Microsoft is making it easier for users to change their default browser on Windows 11, after the initial release notoriously made it harder to stop using Microsoft’s own Edge browser. The change was rolled out with Windows 11 build 22000.593, which was made available to everyone yesterday as an optional update.

In its initial release, Windows 11 made some confusing changes to how app associations work. Instead of being able to set a general default for tasks like web browsing or media playback, you now have to manually set associations for each protocol. This means you need to change the associations for the HTTP and HTTPS protocols, as well as things like HTML files if you want to open them with your default browser. This made the process much more tedious for end users.

With the latest update, if you go to the default apps page (Settings -> apps -> Default apps) and select a browser from the apps list, like Google Chrome or Vivaldi, you’ll now see an option at the top of the Settings page that lets you set it as your default browser. This will change all web browsing related associations to that browser at once, so you don’t have to worry about doing this for every file type or protocol.

Microsoft had started testing this change with Insiders in the Dev channel in December, and it wasn’t immediately clear how it would roll out, but it looks like you won’t have to wait for a big feature update. It’s certainly a welcome change, given that the original approach required browser vendors like Mozilla to circumvent Microsoft’s guidelines in order to make it easier for users to change their default browser.

If you want to be able to change your default browser right now, just check for updates in the Windows 11 Settings app (in the Windows Update section) and download the installer update KB5011563, which is an optional update. If you’d rather wait a bit longer, this change should also be included in next month’s Patch Tuesday, which takes place on April 12. This will be a mandatory update, so that’s when most users will likely get it.

Via: Neowin