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Microsoft Edge is a good browser but for some reason Microsoft keeps trying to shove it down everyone\u2019s throat and make it more difficult to use rivals like Chrome or Firefox. Microsoft has now started notifying IT admins that it will force Outlook and Teams to ignore the default web browser on Windows and open links in Microsoft Edge instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Reddit users<\/a> have posted messages from the Microsoft 365 admin center that reveal how Microsoft is going to roll out this change. \u201cWeb links from Azure Active Directory (AAD) accounts and Microsoft (MSA) accounts in the Outlook for Windows app will open in Microsoft Edge in a single view showing the opened link side-by-side with the email it came from,\u201d reads a message to IT admins from Microsoft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While this won\u2019t affect the default browser setting in Windows, it\u2019s yet another part of Microsoft 365 and Windows that totally ignores your default browser choice for links. Microsoft already does this with the Widgets system in Windows 11 and even the search experience, where you\u2019ll be forced into Edge if you click a link even if you have another browser set as default.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n IT admins aren\u2019t happy with many complaining in various threads on Reddit<\/a>, spotted by Neowin<\/em><\/a>. If Outlook wasn\u2019t enough, Microsoft says \u201ca similar experience will arrive in Teams\u201d soon with web links from chats opening in Microsoft Edge side-by-side with Teams chats. Microsoft seems to be rolling this out gradually across Microsoft 365 users, and IT admins get 30 days notice before it rolls out to Outlook. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Microsoft 365 Enterprise IT admins will be able to alter the policy, but those on Microsoft 365 for business will have to manage this change on individual machines. That\u2019s going to leave a lot of small businesses with the unnecessary headache of working out what has changed. Imagine being less tech savvy, clicking a link in Outlook, and thinking you\u2019ve lost all your favorites because it didn\u2019t open in your usual browser.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The notifications to IT admins come just weeks after Microsoft promised significant changes<\/a> to the way Windows manages which apps open certain files or links by default. At the time Microsoft said it believed \u201cwe have a responsibility to ensure user choices are respected\u201d and that it\u2019s \u201cimportant that we lead by example with our own first party Microsoft products.\u201d Forcing people into Microsoft Edge and ignoring default browsers is anything but respecting user choice, and it\u2019s gross that Microsoft continues to abuse this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Windows 11 also launched with a messy and cumbersome process to set default apps, which was a step back from Windows 10 and drew concern<\/a>\u00a0from competing browser makers like Mozilla, Opera, and Vivaldi. A Windows 11 update has improved that process, but it\u2019s clear Microsoft is still interested in finding ways to circumvent default browser choices. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n