How to force Windows 11 to open a link in your default browser

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In Windows 11, Microsoft went one step further and forced users to stick to the Edge browser. In particular, the company has made the process of changing the default browser more complicated than Windows 10. However, even if you switch to your favorite web browser, there are certain aspects to the operating system, such as the new widget panel with Windows 11 installed. Open the link in Microsoft Edge without respecting the default browser. This can be frustrating, so this article will show you how to force Windows 11 to open all links in your browser of choice.

In addition to applying the default browser settings, it includes steps to use your preferred search engine whenever you are browsing the web using Windows Search. So read through to know everything you need to know to control your browsing habits in Windows 11.

Download and install Edge Deflector

1. Use a free app called EdgeDeflector to enable you to use your favorite browser without interference from Microsoft. Edge Deflector can be downloaded from GitHub.[リリース]In the section[‘]ClickEdgeDeflector_install.exe‘Download the application.

Download Edge Deflector

2. After downloading, open the installer and Click “Install” Start using Edge Deflector.

Install the edge deflector

1. To get started with EdgeDeflector, you must first configure EdgeDeflector. Therefore, use the Windows 11 keyboard shortcut “Win + I” to open the Settings app and switch to the “Apps” section from the left sidebar, Click “Default App” Located in the right pane.

Default app window 11

2. From the list of apps Find the Edge Deflector Click the “MICROSOFT-EDGE” link type, As shown in the image below.

Edge deflector default page list

3. When the popup appears, select “Edge Deflector” from the list of options to set everything. All links that open on your Windows 11 PC should respect your default browser settings.

Select edge deflector as default

4. For example, check out the demo below, which opened the article from the Windows 11 Widgets panel. The link in the MSN news article will automatically take you to Firefox, your default browser. Without EdgeDeflector, this link would have been opened in Edge.

  • Links from Windows 11 widgets
  • Firefox widget link

Change the default browser in Windows 11

If you don’t know how to change the default browser in Windows 11, we’ll talk about it here. Open the settings app and invite Apps-> Default apps-> [your browser of choice] Select all relevant link types. There is also a dedicated guide with step-by-step instructions for changing the default browser in Windows 11.

How to force Windows 11 to open a link in your default browser

Microsoft typically uses Bing when browsing the Web using Windows Search. However, you can choose to use the search engine of your choice using the Chrome extension. To use your favorite search engine in Windows Search:

Note: Please note that Chrome must be the default browser for this feature to work as intended. Check the section above to change the default browser for Windows 11.

1. Chrometana Pro is an open source extension that you can use to force Windows 11 to use Chrome and the search engine of your choice while using Windows Search. You can download the Chrometana Pro (free) extension from the Chrome Web Store. [Chromeに追加]Click Install the extension.

Add chrometanapro extension

2. When the popup appears,[拡張機能を追加]Click to confirm the action.

Add expansion button

3. Once installed, click the extension icon to configure it. Here you can choose to redirect Bing search queries to Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Baidu, or set up custom queries.

Configure chrometanapro

Also, if you’re using Firefox, there’s an official Chrometana Pro port named Foxtana Pro. The steps to get started are similar to the corresponding ones in Google Chrome.

1. First, you need to download Foxtana Pro from the Firefox add-on website. Click Add to Firefox.

Add foxtanapro to Firefox

2. From the popup in the browser Click “Add”, Firefox will install the extension.

Confirm the addition of foxtana

3. Then you can click on the extension icon and select your favorite search engine. Note that the extension does not consider the default search engine. Therefore, it must be specified manually from the Foxtana Pro settings.

Configure foxtana pro

So you have it. With everything set up correctly, Microsoft doesn’t have to worry about continuing to use its own services. In the meantime, check out other articles on how to disable the suggested notifications in Windows 11, free up disk space, and use focus sessions to improve your productivity. Also, if you have any questions, please let us know in the comments section below.