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Microsoft Edge: 9 Simple and Useful Features

Microsoft Edge: 9 Simple and Useful Features

There are plenty of reasons why Microsoft Edge is a great choice for professionals: its speed, security, and compatibility with Microsoft Office programs make it an ideal choice for both personal and business users. If you’re one of those who prefer Edge over other browsers, you might find more reasons to prefer it when you realize that it can do even more. Check out these useful tools to use in Microsoft Edge:

Browser tab sharing

'Edge Workspaces' is a brand-new feature that enables individuals to share their browser tabs. This function makes it easier to share files and links within teams. Instead of giving members individual access to files and links, teams can simply save a single link on an Edge Workspace. This functionality will come in handy for teams that usually collaborate on projects and are bringing in new members to work on them.

Vertical Tabs

You’ll find Vertical Tabs to be a very useful feature if you often open numerous tabs at once. Instead of hovering over or clicking on a tab to see which page it’s on, you can easily find the tabs on the left edge of the browser where they’re much easier to see and manage. This makes opening and moving pinned tabs as well as creating new tabs much easier, so you never have to accidentally close or lose track of tabs again.

With the recent Microsoft Edge update, users will be able to conceal the horizontal title bar at the top of the screen, giving them more vertical space to work with. To enable Vertical Tabs, go to Settings > Appearance > Customize toolbar and toggle on “Hide title bar while in vertical tabs.”

Tab groups

Microsoft Edge allows you to categorize related tabs so you can better organize your web browser. For instance, you can group all project-related tabs together and designate another tab group for YouTube video watching.

To use tab groups, right-click on an open tab and select Add tab to a new group. Then, create a label and choose a color to identify the tab group. When the tab group is set up, you can add tabs to the group by clicking and dragging.

Collections

Collections allows you to gather information from different sites, then organize, export, or return to it at a later time.

To use Collections, click on the Collections button at the top-right corner of the screen (alternatively, you can enter Ctrl+Shift+Y) and a pane will open on the right side of your browser window. You can then drag and drop web pages, text, images, videos, and other elements into a group, which you can then import into an Excel workbook or a Word document.

This environment is very useful, and rather easy to use. You may be surprised how much time you will save using this method rather than saving each individual website or webpage to a bookmark.

Tracking prevention

Whenever you visit a site, online trackers can collect information about your internet activity, including the pages you visit, the links you click on, your search history, and more. Companies can then use the data collected to target you with personalized advertisements and experiences. Even the most minor of websites are guilty of this, as it is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that likely isn't going away anytime soon.

The tracking prevention feature in Microsoft Edge is designed to keep you from being tracked by sites that you aren’t accessing directly. It’s enabled by default, and it gives you control over the types of third-party trackers to be detected and blocked, thereby enhancing your online privacy.

You can fine-tweak this security in three separate tiers: Basic, Balanced, and Strict. It should be noted that the stricter the setting, the more likely that certain websites may either load incorrectly or in a slower fashion. Although this phenomenon will, of course, vary depending on the website as well as your personal security setting, which can easily be toggled with the press of a button in your settings > privacy, search, and services setting region within Edge.

Typo protection

Users who type in a website on a browser’s address bar may sometimes misspell the website URL and be led to a fraudulent site. To prevent this, Microsoft Edge has introduced typo protection for website URLs, a security feature that many users will find most useful.

If you do enter the wrong URL, Edge will display a warning indicating this and prompting you to enter said incorrect Website or cancel.

It should be noted that not every incorrect URL is malicious, however, there is a long history of such passive attacks on the Internet. This is called 'typosquatting."

Password Monitor

Due to data breaches, millions of online personal credentials are frequently exposed and end up being sold on the dark web. To keep your online accounts safe from hackers, Microsoft developed the Password Monitor. When enabled, this feature notifies you if the credentials you’ve saved to autofill are found the dark web. It then prompts you to take action, allowing you to view a list of all the leaked credentials and then leading you to the respective sites to change your password.

Please note that the dark web is a massive, shadow region of the internet, and the feasibility of Edge scouring every nook-and-cranny of it is low as of this writing, so it still falls upon us end users to practice good password security protocols.

Immersive Reader

Immersive Reader makes reading online easier and more accessible by removing clutter from the page and simplifying web page layouts.  Built into Edge, this feature also provides access to a variety of capabilities, including hearing text read aloud or adjusting the text size. This feature is specially designed for those who have dysgraphia and dyslexia. To access this, simply browse to any website, click F9 (alternatively you can browse to the right of the web URL pane and click the 'open book' icon) and voilà! Much better, right?

Easy switching

You can download Microsoft Edge on your Windows, Mac, iOS, and/or Android device. What’s great is that you can easily copy or migrate your bookmarks, form-fill information, passwords, and basic settings to the new Microsoft Edge with just a single click. This will save you a great deal of time trying to search for a lost work website if you are out of the office and using a personal computer at home, or vice-versa. To ensure that your information is being synchronized, browse to the top right of your screen while in Edge and click the profile circle. From here, your sync status will display. As long as your devices are synchronized to the same profile, this feature will be enabled.

Contact Beringer Today!

To learn more about the latest features of Microsoft Edge and how to enjoy their benefits on your business computers, reach out to Beringer Technology Group today.

Beringer Technology Group, a leading Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and CRM for Distribution also provides expert Managed IT ServicesBackup and Disaster RecoveryCloud Based Computing, Email Security Implementation and Training,  Unified Communication Solutions, and Cybersecurity Risk Assessment.