You can disable the annoying "Use recommended browser settings" popup in Microsoft Edge, for now

If you have opened the new Microsoft Edge web browser recently on any of your devices, a popup may have been displayed recommending to use Microsoft Bing as the default search engine and/or Microsoft Edge as the default system browser.

If you hit "apply settings", Microsoft Bing and/or Microsoft Edge will be made the defaults again. The option "don't update your browser settings" closes the prompt, as does a click on the x-icon at the top right. Both of the actions may result in future prompts being displayed when Microsoft Edge is opened on the system.

The preferences of Microsoft Edge display no option to disable the prompt. There is an experimental flag, however, that users may use to block these prompts from being displayed in the future.

It needs to be noted that experimental flag may be removed at any time. If Microsoft removes the flag, prompts to make Edge the default browser and Bing its default search engine might be displayed again.

Here is how you disable the prompts right now in Edge:

1. Load edge://flags/#edge-show-feature-recommendations in the browser's address bar.
2. Set the flag to Disabled.
3. Restart Microsoft Edge.

Once you have restarted the browser on Windows, Edge won't display these prompts anymore.

The description does not mention default browser or search engine prompts specifically:

When this setting is Enabled, Microsoft Edge may show active messages recommending specific features and workflows based on your activities – Windows

Closing Words

Setting a different default web browser on Windows or search engine in Microsoft Edge has been a deliberate decision for many users. Microsoft is not the only company that is pushing users into making their products the default; Google does the same on many of its properties. The strategy appears to be working for these companies.

Now You: what is the default browser and search engine on your system?

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