20 Microsoft Edge Tips And Tricks

20 Microsoft Edge Tips And Tricks
6-Min Read|Aug 24, 2021|

20 Microsoft Edge Tips And Tricks

The more you know about how a given solution works, the better a user you’ll be. If you never learn how to use more advanced features available with a given app, you’ll be missing out on ways to improve the quality of your experience.

Case in point: do you know about these features offered by Microsoft Edge?

Customize Your Open Page

Did you know you can configure the opening page in Microsoft Edge to suit your preferences? Whether it’s the  Start page, New tab page, Previous page, or A specific page or pages, you can customize your startup page by following these steps:

  1. Click the “…” in the top right-hand corner
  2. Select Settings
  3. Select your preference under “Open with”

Customize Your “New Tab” Page

In addition to your opening page, you can also customize the page that appears when you open a new tab. To do so, follow these steps:

  • Click the “…” in the top right-hand corner
    • Select Settings
    • Select your preference under “Open new tabs with”

Import Your Favorites & Bookmarks

If you’ve recently started using Microsoft Edge after switching from another browser, you should know you can easily migrate your favorites and bookmarks. Follow these steps to do so:

  1. Click the “Hub” button in the top right-hand corner (its icon is three horizontal lines)
  2. Select “Import favorites”
  3. Select your browsers and complete the process

Reading View

This feature offers an immersive experience to cut out potential distractions while you’re reading or writing. To enable this feature, select the “Book” icon in the top left-hand corner.

Make A Reading List

Microsoft Edge also allows you to easily generate a reading list. Add articles and other pages you want to save for later by following these steps:

  1. Click the star icon in the top right-hand corner
  2. Select “Reading list”
  3. Click “Add”

Share A Webpage

Need to send a link or screenshot to a coworker or contact? You can do so in Microsoft Edge by following these steps:

  1. Click “Share” in the top right-hand corner
  2. Select the app through which you want to share the webpage’s link
  3. If you want to share a screenshot, select the name of the webpage in this menu
  4. Select “Screenshot”
  5. Select the app through which you want to share the screenshot

Annotate A Web Page

Microsoft Edge makes it easy to make notes directly on a webpage. This function can come in handy when you’re sharing websites with coworkers, allowing you to point out specific sections, draw their attention to a key feature, and more. Do so by following these steps:

  1. Navigate to the webpage you want to annotate
  2. Click the Pen icon
  3. Select “Type”

Write your note

  • Highlight A Web Page: You can also highlight content directly on a webpage to specify certain information at a glance. Here’s how to do so:
    • Navigate to the webpage you want to annotate
    • Click the Pen icon
    • Select “Highlight”
    • Highlight sections of the webpage as needed

Add A Website To Your Start Menu

You can add a frequently visited or especially useful website to your start menu by following these steps:

  1. Click the “…” in the top right-hand corner
  2. Select “Pin to Start”

Choose Microsoft Edge’s Theme

Microsoft Edge offers two different themes — light and dark. The former is the usual theme, and the latter is ideal for users that want to conserve battery energy or that prefer to work at night. Here’s how to select the theme you prefer:

  1. Click the “…” in the top right-hand corner
  2. Select “Settings”
  3. Select your preferred theme under “Choose a theme”

Private Browsing

Similar to other browsers, Microsoft Edge offers a feature that does not collect browsing data (history, cookies, cache, etc.). You can enable this mode by following these steps:

  1. Click the Main Menu icon
  2. Select “New InPrivate Window”

Enable/Disable Flash

Microsoft Edge offers Flash player capabilities and makes it easy to turn it on and off. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Main Menu icon
  2. Select “Settings”
  3. Select “Advanced Settings”
  4. Enable or disable “Use Adobe Flash Player”

Home Button

While Microsoft Edge’s Home Button is disabled by default, you can enable it by following these steps:

  1. Click the Main Menu icon
  2. Select “Settings”
  3. Select “Advanced Settings”
  4. Enable or disable “Home Button”

Favorites Bar

You can access your favorite websites and pages easily by using the Favorites Bar. If you don’t currently see this feature in Microsoft Edge, you can enable it by following these steps:

  1. Click the Main Menu icon
  2. Select “Settings”
  3. Select “Show the favorites bar”

Default Search Engine

If you prefer one search engine over another in Microsoft Edge, you can customize it by following these steps:

  1. Search for something in the address bar using the search engine that you want as your default
  2. Click “Settings and more …”
  3. Click “Privacy search, and services”
  4. Scroll down and click “Address bar and search (near the bottom)” and click on the arrow
  5. Select your preferred search engine from the options displayed

Use Internet Explorer

You may occasionally try to view a page that requires the Silverlight plugin, which Microsoft Edge does not support. The good news is that Internet Explorer does, which you can directly access from Microsoft Edge by following these steps:

  1. Click the Main Menu icon
  2. Select “Open with Internet Explorer”

Enable Caret Browsing

This feature allows you to navigate web pages using your keyboard — no mouse or trackpad required. Here’s how to enable it:

  1. Press F7 on your keyboard
  2. Confirm the subsequent pop-up

Learn Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Each and every keyboard shortcut available in Microsoft Edge helps users to work more efficiently and productively. However, the following five, in particular, are especially useful:

  1. Ctrl + T — Open a new tab and switch to it
  2. Ctrl + Shift + T — Reopen the last closed tab, and switch to it
  3. Ctrl + M — Mute the current tab (toggle)
  4. Ctrl + Shift + U — Start or stop Read Aloud
  5. F9 — Enter or exit Immersive Reader

Configure Privacy Settings

You can specify Microsoft Edge’s many security and privacy features according to your preferences by following these steps:

  1. Click the Main Menu icon
  2. Select “Settings”
  3. Select “Advanced Settings”
  4. Configure the features under “Privacy and Services” according to your preferences

Add-Ons

Microsoft Edge also offers support for thousands of extensions, which offer specific features and integrations with your favorite apps. CLICK HERE to check out the available add-ons and integrate them into your Microsoft Edge experience.

To learn more about the features offered by Microsoft solutions and apps, make sure to check out our on-demand library of past Microsoft webinars, and see the schedule for upcoming broadcasts.