with the system and show a prompt that is clearly designed to get the data from as many users as possible imported into Microsoft Edge.

Is this strategy lucrative enough for Microsoft to anger some users who are exposed to the prompt? Does it push enough users to Edge to make it worthwhile? Or does it have the opposite effect?

Not Microsoft's first rodeo

Last year, news broke that Edge was importing data from Chrome automatically. Users started to notice that their tabs from Chrome would suddenly appear in Microsoft's browser.

The imports included the browsing history and they might also include other data, including passwords.

Microsoft did not give users options back then. Edge was configured to import automatically and there was little that users could do before they started Edge to avoid that.

This is not to say that Google is not using its might to push its Chrome browser over others. Two wrongs do not make a right, and it would be beneficial to all users if the company's would stop trying to snag users from each other using methods that are clearly not in the best interests of users.

How to configure Edge's auto-import functionality

Edge users may turn off the auto-import functionality in the following way:

  1. Load edge://settings/profiles/importBrowsingData
  2. Activate the ">" icon under "Import data from Google Chrome".
  3. Toggle "Import browser data from Google Chrome on each launch" to off.

Closing Words

Windows users who do not use Edge may be able to uninstall it. I still cannot, as the promised uninstall option is still grayed out.

Now You: which browser do you use mainly? What is your take on the new prompt that Microsoft is showing?

Summary
Article Name
Microsoft is sneakily trying to import tabs from other browsers into Edge
Description
Microsoft is showing a prompt in Edge on some Windows systems that uses a deceptive design to import data from other browsers.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. Z said on December 5, 2024 at 3:01 am
    Reply

    Latest edge has no option to disable it in edge://settings/profiles/importBrowsingData

  2. T said on November 20, 2024 at 11:01 pm
    Reply

    The only thing that will stop them is the law… we need to take Microsoft to court

  3. Ty said on November 20, 2024 at 10:58 pm
    Reply

    What about the Microsoft Edge feature that sends everything you type in any personal chat window including to facebook and amazon employees or your bank or wherever to Microsoft cloud? turn it off under language settings;

    what about the setting that allows microsoft to leak all your passwords? disable it under passwords setting ‘Scan for leaked passwords’

    Monopolists like Microsoft and Google are in dire need of the full force of the law to come cracking down upon them and reign in their unhinged reign of behavior.

  4. T said on November 20, 2024 at 10:25 pm
    Reply

    What really pisses me off is how microsoft gang rapes bing down users throats with no way around it; used to take a few weeks before bing search would be forced in edge; now its every 30 minutes or so I am forced to switch to my default search engine. Even Edge group policy is misleading and does not switch default search. I am ready to throw my computer out the window or switch to another browser.

  5. Steve said on November 15, 2024 at 10:57 am
    Reply

    I see stupid people.

    1. Boltazar said on November 15, 2024 at 2:23 pm
      Reply

      Get out of your home. As easy as this.

  6. Sebas said on November 15, 2024 at 5:05 am
    Reply

    I could not remove Edge until 3 weeks ago. After reading this post I checked again and lo and behold I can now remove it. (I live in the EU).

    I don’t know. Vivaldi would be the successor on my desktop but the whole settings system for me is frustrating illogical, way overdone wit a zillion choices, when I need only a few.

    In Edge you can remove all cookies when closing, except the ones you have marked not to remove. In Vivaldi you have to remove all cookies manually, one by one, before closing. ( I hope I did oversee a likewise setting as in Edge).

    And Edge has the lowest processor and memory consumption of all browsers I know.

    But, Edge takes away choices and force you to use their new privacy robbing settings. It simply can not come to any good with new updates.

    Though choice for me. I keep using Firefox with container tabs, but am temped to remove Edge, buy a 400 pages book about Vivaldi and install it.

    1. Klaas Vaak said on November 25, 2024 at 3:33 pm
      Reply

      @Sebas: in Vivaldi you can just use the settings you use and leave the other ones unchanged. You are not obliged to use them all.

    2. Accurate said on November 15, 2024 at 2:25 pm
      Reply

      Edge is good. Don’t let the inner hate towards Microsoft to domain yourself.

      1. Klaas Vaak said on November 25, 2024 at 3:32 pm
        Reply

        @Accurate: Edge is good, esp. for Micro$oft.

  7. VioletMoon said on November 14, 2024 at 3:59 pm
    Reply

    As far as I know, one can uninstall Edge if that’s what is really wanted. I would think twice. Here are two methods that are equally effective:

    https://github.com/TeamLimiter/EdgeRemover

    https://github.com/ShadowWhisperer/Remove-MS-Edge

    Issue resolved.

