11 Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 (original) (raw)

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Chris Hoffman is a former How-To Geek Editor-in-Chief. Since 2011, Chris has personally written over 2,000 articles that have been read more than one billion times---and that's just here at How-To Geek.

With over a decade of writing experience in the field of technology, Chris has written for a variety of publications including The New York Times, Reader's Digest, IDG's PCWorld, Digital Trends, and MakeUseOf. Beyond the web, his work has appeared in the print edition of The New York Times (September 9, 2019) and in PCWorld's print magazines, specifically in the August 2013 and July 2013 editions, where his story was on the cover. He also wrote the USA's most-saved article of 2021, according to Pocket.

Chris was a PCWorld columnist for two years. He founded PCWorld's "World Beyond Windows" column, which covered the latest developments in open-source operating systems like Linux and Chrome OS. Beyond the column, he wrote about everything from Windows to tech travel tips.

The news he's broken has been covered by outlets like the BBC, The Verge, Slate, Gizmodo, Engadget, TechCrunch, Digital Trends, ZDNet, The Next Web, and Techmeme. Instructional tutorials he's written have been linked to by organizations like The New York Times, Wirecutter, Lifehacker, CNET, Ars Technica, and John Gruber's Daring Fireball. His roundups of new features in Windows 10 updates have been called "the most detailed, useful Windows version previews of anyone on the web" and covered by prominent Windows journalists like Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley on TWiT's Windows Weekly. His work has even appeared on the front page of Reddit.

Windows 10 includes Microsoft Edge, which replaces Internet Explorer as the default browser. Edge's interface has been rewritten from scratch, and it sheds Internet Explorer's old interface and all that clutter.

Expect more from Edge in the future as Microsoft continues adding features to their new browser. In particular, browser extensions will be arriving at some point, making Edge more competitive with Chrome and Firefox.

Cortana Integration

Microsoft Edge includes Cortana integration, which only works if you've enabled Cortana system-wide first. Be sure to click the Cortana search bar on the Windows taskbar first and provide your name to set Cortana up. You can also check if this feature is enabled by clicking or tapping the menu button in Edge, selecting "View advanced settings" near the bottom of the pane, and ensuring the "Have Cortana assist me in Microsoft Edge" option is enabled.

To use it, just type a question into the location bar at the top of the Edge window or on the New tab page. For example, you could type "weather in [city]", "how old is [famous person]" or "when is [holiday] [year]". Cortana offers quick answers to questions.

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Sharing Web Pages

The Edge browser has an integrated sharing feature with a Share button on its toolbar. Tapping the Share button will open the system Share panel. You can extend the list here and share to more services by installing the appropriate apps from the Windows Store.

For example, if you want to share on Facebook, install the Facebook app. If you want to share on Twitter, install the Twitter app. This provides you with an easy way of sharing web pages without any browser extensions, just like you would on Android or Apple's iOS.

You can also tap the title of the page in the Share panel and choose to share a screenshot of the current web page rather than a link to it.

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Reading View

Like some other modern browsers -- Apple's Safari, for example -- Edge includes a "reading view" functionality that strips the clutter from articles you find on the web and makes them more easily readable. To activate this, just find an article on the web and click or tap the "reading view" icon in the address bar. The icon looks like a book.

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Reading List

Microsoft Edge includes a reading list feature, too. Use this to save articles you want to read later without cluttering your favorites list. To do this, just click or tap the star icon on the address bar. Select the Reading list heading and add the page to your reading list.

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Access your reading list later by clicking or tapping the "hub" button and selecting the Reading List category. You'll see pages you saved to read later, stored separately from your normal favorite web pages.

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Annotations

Edge includes web page annotation features, which is part of why Edge is branded as a browser built for "doing." Tap the "Make a Web Note" button -- the one between the hub and the share button on the toolbar -- to start marking up a web page.

Use the tools to draw on, highlight, erase, add notes, and copy individual parts of a web page. The Save button allows you to save the note to Microsoft OneNote, your favorites, or your reading list. You can also use the Share button to share your marked up note.

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More Tips

Edge still has many of the features you'd expect to find in a modern browser. They should be easy to find now that much of the clutter from Internet Explorer has been stripped way.

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You'll find a variety of other ways to customize Edge's interface in its Settings menu, too. For example, you can enable a Home button to quickly take you back to your preferred home page. You could activate the "Show the favorites bar" setting to get an always-present toolbar for easier access to your favorite web pages.

You can also configure which web pages Edge opens when you launch it, and what exactly appears when you open a New tab page. For example, you can make the New tab page largely blank without the "suggested content."