Products · Product
Microsoft Edge
Raised as a usability problem by 356 people on Hacker News over 17 years (2010–2026), in 248 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Edge overrides default apps and repeatedly prompts to reset settingsUnreviewed
20102026- Edge opens by accident from file associations and then shows nag prompts and dark patterns2026-08-31
- Setting another browser as default requires many settings changes, and Edge still opens anyway2024-04-08
- Edge reloads the page every time you switch apps and return2023-11-24
Tricked into repeatedly switching default search engine to BingUnreviewed
20102026- Edge uses dark patterns to switch the user's default search engine to Bing2026-03-24
- Tricked into switching default search engine to Bing repeatedly2026-03-12
- Search engine silently reset to Bing after every Windows update2024-08-20
Dark patterns push users into Edge without their choiceUnreviewed
20102026- Feature-cluttered browser and dark patterns that push people into using it2025-05-10
- Edge's first-run data-sharing consent screen is filled with dark patterns2025-03-09
- Users are nudged with dark patterns to import all their tabs into Edge2024-11-16
Pop-ups block downloading and setting Chrome as defaultUnreviewed
20102026- Edge's own popup menu on selected text makes it unclear whether the page or browser is responding2025-04-16
- Edge pop-ups and prompts repeatedly block the user from downloading and setting Chrome as default2025-01-07
- Searching for Chrome in the address bar shows Edge promotional banner instead2024-01-02
Keeps prompting to switch default browser, ignoring the user's choiceUnreviewed
20102026- Repeatedly nags to become default browser and pushes user toward Edge every ten minutes2023-09-22
- Wasteful default pages, nag popups and questionnaires waste users' time on first run2023-02-22
- Constant notifications and unwanted features clutter the browser and distract the user2023-02-07
Edge opens full-screen after updates and can't be closed normallyUnreviewed
20102026- Edge opens full screen on top of other apps every time the PC wakes, despite settings2024-02-25
- Edge keeps multiple background processes running after its window is closed2024-01-22
- Edge installs extra background processes and a stray window that confuses users2020-12-03
Many unwanted features must be turned off manually during first useUnreviewed
20102026- Too much work to turn off privacy-intrusive features2024-05-30
- Must find and turn off about ten default features to stop unwanted clutter2024-01-31
- Too many unwanted features must be manually turned off during first use2024-01-31
Setting a blank page as default new tab is nearly impossibleUnreviewed
20102026- Can't get a fully preferred New Tab page; must use Home button workaround2025-07-07
- Blank new tab needs manual enabling, then a prompt asks if it was a mistake2021-11-16
- Cannot set new tab to blank without hacks or device enrollment2021-11-16
Constant pop-ups interrupt users while browsingUnreviewed
20102026- Must click through many promotional popup screens before the browser can be used2026-09-25
- Has to dismiss several popup dialogs before a website can be opened2024-11-12
- Forces users to click through prompts before the browser opens fully2023-09-11
Clicking the leftmost tab area minimizes the window instead of switching tabsUnreviewed
20102026- Clicking the leftmost tab hits the menu instead, un-fullscreening the window2021-06-07
- Clicking the leftmost tab area unexpectedly minimizes or un-maximizes the window instead of switching tabs2021-01-05
- Dragging a tab out no longer shows a live window preview, only a placeholder box2018-12-04
Customized new tab page keeps getting news added backUnreviewed
20102026- Disabling new tab page content takes lots of fiddling in settings2026-02-06
- Default new tab page shows visually noisy news and distracting content2023-11-27
- Personalization and news on new tabs keep returning; can't set blank new tab page2023-09-03
Feels much slower to interact with than ChromeUnreviewed
20102026- Feels much slower to interact with than Chrome2024-02-05
- Feels bloated and slower than Chrome due to unwanted added features2023-10-28
- Laggier UI and some annoying idiosyncrasies compared with Chrome2016-09-26
Tabs get grouped automatically when moved, with no way to stop itUnreviewed
20102026- Tabs get grouped automatically when moved, with no way to turn it off2024-12-27
- Moving tabs around is a frustrating, painful process2017-03-25
- Hard to manage dozens of open tabs without tab groups2015-05-05
Unskippable, un-closable sign-in nag pops up on opening EdgeUnreviewed
20102026- Must click through three screens pushing account creation before Edge can start2025-04-16
- Unskippable, un-closable how-to and account sign-in nag pop up when opening Edge2023-04-15
- Login page UI elements don't respond to clicks in Edge2023-02-07
Dragging the scrollbar makes it vanish and the page shift sidewaysUnreviewed
20102026- Dragging the scrollbar makes it vanish and the page shifts sideways2023-08-03
- Scrollbar jumps a random distance after delay when rearranging tabs2023-07-09
