Microsoft has taken plenty of heat over its default browser practices on Windows 11. When the new OS launched, it seemed the company was forcing users to Microsoft Edge by making switching to browsers complicated. While a later update brought back one-click browser switching, Windows 10 and Chrome are still doing it better.
Specifically, with the release of Windows 10 22H2 this fall, Google’s Chrome browser will be able to click a pop-up option within the browser. Google is currently developing the feature in preview (Chrome Dev version 106.0.5231.2).
When the user interacts with the pop-up, Chrome will become the default browser on Windows 10. Hopefully, we will see a similar functionality come to Windows 11 too. Not least because while Microsoft has simplified the process on Win11, it remains too complex for users who don’t want Microsoft Edge as their default.
Coming Soon?
Specifically, you can now head to the Settings app in Windows 11, navigate to the default apps section and choose a new browser and make it default. In other words, a simple settings change instead of manually making changes to file associations.
Settings > Apps > Default Apps > locate browser > choose Set Default.
So, when can we expect to see the new option in Chrome?
Well, Chrome Dev channel releases are usually around three months in front of the stable version, give or take a few weeks. Microsoft is reportedly going to release Windows 10 22H2 in September or October, which puts its release in line with Google’s plans.
Tip of the day: After years of hefting a laptop around, you inevitably build up a menagerie of Wi-Fi networks. For the most part, they’ll sit on your PC, hardly used, but at times a change in configuration can make it difficult to connect to a network your computer already remembers. At this point, it can be beneficial to make Windows forget a Wi-Fi network and delete its network profile.
