I am not a fan of Microsoft Edge, it feels a lot like Internet Explorer, but with a new toolbar. Yech. How can I change my PC to have Google Chrome as my default Web browser?
As it turns out, the latest generation of Microsoft Edge is actually built atop Chromium, which is the foundational technology of… G0ogle Chrome! So switching from Edge to Chrome is really ending up with the same basic Web browser, just getting the Google layer and utilities instead of the Microsoft utilities. Microsoft is still a bit cursed by Internet Explorer, but that’s rather old news, particularly if you’ve been running Windows 10 or have (hopefully) updated to Windows 11 in the last few years.
Nonetheless, if you want to switch, you can do it. While Microsoft might prefer you to stick with its Edge browser because of its tighter integration with Microsoft Office and other Microsoft tools, it’s just a click or two to be in the Google world instead. Let’s have a look!
CHANGE DEFAULT WEB BROWSER TO GOOGLE CHROME
The first step is to download and install Google Chrome for your PC. Easily done at google.com/chrome/ and you can import all your Edge bookmarks and browsing history too, as desired. Now fire up Chrome. Always good to ensure you have the latest version, which can be done by going to “•••” > Help > About Google Chrome, as shown:
Off the same menu, now choose “Settings” and navigate to “Default Browser” on the left side. You’ll see a very obvious and overt button to make the big change:
Switching for sure? Okay. Click on “Make default” and Chrome is now your default Web browser.
CUSTOMIZING DEFAULT BROWSER SETTINGS ON A PC
What if you don’t want every possible file type that Chrome can open being actually opened in Chrome? A perfect example is that you might have a PDF app like Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can pick specific filetypes and favorite programs in your overall PC System Settings instead.
Go to Apps > Default apps then choose your default Web browser. In this case, I’ll choose “Google Chrome”, just to find that the change didn’t actually work (because I actually didn’t click on the “Make default” link earlier). You can see the problem:
The defaults are still Microsoft Edge! Whaaaa?
I can change any of these to Google Chrome – or change them all at once with “Set default“. But if I click on the entry immediately below “.pdf”, I can also pick a favorite PDF reader instead:
PDF Reader Editor Elf could be a good choice. or I can leave the default. Either way, here’s what I now see for the two basic types of Web pages – .htm and .html – as shown:
Looks good. Also notice that the “Set default” button now has a checkmark adjacent. Switched!
SWITCH BACK TO MICROSOFT EDGE AS DEFAULT BROWSER
Want to switch back after all? Go back into Microsoft Edge, then go to “•••” > Settings and choose “Default Browser“..
Not only can I make Microsoft Edge my default browser, but it even talks about Internet Explorer compatibility! Aiieee!
Well, now you know. May the best browser win!
Power Tip: I’ve been writing about Windows for many years and have an extensive Windows 10 & Windows 11 help area. Please check it out to find lots of additional tutorials and guides while you’re here. Thanks!