Switching between browsers never used to be a big deal, but it
also depends on the features you use. We customize browsers
like Google Chrome with extensions, sync open tabs to our
mobile devices, and more. If you’re thinking about moving
between Microsoft Edge and Chrome regularly, Microsoft is
working on a new feature for you.
You can’t switch browsers without your bookmarks or favourites,
history, passwords, and other miscellaneous features.
Thankfully, moving these data between browsers is fairly easy
and only takes a few clicks when you launch a new browser for
the first time. For example, when you launch Edge, you’re given
the choice between import or a fresh start.
A new Microsoft Edge feature wants to pull all necessary data
from Chrome every time you launch Edge. For example, if you
have tabs open in Chrome or new bookmarks, and launch Edge for
the first time after a system reboot, Edge will automatically
import bookmarks and tabs from Chrome.
The feature isn’t entirely new, but it has been updated with
two new options – open tabs and Settings. The ‘open tabs’
option, if enabled, will automatically detect tabs which were
previously open in Chrome and open those tabs in Microsoft Edge
when you launch the browser.
Likewise, if you enable or disable a feature in Chrome’s
settings and the same setting is available in Edge, it will get
changed in Edge too.
This happens in real-time and users can enable the optional
feature from the browser’s settings. To try the new feature,
open the Profile tab in settings and click Import browser data
> Import browser data from Google Chrome on each launch, and
finally enable the feature.
Tabs imported from Chrome will have a label ‘imported tabs’ to
help you realize that Microsoft synced Edge with Chrome.
You can further customize the functionality by specifying a
Chrome profile and the types of items you’d like to import.
Microsoft Edge to get improved tab group, notes saving feature
and more
In addition to improved integration with Chrome, Microsoft Edge
is also getting several new features in the next big update.
One of the new additions will allow you to drag tab groups by
default. Likewise, there are improvements to the existing
features, such as the spellcheck. After the update, you can add
a new language to the preferred language list.
In Edge Canary, Microsoft is also experimenting with
a feature that mimics Telegram’s saved messages and allows
you to save files in Edge. While Telegram offers unlimited
storage, Edge’s feature is powered by OneDrive and is linked to
your Microsoft account.
