This Microsoft PowerToys repair lastly makes Internet Search usable

I do not draw back from the truth that I like Windows 11. Is it excellent? No, nevertheless it will get a whole lot of issues proper, and in my over 20 years of Home windows expertise, it has been my favourite OS up to now (sorry Windows 7).

That stated, there are issues about Home windows 11 that generally drive me nuts. And Microsoft Edge is considered one of them. Each time I do a recent set up of Home windows or arrange a new Windows 11 laptop, I am reminded that Microsoft does not need me to put in my most popular browser of alternative. Each time I am downloading Google Chrome it barrages me with the message that “there is no have to obtain a brand new internet browser” as a result of Edge is a “quick, safe, and fashionable internet expertise.” I do not hate Edge essentially, I’ve simply been utilizing Chrome for too lengthy, and it is already synced throughout all my gadgets.

As a fan of Microsoft’s PowerToys app, one factor that has irritated me lately when utilizing its Internet Search characteristic within the Command Palette is that it solely makes use of Edge for internet searches, and ignores my default browser. This was a bug that solely affected folks utilizing Home windows 11 24H2 (by way of XDA), and it has been driving me loopy since I began utilizing Command Palette, which solely lately launched in Might.

Fortunately, this challenge has now been fastened within the newest PowerToys replace, PowerToys v0.92. Now, whenever you carry out a Internet Search within the Command Palette, it makes use of your default internet browser, whether or not it is Chrome, Firefox, or some other browser as a substitute of Edge. The patch notes for the newest replace state, “Mounted a problem the place Internet Search at all times opened Microsoft Edge as a substitute of the person’s default browser on Home windows 11 24H2 and later.”

What’s Home windows Command Palette?

You’ll be able to run instructions and open apps rapidly

When you’re unfamiliar with Command Palette, it is a newer, extra environment friendly model of PowerToys Run. The characteristic provides a macOS-like Highlight search to your PC, making it simple to run instructions, discover information, open apps, or search the net rapidly.

When you obtain PowerToys, you may open the Home windows Command Palette by urgent the Home windows Key + Alt + Spacebar. You’ll be able to change this keybinding to one thing extra accessible within the PowerToys settings, positioned below System Instruments > Command Palette. If you open Command Palette, you may seek for something in your PC, and if you cannot discover it, you may conduct an internet search, which can now use your default browser as a substitute of Edge robotically.

Along with fixing the Command Palette’s internet search bug, the newest model of PowerToys contains different updates for Command Palette, similar to improved efficiency, higher hotkey dealing with for a “smoother person expertise,” and enhanced visible readability “by styling crucial context gadgets appropriately.” If you would like to learn all of the PowerToys patch notes, you’ll find them on GitHub.

Microsoft PowerToys is out there free of charge from the Microsoft Retailer. After putting in it in your Home windows 11 PC, you may unlock a wide range of useful productivity features, similar to file preview with Peek, multitasking with the All the time on High window instrument, deciding on any shade in your PC utilizing the Shade Picker utility, and notably the Command Palette, just like macOS’s Highlight. If you have not tried PowerToys but, I extremely advocate giving it a shot. You do not should be a developer or a Home windows skilled to get pleasure from its distinctive options.

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These PowerToys instruments have boosted my productiveness on Home windows 11, and it is best to strive them out too.