You can rename EdgeDeflector.exe to msedge.exe and it works as-is. However, it will cause other problems with your system. The Edge background update system will also reverse the change within a day or so.
FWIW seems to me that if you rename msedge.exe to somethingelse.exe, that those microsoft-edge links don't work any longer. I don't know if you can actually get it to open another browser (I tried renaming firefox.exe to msedge.exe without achieving the desired result) but at least you can stop it from opening Edge, if that's what you want.
Can you replace the edge executable with a symlink or a copy of your preferred browser ?
A common trick we used to use back in the day was to rename the microsoft executables that we didn't want to start automatically, it silently failed and everything was fine until next batch of updates which detected this and fixed it.
There's also the dark bit where changing your default browser in Windows doesn't apply globally.
That is, some UI widgets will still open Edge even if you change the default.
There used to be an awesome open source project called EdgeDeflector that would fix that. Microsoft got wise to it and found a way to neutralize it, which killed the project. https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector
Also worth mentioning, it is practically impossible to remove Edge from a Win 10 (and probably 11) installation. I tried nuking everything i could find, registry entries, Trusted Installer stuff, nope, keeps reinstalling itself after every update. I gave up.
Some Windows 10 updates add Edge into the taskbar if you move it out of it. Hilariously, if you install multiple Windows updates in a batch, you might end up with multiple Edge launchers in the taskbar. I think at least once, it changed the default browser back to Edge, too
You can do that but Windows will just put edge back next time you update, or on some schedule, or who f*'ing knows anymore? I've done it several times, verified it won't start from the menu, won't start if I enable News and Weather and click it but somehow a couple days later it's back. I gave up trying to fight with it. If I click something and it opens in edge I just close it and try to never click that thing again.
I've given up using Windows at home, I don't get time lately to play games so I don't miss it. But I'm stuck using it at work and I catch myself wasting time getting upset about Microsoft's behavior with regards to this and have to just remind myself not to worry about it, close the window and move on... I'm there and getting paid to work, not to mess around with stupid crap like this, despite how much it irritates me.
Probably not everyone does so, but I certainly do.
The more MS tries to reinstate MS-EdgeExplorer as a windows locked default,
the greater lengths I go to, to ensure it is continously disabled and uninstalled. My experience so far is that this has to be repeated
frequently, as some mechanism in Windows or Windows Update
enthusiastically re-adds Edge often :-/.
I don't use Windows, but according to the article, this is a new update. Edge was already built-in a lot of shortcuts in Windows 11, but people used tools like EdgeDeflector to circumvent that. The new update prevented that from happening, resulting in an error message when trying to do it. Seems like a deliberate choice to me.
No. I must be doing something differently. To be fair, Edge is not forced upon me, as I am using Firefox, but the only thing I do not like is that Windows 10 is updating itself whenever it wants.
Ah, and I installed Windows 10, that does not use Microsoft account(you might had to disconnect internet cable for that), so it might be the main problem.
They fixed this with Windows 10, actually. Which of course, upset people because it defaults people to Edge, and asks people to give Edge a try when they change it.
I recall that you can't uninstall Edge because it shows up in weird places all over the system.
As for disabling, maybe some of it can be disabled. If the myriad anecdotes across the web are to be believed, however, then updates have a tendency to silently re-enable settings or revert defaults almost at random.
If you leave Edge installed it will start automatically and run in the background by default. But that can be disabled in the settings.
If you don't intend to use Edge, I suggest you uninstall it before you give Windows internet access. Because after Edge receives some updates, it becomes harder to remove.
Not sure. The main problem with Edge for myself was the mono-OS availability.
If Edge was available on more than just Windows I may have tested it more thorough. Basing itself on another browser, but remaining on just Windows won't help me ignore it.
Windows 8 automatically installs Edge even if you have non-essential updates turned off. I'm pretty sure I noticed it because it appeared in the taskbar.
Looks like it's a new default with the option to disable.
Is there any way to set the default to another program? Or is Microsoft going to try to lock this down like the whole Microsoft Edge, EdgeDeflector, microsoft-edge:// uri stuff?
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