Why should you use Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome?

Google Chrome remains the world’s most popular browser. But there are 6 good features to use Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome. Microsoft Edge, one of the oldest browsers, aims to increase its popularity again with these features.

6 reasons to use Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome

Vertical tabs, web capture, collections and more. With details like these, here are 6 Microsoft Edge features that will make you ditch Chrome for good!

Vertical Tabs

First announced in 2021, Microsoft Edge’s vertical tabs are one of the best features for quick tab management. As the name suggests, this feature organizes tabs vertically on top of each other instead of using the standard horizontal display.

Vertical tabs are one of the best browser tricks for efficient browsing. The vertical screen allows you to preview more tabs. You can also easily resize the tab bar. You can use the shortcut CTRL + Shift + (,) to enable vertical tabs.

Collections

Edge’s Collections provide an easier way to access and save important ideas as you browse. With Collections, you can group different websites into categories and save website text. What’s more, you can also add short notes to a collection, making Collections a powerful feature that combines note-taking with tab management.

Collections offers a better experience than using Bookmarks. This is one of the key reasons to use Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome. To provide faster access to your saved links, Edge gives you some handy shortcuts for Collections. For example, you can open all links in a Collection in new tabs or in a new window. There’s also a shortcut that lets you copy all items in a Collection to your clipboard for easier sharing between apps.

Immersive Reader

Full Screen Reader eliminates pop-ups and other distractions to help you focus on what you are reading. But it was originally designed for readers with dyslexia and dysgraphia. It does a pretty good job of making it easier to read web content.

The shortcut to use Microsoft Edge Immersive Reader is F9. You can prefix any URL with “read:” to view the page in Immersive Reader mode. Click the text preferences button to access a variety of readability options that you can explore.

You can also change the text spacing and size. You can even choose a new font. You can also use dark color themes to make it easier on the eyes at night. Finally, there’s Read Aloud, where you can listen to web pages spoken by different voices at Edge-specific speeds.

Web Capture

Web Capture offers an easy way to capture information from the web without using third-party applications or extensions. There are two capture options. Capture by field or capture the full page. The second option is a handy feature that most third-party apps can’t use.

You can enable Microsoft Edge’s Web Capture feature at any time using the shortcut CTRL + Shift + S. In addition to capturing text and images, you can also annotate screenshots with Edge’s PDF drawing tools. Then, once you’ve captured an image, you can copy it to your clipboard or share it with others. This is where using Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome can speed things up.

Edge PDF Reader

One of the reasons to use Microsoft Edge instead of Chrome is the built-in PDF reader. Edge’s PDF reader has some important tools for viewing and editing documents, such as basic form filling, table of contents and annotation features.

The PDF reader also includes drawing tools similar to those used in Web Capture. But there are some additional features like highlighting and inserting text boxes, which offers a smart way to take notes on a PDF. If you want to use Edge’s PDF Reader for all your files, you’ll first need to change your default PDF reader in Windows.

Browser Essentials

Microsoft Edge is known for its privacy options such as tracking protection, balanced and strict security modes. Edge’s Browser Essentials center is designed to help you stay safe and improve your browser’s performance.