Microsoft Edge’s Settings is becoming more like Google Chrome on Windows 11

Microsoft has been testing a new, refined, and more compact settings page in the Edge Canary version. This move comes after the company added several features to the browser, which resulted in the settings page getting densely populated. Edge has a lot of toggles and options to choose from, which is confusing.

When we look at the settings page in the stable version, it has a hamburger menu containing different types of settings. Clicking on any of these takes us to their respective settings page, each having multiple toggles, options under distinct headings.

Some of these settings pages are so crowded that they require longer scrolling to find the feature you were looking for. This affects the browser experience whenever users are looking to make some changes in settings.

Well, the good news is that Microsoft has worked on it and has finally decluttered the setting pages by making the following changes:

• The Settings hamburger menu now has reduced components. The settings for Copilot and Sidebar, Share, copy and paste, Cookies and Site permissions, Family Safety, Printers, Phone, and other devices are now removed and moved into different pages.
• The settings landing page now has quick-access rectangular buttons to directly reach the frequently used pages.
• In addition, setting pages, which were more populated with multiple sub-settings, are provided with their own quick access buttons.

• The sub-settings won’t expand by default. Instead, they are displayed as a clickable list (similar to a table of contents). Clicking on them takes us to a separate page that is clean and compact. This makes moving between different settings pages easier.

While Edge’s new Settings UI is a notable improvement, it might frustrate some users, especially if they are accustomed to the old layout.

It’s important to note that Google Chrome’s settings are somewhat similar, and users are happy with the experience, so it does make sense for Microsoft to take inspiration from Google’s implementation.

Darker dark mode

We also noticed that Microsoft is experimenting with a darker dark mode compared to the stable version. This mode reduces eye strain during late-night work and helps reduce power consumption.

In addition, Microsoft is testing AI History Search and security-related improvements.

For those unaware, AI History Search will search for correct information even if you don’t remember the exact website name or date you visited the website.

What do you think about these improvements? Let us know in the comments below.