Microsoft Edge Browser

The Edge browser, made by Microsoft, is the default browser included with Windows. Edge has multiple features that make surfing and shopping online easier. Edge has several features that can help you organize tabs and save websites. Edge will even look for coupons and price savings as you shop–automatically!

Navigation buttons

Click Edge on the taskbar (bottom of your screen) to open the app. Some of the major features of Edge are highlighted and explained below. Note that you can hover over any button and pause for a tooltip.

• Back and Forward buttons. Go back to a page you viewed previously in the current tab. Click the left button to return to a previous page. Click the right button to go forward to a page after you have used the back button. Click and hold to see your recent tab history.
• Refresh . Clicking the Refresh button reloads the current web page.
• Home button. Takes you to your Home page (default is msn.com or bing.com). You can change the default URL in Settings and more > Settings > Start, home, and new tabs.
• Address and search box. Use this to enter website addresses (URLs) and keywords for searches.
• Favorites . Click or tap here to manage your favorite saved websites.
• Settings and more . Here you will find lots of options for zooming in, casting to a big screen, and much more.
• Share. Share your discoveries with this button. You can also save web pages annotated with Web Note from here.

Edge features and components

Edge is a great browser to use. It has some unique features that make it convenient for reading and collecting information. Let’s take a closer look at the features and working components of the Edge browser.

Address and search bar

Use the address bar to enter your web page addresses and search queries. Every web page has a unique address, called a URL. Most web addresses are shown in an easy-to-read format, like target.com or costco.com. You’ll type those addresses into this box. You’ll also use the address and search bar to enter searches using keywords.

Keywords are words and phrases that include or describe the information you are looking for. You can use natural language to search for things. For instance, you can search for “best vegetable omelet” or “recipe for the james bond martini.” Of course, you might get a few opinions on the omelet!

Tabs

Every web page opens in a tab. The title of the page and a small icon called a favicon are displayed on each tab (as long as there is room). To move between pages, just click the tab to make it an active or visible page. You can also move between tabs with the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl + Page Up or Ctrl + Page Down. Note that having many tabs open can slow a computer down.

Grouping tabs

You can add tabs to a group and collapse them to get them out of the way. Right-click a tab and select Add tab to new group. Or, Ctrl + click multiple tabs, then right-click and select Add tabs to new group. Name the group and select a color. Clicking the tab group will collapse or open them.

Collections

Planning a vacation? Looking for information on solar systems? Collecting omelet recipes? Collections can be your best friend. Collections is a convenient way to save and organize web pages and notes from the web.

To start a new collection:

• Click  to open the Collections sidebar, then click Start new collection.
• Change the title to something meaningful.
• Pin  the collection open.
• Now, start adding to your collection!

There are three main ways to add something from a webpage to a Collection. Note that you have to pin the collection open before you’ll be able to drag images or selected text into a collection.

• Select Add current page to save the webpage (your active tab) to your collection.
• Select and drag an image or graphic from the webpage and drop it in your collection.
• Select and drag a hyperlink or text you’ve selected into your collection.
• Click Add Note  and type in a note.

That’s all there is to use one of Edge’s greatest features–Collections! As you can see in the image below, I’ve quickly collected some amazing omelet recipes.

The Edge sidebar

The sidebar is a group of helpful tools you can display on the right-hand side of the Edge browser. Toggle the sidebar on and off with the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + / or Settings and more > Hide/Show sidebar.

Click + to open the list of available tools you can add to your sidebar. Add your own favorite sites or choose from the list of available tools provided in Edge.

Immersive reader

If you are tired of the distracting ads and popups on web pages, get ready to love the Immersive Reader . The Immersive Reader displays the text of an article and gets rid of all the ads. Text is displayed on a pleasant off-white background that is easy on the eyes. This button  will appear in the address bar on webpages that support Immersive Reader. Click the  button, or use the shortcut F9 to open the webpage in the Immersive Reader mode.

The immersive reader not only cuts the clutter but offers additional accessibility options as well.

Read aloud . Edge will read the text on the screen to you. Edge makes it easy to follow along by making the current line bold and highlighting each word as it is spoken. You can even choose the type of voice by selecting Voice options. Read aloud is available even when Immersive Reader is not. Activate it under Settings and more > Read aloud, the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+U, or select the Read aloud button in the address bar.

Text preferences. Click here to change text size and spacing, and the color of the text and background.

Reading preferences. Click here to activate line focus. Line focus dims all except one, three, or five lines of text at a time.

Grammar tools. You can choose to show words broken into syllables and to label types of words.

You don’t have to choose only one function of Immersive Reader. You can use line focus, highlight and label nouns and adverbs, and let Edge read to you, all at once!

Sharing webpages in Edge

You can easily share a webpage using email, messaging, or social media. Select Share (upper-right area) and choose an option.

Note: If you don’t see the Share button, go to Settings and more > Settings , select Appearance from the left pane, and toggle on Show share button.

Clearing and managing your browsing history in Edge

Edge keeps your browsing history, cookies, and other associated browser data in the Privacy and services section. Edge also offers options to always clear certain types of data each time you close the browser.

1. In the upper right corner of Edge, click Settings and more  , then click Settings .
2. Click Privacy, search, and services  in the left-side menu, then under the section heading Clear browsing data, click Choose what to clear.

This displays the browsing data Edge saves to your computer. Nothing is cleared until you click the Clear button at the bottom of the list. A checkmark means the data will be cleared; unchecked means it will remain in memory. Your options for what data Edge will delete include:

• Browsing history. The record of the websites you have visited.
• Download history. A record is kept any time you download a file from the Internet. Checking here will delete the record of the download, not the file you saved.
• Cookies and other site data. Cookies are saved to your computer by websites. Clearing this data will mean you will have to log in to any websites again.
• Cached images and files. Things like images and text are downloaded to your computer as you browse the web. This allows the website to react faster, and you don’t have to download the same things twice if you return to the same page.

Click the Clear now button to clear the checked categories. If you have account sync turned on, the data will be cleared from all synced devices.

Automatically clearing browsing data

Edge allows you to choose a category of browsing data to be cleared each time you close the browser window. Select Choose what to clear every time you close the browser, then turn on the data categories you wish to delete when you close the browser.

Privacy & security settings in Edge

Edge offers some additional privacy settings you can use to reduce information Microsoft and websites track. To open:

1. In the upper right corner of Edge, click Settings and more  , then click Settings .
2. Click Privacy, search, and services  in the left-side menu. Choose from the options, including the pre-configured security settings.

Enlarging the webpage for easier viewing in Edge—3 methods

• Go to Settings and more and use the Zoom controls.
• Use keyboard shortcuts. Press and hold the Ctrl key, then press the Plus or Minus key.
• Use the keyboard and mouse. Press and hold the Ctrl key, then use the mouse scroll wheel.

Use the shortcut Ctrl + 0 (zero) to return to the default viewing size.

Edge extensions

Browser extensions are small apps that integrate into the browser to extend its functionality. Popular extensions include ad blockers, extensions that automatically look for coupons (although Edge does that anyway), and password managers.

1. In the upper right corner of Edge, click Settings and more , then click Extensions . This will open a page listing any current extensions you have installed. Toggle the button to the right to enable or disable any extension.
2. Click Get extensions for Microsoft Edge in the right navigation pane to open a page of available extensions. Note that there are Editor’s pick and other categories to choose from in the left navigation pane.