Skip to main content

Microsoft brings Windows 11 design improvements to Edge browser

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Microsoft’s Edge browser is getting a visual overhaul to make it look consistent with the upcoming release of the Windows 11 operating system this fall. The Windows 11-inspired UI will bring features such as a thinner, more consistent scrollbar overlay to the browser as well as updates to the title bar icons. Though the features aren’t available to all Windows users, those who sign up to beta test Microsoft’s browser releases through the Edge Insider program can experience the new design elements ported from Windows 11 today.

If you’re curious and want to try out Edge’s new visual changes, be sure to sign up for Microsoft’s Edge Insider Program and download the Canary Channel build. Keep in mind that Canary versions get updated nightly, and you may experience bugs or glitches. The browser is available for both Windows and Mac users.

Recommended Videos

And to test out the updated scrollbars, which appears more elegant and less chunky than the current scrollbars on the commercial release of Edge today, you’ll want to head to the Flags menu on your Canary build of Edge, according to Windows Latest. Find Overlay Scrollbars and make sure the flag is enabled.

In addition to the refined overlay scrollbar appearance, the Edge Canary build also brings Mica themes to the title bar. With the new Mica theme from Windows 11, the buttons to maximize, minimize, and close the browsers at the top are now centered in the middle, which brings Edge’s design in closer alignment to what is seen on Windows 11. Insiders can also enable Fluent Design’s acrylic effects for various menus, including the main menu, according to the publication. Additionally, if you enable this flag, you’ll notice other visual UI changes, like better font size, brighter text, and rounded menu corners.

In addition to the visual overhaul coming to Edge, which is based on the Chromium browser standard, Microsoft is also working on bringing PDF editing features as well as sleeping tabs to its browser in the future, according to Microsoft’s roadmap. And while still not as popular as Google’s Chrome browser, Edge is quickly gaining momentum. Microsoft’s new browser had eclipsed Firefox in market share last year.

Chuong Nguyen
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
What is Microsoft Edge and how to use it
Microsoft Edge on a laptop on a couch.

If you just purchased a new Windows computer and see Microsoft Edge is installed, you might be wondering if it’s worth your time.

Is Microsoft Edge a secure web browser that keeps you safe when you’re online? Can you customize it like other popular browsers? What happened to Internet Explorer?

Read more
Microsoft cracks down on Windows 11 upgrade requirements
A photo of the Sensel Click Composer Software running on Windows 11

With just a little more than a year left before Windows 10 hits its end-of-life, Microsoft has been busy encouraging people to upgrade to Windows 11. One of the hurdles with getting PCs upgraded to Windows 11, though, are the hardware requirements -- and now they're cracked down on harder.

A recent beta build of Windows 11 has patched the well-used "setup.exe /product server" workaround that allowed you to completely bypass the system requirements check and run Windows 11 on a non-compliant machine -- in other words, a machine without TPM 2.0.

Read more
It took Microsoft 30 years to change this Windows feature
The Surface Pro 11 on a white table in front of a window.

In 1996, Microsoft introduced the FAT32 file system as an update to the previous version, FAT16. At the time, Microsoft imposed a limit on the creation of FAT32 partitions, deciding that the maximum partition size would be 32GB. Now, 30 years later, the FAT file system supports partitions of up to 2TB -- and Microsoft is finally getting rid of that arbitrary limit from Windows 95 OSR 2.

FAT32, which stands for the 32-bit version of Microsoft's file allocation system, is far from the go-to option in Windows. NTFS is what most people use, and exFAT is there to fill in for many other use cases. Overshadowed by its two more widely used rivals, FAT32 managed to slip under the radar for 30 years.

Read more