Microsoft Edge's new features will help with holiday shopping

Microsoft Edge Update Restart
Microsoft Edge Update Restart (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft is introducing several new shopping features for its Edge browser.
  • Edge will soon track the prices of items that you've browsed online to alert you of any changes.
  • Built-in price comparison and price history tools are on the way to Microsoft Edge on Android.

Microsoft has some new shopping features on the way for its Edge browser. A new tool will notify users of price changes to items they've looked at. Built-in price comparison and price history tools are also on the way to Microsoft Edge for Android. These new features complement the tools already available in Edge that can help you save time and money on Black Friday.

Edge's price alert functionality will let you know if the prices change for any items you've looked at recently. Microsoft notes that since this feature is built into the browser, you can just explore the web as normal and then be notified of any price changes. This should save time by eliminating the repeated effort needed to check back in on the prices of items on your wish list.

Edge Shopping Alert

Source: Microsoft (Image credit: Source: Microsoft)

Edge on iOS and Android already support Microsoft's built-in coupon feature. Soon, the Android version of the browser will also have built-in price comparison and price history tools. The desktop versions of Edge already have price tracking and price comparison features.

While not exclusively a shopping feature, Microsoft also announced that Edge will make it easier to update your passwords. The Settings page of the browser will show a shortcut to the web pages to change your passwords. You can then navigate to these sites and use Edge's password generator to create a secure password. To start, the Easy update feature will only work with select websites. Microsoft plans to expand this list over the coming months.

Microsoft does not detail if these features can be turned off. It's worth noting that it's possible to toggle off the currently supported shopping features in the browser.

Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.