Outlook suddenly started opening links in Edge, disregarding my default browser settings

Ran into this about two weeks ago. It can be turned off.

Here's the setting to change. It's under File -> Options -> Advanced

"continuing to push the boundaries of consent."

If by "push the boundaries" you meant "completely ignore them", then yes. This kind of behavior from MS, or any vendor, should always be considered strictly unacceptable.

It's fucking annoying, admittedly edge is good on its own merits, but you know what pushes me to not want to ever use your product? Anti-consumer practices.

I have been very happy in using FF for my main browsing. It has adblock, NoScript and SponsorBlock. Since I use NoScript I jump on Edge when I want to use a trusted website for payments but I really want to use it less when it does this shit.

I can't wait for the excuse "OoOooh wooooops, that's a bug! Sowwy EU we did not mean to do anti consumer pwactices" as a way to dodge blame

Outlook has a separate setting for opening links. It's very sneaky:

https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/outlook-hyperlinks-edge-default-browser/

Remember when Microsoft got raked over the coals for this kind of behavior, in the 90s?

I tried using outlook this year for the first time in 15 years, and immediately NOPED the fuck out when I noticed it displayed ads in-line with my inbox.

And then there are those rumors that they want to display ads in the settings panel. Fuck Microsoft, they have ZERO trustworthiness in my book

“This change is designed to create an easier way for Outlook and Microsoft Teams users to reduce task switching across windows and tabs to help stay focused,” says Katy Asher, senior director of communications at Microsoft, in a statement to The Verge. “By opening browser links in Microsoft Edge, the original message in Outlook or Teams can also be viewed alongside web content to easily access, read and respond to the message, using the matching authenticated profile. Customers have the option to disable this feature in settings.”

I don't know if this is a neurodivergent thing but I 500% could never see myself in a position I could say something I knew to be such BS and put my name to it.

I stopped using Windows and converted to Linux. I'm not going to be "one of those people" and tell you that you should too, but I've been using Linux full-time for 3 years for gaming, work, and personal stuff and never felt the need to go on Windows except to use my VR headset, which I haven't used in months. I just built a new PC and haven't even bothered installing my Windows SSD into it in the last 4 weeks since I built it. I may never and just sell my VR headset.

That sounds illegal, especially since they already lost an anti-trust lawsuit for Internet Explorer browser two decades ago. I guess they have enough power now that they don't have to worry about silly things like laws.

That's what we call malware!

Something something antitrust. Something something browser choice. Microsoft is just asking to be fined €1 billion. Really, someone needs to make a big stink about it in Europe because they'll act before the US does.

All aboard the anti-trust train 🚂💨

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Ran into this yesterday, when my manager opened a link and had to call me to help because it didnt autofill his passwords.

This "productivity increase" cost my corporation 15 minutes the first time anyone ran into it.

Sort of related, but this reminds me of a really annoying thing that’s been happening on my work windows 11 machine.

Any time I launch chrome from VSCode to attach a debugger, edge launches along with it, and directs me to a page that says “try the new bing.”

Absolutely infuriating, makes me want to uninstall edge.

Edge is an OK browser that's rapidly being bogged down with bloatware, just like Chrome which it sought to destroy. I'll keep using Firefox and hope the same thing never happens to it. At least they finally killed off IE.

I switched to thunderbird a little while back when they started adding advertisements that look like actual email into my paid for windows application. Nope.

I've been using edge since the first chromium beta. I'm considering moving to firefox just out of spite.

This caused me to rage quit my emails this morning. I'm going to back to Thunderbird.

Similarly, Outlook on Android began to display ads for me around a week ago. So I'm currently using K-9 mail and Etar.

Oh crap, I thought it was just something I overlooked at work. It has been happening to me too

This kind of horseshit is CONSTANT with Windows updates. I see customer PCs where I know I've set the default browser to Firefox or Chrome, and lo and behold, suddenly everything is opening in fucking Edge.