- Scrollbar is hard to grab and sometimes can't be grabbed until refresh2020-03-17
Settings reset after every update, forcing repeated changesUnreviewed
20102026- Wizard tricks users into resetting all settings to default periodically2024-01-31
- Monthly updates add nag pop-ups and reset disabled settings, making policy controls impossible to keep up with2023-09-04
- Settings get reset after every update, forcing the user to change them again repeatedly2023-03-18
Edge can't be removed and reinstalls itself after Windows updatesUnreviewed
20102026- Edge can't be removed; it reinstalls itself after every Windows update2023-04-26
- Help button accidentally opens Edge, which the user keeps having to remove2023-02-13
- Edge is hard to detach from Windows, so it can't easily be removed2021-09-15
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Must click through many promotional popup screens before the browser can be used2026-09-25
- Edge opens by accident from file associations and then shows nag prompts and dark patterns2026-08-31
- Backspace-to-go-back feature removed, so keyboard users can no longer navigate back2026-08-28
- Buttons get smaller and hidden in obscure locations, wasting time2026-08-09
- Signs users into Edge and enables sync by default, requiring manual disabling2026-07-15
- Edge had terrible UX on Windows Phone 102026-07-14
- The passkey setup interface is confusing, making it hard to choose a Yubikey over the OS enclave2026-05-05
- Onboarding flow pushes users into passkeys unless they explicitly cancel it2026-05-05
- Edge uses dark patterns to switch the user's default search engine to Bing2026-03-24
- Can't find where bookmarks are located in the browser2026-03-12
- Tricked into switching default search engine to Bing repeatedly2026-03-12
- IE compatibility mode has become increasingly difficult to enable over the years2026-02-26
- Disabling new tab page content takes lots of fiddling in settings2026-02-06
- Microsoft pushes Edge so hard it annoys nearly every Windows user2026-02-04
- Edge is pushed on Windows users in ways that annoy them2026-02-04
- Couldn't set a custom home page for first open, only MSN2026-02-04
- Can't remove language preferences; at least one language must always be set2025-11-10
- Updates silently re-enable auto sign-in, with no notice or clue why things malfunction2025-09-19
- Edge Game Mode was auto-installed on a server, pegging the CPU2025-08-20
- Can't get a fully preferred New Tab page; must use Home button workaround2025-07-07
- Save page is hidden under a nested More tools flyout, which is confusing to find2025-06-18
- Can't find how to save a PDF because the menu bar was removed and icons are unclear2025-06-17
- Edge queues inputs, so back and stop buttons don't respond while a page loads2025-06-11
- Feature-cluttered browser and dark patterns that push people into using it2025-05-10
- Edge's own popup menu on selected text makes it unclear whether the page or browser is responding2025-04-16
- Must click through three screens pushing account creation before Edge can start2025-04-16
- Default install shows news, ads and coupons; must turn them off manually2025-03-14
- Edge's first-run data-sharing consent screen is filled with dark patterns2025-03-09
- Blocking extensions breaks logins, payments and sites, so the user must keep fighting the browser2025-02-28
- Can't change settings like reopening last tabs because the organisation manages them2025-02-28
- Right-click and context menu changes are confusing, and users must disable them to browse smoothly2025-01-09
- Edge pop-ups and prompts repeatedly block the user from downloading and setting Chrome as default2025-01-07
- Publishing requires repeated login loops, confusing account system, and a day of waiting2025-01-06
- Takes several seconds to load on Apple Silicon2025-01-02
- Tabs get grouped automatically when moved, with no way to turn it off2024-12-27
- Users are nudged with dark patterns to import all their tabs into Edge2024-11-16
- Has to dismiss several popup dialogs before a website can be opened2024-11-12
- Requires rewriting entrypoints to try the API, making it hard to test2024-11-08
- Publishing dashboard is overly complex and assumes Azure AD or a large organization2024-10-29
- Backspace deletes emoji one code point at a time instead of the whole character2024-10-19
- Basic bookmark and tab operations like dragging feel stop-and-go and get in the way2024-10-12
- Browser became cluttered and worse for users over time2024-10-03
- Search engine silently reset to Bing after every Windows update2024-08-20
- First launch throws up many dark-pattern popups that push the user around2024-07-06
- Too much work to turn off privacy-intrusive features2024-05-30
- Asks many setup questions repeatedly every time it updates2024-05-30
- Users are pushed into Edge through dark patterns they did not choose2024-05-02
- Setting another browser as default requires many settings changes, and Edge still opens anyway2024-04-08
- Copilot added to sidebar by default, hard to neutralize or hide2024-04-02
- Must repeatedly click through setup wizard and reset home page on new servers2024-03-22