Why is Microsoft Edge starting up with Windows 11?

SomeGuy

So, I'm forced to use a Windows 11 machine somewhere, and the last few days Microsoft Edge has been popping up when Windows starts. At first I thought I just clicked something wrong, but then I see this dialog along with a pile of advertising:



It reads "Get to browsing faster" "Microsoft Edge now opens automatically when you sign in to Windows [Got it] [Not Now]". Of course, modern dialogs can not have a "no" option.

Is Microsoft pushing this out to all users, or do they just know I hate them? Is this malware? Is this something an administrator (sadly, not me) might have enabled?

I already disabled it from the task manager startup. Well, it will probably still come back. We will see.

The really weird thing is, searching for the text in the dialog box turns up almost nothing. Am I the only one left who cares? Or is it just me?

02k-guy

Windows 10 and 11 is spyware and spamware. eos

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/stop-microsoft-edge-from-starting-automatically-c341c879-799a-dccd-d6be-bc51ecdd5804

WE live in a world of nebbishes controlled by the propaganda they are fed.

Bry89

I've used Windows 11 on some computers at college, and this has never happened to me. Probably that the admins there have disabled that useless gimmick.

zyme

While I've never seen that message, I asked Windows 11's Copilot and it said this:


`This message appears because Microsoft Edge is set to open automatically when the user signs in to Windows. It’s a feature designed to get users browsing faster by having the browser ready as soon as they log in.

How to disable it: If the user does not want this feature, they can click on the “Not Now” button or the ‘X’ at the top right corner of the notification to dismiss it. Alternatively, they can go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > Privacy and turn off the toggle for Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device and reopen my apps after an update or restart.`


[Note: on my computer in sign-in options there's no "Privacy" section, but the option named is there under "Additional Settings"].

SomeGuy

Well, hmmm, ok, so perhaps someone else futzed with the machine. Still, the message isn't clear that that this is a user specific setting. I don't recall the "not now" button doing anything, although, as I said, I did disable it.

Bry89

@zyme That's quite a stupid reason to justify that unneeded feature. What if someone doesn't want to go online if they just have their computer just to fiddle about with Word or something?

And also, is this gimmick something new that Microsoft had pulled out via a recent "update"? I suspect that it is...