In no sense is Edge is a good browser. It is built for ads and tracking, and makes surfing the web inherently unpleasant.

"Suddenly"? This has been happening for a long time. If you click on outbound links from built-in Windows apps, they used to always open in Edge unless you used a tool named EdgeDeflector to redirect them to your preferred browser. In 2021, they killed EdgeDeflector by making it impossible to redirect links with the microsoft-edge:// protocol baked in, even if you go deep into the registry settings to change this. They will eventually do this to Outlook and Teams too and get away with it, just like they got away with restricting EdgeDeflector.

This happened to me this morning. And because the link was from a work email but I was logged in on my personal account, Edge wanted me to sign in to view it, requiring time-wasted on a 2FA process for no good reason whatsoever (obv I just closed Edge and copied the link over to Firefox).

The loss of productivity is large regardless of which method you choose to view the link. May this be the beginning of the end for Microsoft. I am fuming.

How arent Microsoft engineers annoyed by this themselves?Do they even use the products that they make?

Edge was decent when it was first released. It's slowly quickly becoming the 2023 version of Nero Burning ROM from back in the 2000s. A bloated mess.

Microsoft: "you no want Microsoft? You want Microsoft. "

Edge/IE doing what they do make me want to swap to Linux. Edge is a resource hog and also tries to run in the background during startup. I thought I paid for a computer. Why can't I uninstall this bloatwear easily?

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I'll keep using Firefox until I'm dead or it's dead!

Looks like Microsoft is due for another anti trust lawsuit. They should remember Bill’s fun adventures in capitol hill.

I can't reproduce this issue from my Thunderbird on Fedora.

I guess we are never regulating tech companies again even though this behavior was already blocked by the FTC Microsoft case twenty years ago.

Doesn't surprise me at all, the company I work for has gone all in with AzureAD SSO and that will only work on Edge (edge supplies info for the MS asset verification software that constantly eats my CPU) so now we can't use anything other than Edge for any internal service and need to develop for Edge if we are writing an internal tool.

Microsoft always pushing things way too much, unnecessarily.

But I actually like the feature. I use Outlook for corporate email and Edge for work related stuff. Firefox is my default browser. It was always confusing to open a link on an email message on the "wrong" browser.

Now this doesn't happen. Links on emails open correctly on the work browser.

But we should definitely have an option to choose which browser we would like the links to open on.

I'm personally a Firefox user since it has developed to be so much better imo. However I do have to give credit to Microsoft for having imo a better browser than Chrome despite the fact they are both Chromium based.

I see it as a CYA maneuver after that terrible outlook vulnerability this year that allowed malicious payloads to infect users who didn't even interact with the email. They need to make best efforts to guide ignorant or careless users to a safe space on their platform since phishing is so economically destructive and the business world is addicted to aged Microsoft products and tech like it's a fine wine

I use this and never had a problem again. https://github.com/rcmaehl/MSEdgeRedirect

However I cannot comment on Office since I use FOSS office software (OnlyOffice). Please try it and let us know how it works out. It redirects everything I do to OperaGX (my preference) including those "START" searches.

With their new upcoming UI that breaks existing Outlook addins (and sucks too btw) and this one. I can't wait for people to do away with Outlook. I'm the only one at work that even uses Thunderbird (with Owl for exchange addon). Was laughing my ass last time that Outlook had a zero day and our IT was telling us to not use the Outlook app until the zero day is fixed.

Btw this is what the new Outlook looks like

It looks like the web version, breaks addons and alot of features that the current one has are missing.

Microsoft started notifying people about this month ago. TBH the outlook client is still god awful so most people will only use it in an work environment where edge is the default browser anyway. Also it can be changed to other browsers. The how is mentioned in the FAQ.

