Microsoft Edge Has a New Trick to Get Data From Chrome Users on Windows

Microsoft is once again trying to get Chrome users to share their browser data with its Edge browser on Windows. The company has confirmed to The Verge that Windows users who set up another default browser than Edge may see a new pop-up suggesting them to let it import their browser data regularly.

According to The Verge, this new pop up may appear when users boot up their PCs, and the option to import data from other browsers into Microsoft Edge is enabled by default. While this is already quite problematic in its own right, the X button to dismiss this prompt is also not very visible.

“This is a notification giving people the choice to import data from other browsers,” a Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge. “There is an option to turn it off.” According to the report, this new pop-up may appear more often on PCs where Google Chrome is installed.

Earlier this year, many Windows 11 users discovered that Edge has started importing their Chrome tabs in the background after they installed a new Windows update. Microsoft later updated Edge to make the browser stop importing Chrome data without users’ knowledge. However, the company is now back with a new trick.

Overall, this looks like another heavy-handed attempt from the company to get more Windows users to switch to its Edge browser. There have been many other examples of Microsoft using this kind of dark patterns on Windows in recent years, and this is certainly not the best way to make its various services more trustworthy.

Have you also seen this new Edge pop-up on your PC? Let us know in the comments below.