Microsoft now force closes any tool aimed at opening links without Edge on Windows 11. This means when users resort to a third-party utility to open web queries in Windows Search with browsers other than Edge, the operating system automatically deploys a built-in shield to terminate the process. Keep reading to learn more about what it means for you.
As is a common practice among many big tech companies these days, Microsoft intends to leverage its primary products to drive traffic toward proprietary services, including the Edge browser. And so it follows that the Redmond software giant will redirect users to Edge exclusively to open web links.
Microsoft Prevents Workarounds To Open Links Without Edge Browser On Windows 11:
The above introduction brings us to the topic of a popular workaround, the EdgeDeflector, that no longer works after a recent Windows 11 update. If users attempt to open web links from Windows Search in Google Chrome, for example, using EdgeDeflector, Windows will automatically block it.
Unlike Windows 10, when you click a web result on Windows Search in Windows 11, the link will take you to Microsoft Edge. This pre-programmed behavior of opening the link on the Edge using Bing applies to any web result you click on Windows Search, regardless of the browser you have selected as your system default.
To counter enforced restrictions pertaining to the opening of web links via Edge only, a small application named EdgeDeflector directs web searches to your preferred default browser through your chosen search engine.
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While the app has well served non-Edge users for a long time, the official confirmation puts paid to its usability. To justify the decision, the Office 365 maker clarifies that the search experience on the latest Windows 11 operating system is not meant for redirection. And now, any unauthorized effort to circumvent Microsoft Edge will not work.
An upcoming Windows 11 preview build release will bring a patch to block such actions that involve apps like EdgeDeflector. Probably, the solution will arrive in the December Patch Tuesday update.
This is not the first time Microsoft tries to impose its own search engine and web browser on the platform. In Windows 11, the multinational firm requires users to change the settings for every protocol individually to make Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and other browsers the system default for that particular action.
Moreover, the new Widgets dashboard force directs users to Bing and Edge to open news articles and online content.
So far, Microsoft is remaining quiet on explaining its reason behind plugging an opening that allowed EdgeDeflector to redirect queries to the user’s preferred search engine and browser.
Although it is understandable that Microsoft would want to exploit every avenue to promote its own services, people still have the right to choose tools that help them accomplish their tasks with ease on their devices.