Google Chat desktop app does the same thing but opens all links in chrome. I need to use both teams and chat for my company and client's teams so I'm constantly getting one or the other browser opened on me. Infuriating

Hit this 2 weeks ago at my job and it cheesed me off. Also at the same time? Microsoft began requiring you to label your teams comment with a Subject Line. Like.... what?

Microsoft, do you even understand what chat is for?? It's supposed to be quick and informal!

My computer did that for the first time today but it was accompanied by a popup which said something like "do you want me to keep opening links in Edge or use the default (Chrome)?" I clicked Chrome and that was the end of that.

Are the people who are being forced to use Edge the same people who don't or can't read popups and who choose the most obvious "get out of the way" button?

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This sound like a great way to die by thousands of lawsuits. We really need to squash this goddamed company.

As long as people continue using MS products they'll be victims to this BS. Switching my family to Linux (Currently Fedora, will later try Debian again) has been a blessing for everyone here.

People use outlook? Like at home on their personal computer?

I didn't expect it, but the thing I hate most about my latest job is being forced to use outlook mail/calendar. It's brutally untenable when you've already seen a better way of doing every involved task.

Microsoft has been so aggressive with forcing their services on you it’s ridiculous. Hope more people are jumping to Firefox/Linux and such

They're more like default browser suggestions, really...

Just find an alternative to it. There are a lot that are free or/and Open-source.

Use Thunderbird

There's a setting for this in Outlook now, basically a toggle to choose either edge or the system default.

Not nice to have an extra setting for it but at least it can be turned off

Obligatory post

Well... https://lemmy.world/post/1070774 has a suggestion ;)

I am wondering what happens if you don't have Edge installed

Ugh noticed this earlier today and thought it was something on my end (setting messed up or reverted), but nah just Microsoft making it hard to love windows as usual

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More like Asshole Design

Why are they so unbelievably desperate to force people to use Edge?

Move to Ubuntu, you are not obligated to use Microsoft.

What keeps me from moving to Firefox is the Translation option. Edge and Chrome are so good at quickly making the page available to read in my language. Firefox is not so good at this and requires adding which don’t seem to deliver the same functionality. At least from what I have found. So if someone has tips there, please share.

So where's the group policy to turn this shit off?

Maybe some people will just give up on outlook finally and use a good email client or the webapp, neither of which will do this shit.

It's annoying, for sure.

File > Options > Advanced > Link Handling > Open hyperlinks from Outlook in: Default Browser

Looks like there are now more Microsoft programs people will avoid using.

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Well I don’t have Edge installed / blocked edge from ever installing…

It happened to me last week and it pissed me off. If i wanted to use Edge I would, Microsoft needs to cut the pushy shit out.

well isn't that !wholesome@kbin.social

Facebook is dying this to me now too, everyone opening with their in app browser

It happened at my work the other day. There was a popup with a not so obvious option that sets it back to your default browser.

Me: using outlook on Firefox installed as PWA

Yup.

Keep using Windows!

Because they don’t test with Chrome of Firefox. It also makes it easier to cross-sell o365.

At this point, you will either try to mitigate the harm caused by proprieatry software by adding as many Open source programs to your MS system, or treat the underlying cause and install a FOSS OS.

Devil's advocate but Edge is just reskinned and revamped chrome so it's not the worst thing imaginable.

Stuff like this is why I went to Mac in 2020 and I only begrudgingly look back the few times a year I absolutely need something windows exclusive. They really have a lovely way with software and UI that Microsoft does not.

Step 1: Stop using Outlook....

If it's not your work PC then I can't understand why you keep letting them rape your privacy, personal choices,

I feel like this is common practice. Synergy between company's product is very common. There are alternatives you can use instead of outlook (ex. thunderbird, mailbird, etc). If you don't like Microsoft practices then you can opt out and find an alternative. But speaking on behalf of the less techy savvy consumer i would be pissed off about this.

I actually don't mind this. I use outlook and edge for work, my other browser is for personal use

Gates went too many times to china so he knows how to push boundaries all the way

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