This Microsoft PowerToys repair lastly makes Net Search usable

I do not shrink back from the truth that I like Windows 11. Is it excellent? No, but it surely will get numerous 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 would not need me to put in my most popular browser of alternative. Every time I am downloading Google Chrome it barrages me with the message that “there is not any must obtain a brand new net browser” as a result of Edge is a “quick, safe, and fashionable net expertise.” I do not hate Edge essentially, I’ve simply been utilizing Chrome for too lengthy, and it is already synced throughout all my units.

As a fan of Microsoft’s PowerToys app, one factor that has irritated me not too long ago when utilizing its Net Search function within the Command Palette is that it solely makes use of Edge for net searches, and ignores my default browser. This was a bug that solely affected individuals utilizing Home windows 11 24H2 (by way of XDA), and it has been driving me loopy since I began utilizing Command Palette, which solely not too long ago launched in Could.

Fortunately, this challenge has now been fastened within the newest PowerToys replace, PowerToys v0.92. Now, if you carry out a Net Search within the Command Palette, it makes use of your default net browser, whether or not it is Chrome, Firefox, or another browser as an alternative of Edge. The patch notes for the newest replace state, “Mounted a difficulty the place Net Search at all times opened Microsoft Edge as an alternative 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 shortly

Should you’re unfamiliar with Command Palette, it is a newer, extra environment friendly model of PowerToys Run. The function provides a macOS-like Highlight search to your PC, making it straightforward to run instructions, discover recordsdata, open apps, or search the online shortly.

When you obtain PowerToys, you possibly can 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, situated beneath System Instruments > Command Palette. Once you open Command Palette, you possibly can seek for something in your PC, and if you cannot discover it, you possibly can conduct an internet search, which is able to now use your default browser as an alternative of Edge routinely.

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

Microsoft PowerToys is out there totally free from the Microsoft Retailer. After putting in it in your Home windows 11 PC, you will unlock quite a lot of useful productivity features, resembling file preview with Peek, multitasking with the All the time on Prime window instrument, choosing any coloration in your PC utilizing the Coloration Picker utility, and notably the Command Palette, much like macOS’s Highlight. If you have not tried PowerToys but, I extremely advocate giving it a shot. You do not have to be a developer or a Home windows professional 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.