Windows 11 is here, and with it, Microsoft has made several changes to how we use the operating system. Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 11, and the tech giant does not want you to use Google Chrome, Tor, Firefox, or any other browser at all. Windows 11 makes switching default browsers even more complicated while ignoring browser defaults in multiple new parts of the operating system. This post will guide you on how to change the default browser in Windows 11.
How to Change the Default Browser in Windows 11
When you install another browser, it will prompt you to choose the browser as the default browser. So if you install Chrome, it will show a pop-up asking you to set it as the default browser. Make sure you do that.
Done that should be convincing enough that the default browser has changed. However, that is not the case. Try opening a PDF file, and it will open in the Edge browser. While the process was quite simple with Windows 10, there are some extra steps with the latest operating system from Microsoft.
While Microsoft has made the process of changing the default browser much complicated than before, here’s how you can jump through some extra hoops and get the job done.
- Start by opening the Windows 11 Settings panel by either pressing Win + I on your keyboard or selecting the app icon from the Start menu.
- Now, navigate to Apps and then choose Default apps.
- Here, find and select the browser you wish to use as default by scrolling down the list of applications.
- With this, you’ll find an extensive list of file types and extensions that the browser supports, most of which will be by default linked to Microsoft’s own Edge browser. Windows 11’ll need you to change all of them to the browser of your choice.
- Start with the HTM extension. Click on it, and Windows 11 will strongly advise you to try out Edge first. You’ll have to choose Switch Anyway to move forward.
- Now, choose Google Chrome or any other browser of your preference as the default option from the dropdown and click on OK.
- Next, repeat the above-mentioned steps for the other set of extensions that include HTML, pdf, shtml, SVG, webp, XHT, FTP, HTML, and HTTPS.
With this done, you’ll now have your browser of choice as the default browser on Windows 11. That said, Microsoft Edge has improved quite a lot. Over the last year, Microsoft has progressively added new capabilities to Edge to enhance speed and startup times.
How Do I Determine What My Default Browser Is on Windows?
While you can head over to Settings > Apps > Default apps to find your default browser, you could alternatively click on a link and check which browser happens to open it by default. Simple, isn’t it?
How Do I Uninstall Microsoft Edge From My Computer?
Uninstalling Edge from Windows 11 isn’t that straightforward. To do so, open a new Command Prompt as Administrator and type cd %PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\Microsoft\Edge\Application\9*\Installer (where 9* represents a wildcard to access the Edge installation folder, which happens to be something like 9x.x.xxx.xx).
Next, key in the following command setup –uninstall –force-uninstall –system-level and press Enter to remove Edge from your computer.
What Are Some Excellent Tips and Tricks to Master Microsoft Edge?
Edge has been rebuilt from the ground up using the open-source Chromium project, the same codebase as Google Chrome. You can read our post here detailing some excellent Microsoft Edge tips and tricks.