  8. Anonymous said on November 14, 2024 at 12:17 am
    Reply

    Sad to say, Microsoft has become a firm that creates and distributes malware. They no longer create any reliable or useful software.

  9. boris said on November 14, 2024 at 12:10 am
    Reply

    This is not far enough. Microsoft should open Edge with all tabs and setting imported and pretend that it is Chrome. If Microsoft going to trick people, why not go all the way?

  10. Paulus. said on November 13, 2024 at 10:56 pm
    Reply

    Firefox, Waterfox, Tor browser, Librewolf en Basilik.

  11. Mike said on November 13, 2024 at 8:55 pm
    Reply

    Capitalism, where proprietary software behaves more like malware every day.

    1. boris said on November 14, 2024 at 4:00 pm
      Reply

      @Mike

      It is not a particular Capitalism problem. It is a problem of companies that are not used to compete on merits. Microsoft was almost always in monopolistic position in markets where they entered. And when they lose that position fairly or not, they just do not know what to do except forcing themselves down your throat as usual.

    2. 45 RPM said on November 14, 2024 at 9:04 am
      Reply

      @Mike

      Unlike the complete privacy enjoyed in North Korea or Cuba or China, huh?

    3. Jacinto said on November 14, 2024 at 8:49 am
      Reply

      Vivaldi is a must have. Mobile version is even better than Firefox.

  12. Alan said on November 13, 2024 at 3:48 pm
    Reply

    @Diamond
    Is that a rhetorical question?
    Anyrode Micro$hite keep trying to force this and that crap on folks’s machines it’s getting very boring.

    1. Diamond said on November 14, 2024 at 8:53 am
      Reply

      Really? Again, what, where or which is the problem? Everything is full of annoying of privacy issues and everybody is having fun. Do you ever now the problematic way of life behind WhatsApp, Facebook , Tik Tok and so forth? Why do you hate Microsoft at this rate?

  13. Brad said on November 13, 2024 at 1:47 pm
    Reply

    “Windows users who do not use Edge may be able to uninstall it. I still cannot, as the promised uninstall option is still grayed out.”

    Same here. According to the below Microsoft article from eight months ago, it should be possible to uninstall Microsoft Edge from [Windows Settings > Apps > Installed Apps] or the Control Panel. However, the “Uninstall” option to uninstall Microsoft Edge is still greyed out for me as well. I thought the deadline for designated gatekeepers to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) was 6 March 2024…

    https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2024/03/07/microsoft-dma-compliance-windows-linkedin/

    “…Microsoft did make changes to Windows to comply with other provisions of the DMA and is delivering these changes to Windows PCs in the EEA.

    The Edge browser and the Bing web search functionality were redesigned so that users can uninstall these applications from Windows using the standard Windows mechanisms that are available for uninstallation if they choose to do so.”

  14. ECJ said on November 13, 2024 at 12:58 pm
    Reply

    Edge PM: Let’s create a browser based on Chrome, but with even worse privacy!

    Satya: Brilliant!

    Seriously, use Firefox, Brave or Vivaldi instead.

  15. Clint Burtfield said on November 13, 2024 at 12:20 pm
    Reply

    Aaahh the pure joy after removing Edge and Copilot from my computers, along with everything else Microsoft thinks I should use.

  16. Lizard said on November 13, 2024 at 12:03 pm
    Reply

    Oh yeah, I can’t wait to enhance my browsing experience with Copilot….Not!

  17. Ben said on November 13, 2024 at 10:46 am
    Reply

    You are posting comments to quickly ??? Really?

    1. John said on November 13, 2024 at 2:17 pm
      Reply

      Microsoft always finds a way to irritate its customers.

    2. Fruit said on November 13, 2024 at 2:05 pm
      Reply

      Bad times.

  18. Stella said on November 13, 2024 at 10:27 am
    Reply

    They’re making worse mistakes that they made with Internet Exploder.

    1. Mike said on November 13, 2024 at 8:58 pm
      Reply

      Exactly. Back in the 1990s, companies would ask you if you wanted to switch browsers once, with a “don’t ask me again” button. And they would respect and honor your choice. And they wouldn’t even think of grabbing data from another program like this.

      But the reality is that behavior like this clearly demonstrates how completely untrustworthy they are.

  19. Diamond said on November 13, 2024 at 10:12 am
    Reply

    And what is the problem?

    1. John Wold said on November 14, 2024 at 4:21 pm
      Reply

      Found the Microsoft employee.

    2. Piskin said on November 14, 2024 at 12:22 pm
      Reply

      None at all. Creepy software worldwide with no single problem neither.

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