What you need to know
- An app called MSEdgeRedirect allows you to open any link from Windows in your web browser of choice.
- MSEdgeRedirect works even following Microsoft's update to Windows that blocks protocol intercepting apps.
- The app is in beta, so it may run into some issues.
Microsoft wants certain links within Windows 11 and Windows 10 to open in its Edge browser. When clicking on a link within Search in the Taskbar, the weather widget, or other elements of the operating system, Windows will open the corresponding webpage within Edge, even if you have a different browser set as your default. This behavior has drawn criticism from many who prefer to use their browser of choice.
Recently, several apps that could redirect these types of links were blocked by a Windows update. The OS now prevents any apps from intercepting protocol links, such as those found in Search in the Taskbar. There are security reasons for this setup, but some still prefer to always use their default browser.
A new app called MSEdgeRedirect is still able to block Windows from opening protocol links in Edge. It works differently than EdgeDeflector and other apps that intercept protocol links. MSEdgeRedirect passes the command line argument for Edge. According to the app's developer, this method should prevent Microsoft from blocking MSEdgeRedirect.
The app's description from GitHub states:
A Tool to Redirect News, Search, Widgets, Weather and More to Your Default BrowserThis tool filters and passes the command line arguments of Microsoft Edge processes into your default browser instead of hooking into the microsoft-edge: handler, this should provide resiliency against future changes. Additionally, an Image File Execution Options mode is available to operate similarly to the Old EdgeDeflectorNo Default App walkthrough or other steps, just set and forget.
MSEdgeRedirect is in beta, so you can expect some bugs and performance issues. While the app appears to work as intended, it's also worth being cautious when dealing with developers you aren't familiar with.
MSEdgeRedirect prevents Windows 11 and Windows 10 from ignoring your default browser settings. Even links from Search in the Taskbar will open in your browser of choice when your PC is running MSEdgeRedirect.
