Microsoft Edge Is Getting a Better Webpage Search Tool
Pressing CTRL+F to find something on a webpage is a quick and easy way to get where you want to go. However, sometimes a browser’s search tool doesn’t quite cut it. Microsoft aims to change that with a new search tool for Edge that should make it easier to find things.
A new search tool in Microsoft Edge Canary
As spotted by Neowin, Microsoft has added a new search tool to the Edge Canary branch. This new tool adds four quick toggles to the search bar when you press CTRL+F on a webpage.
If you want to find something on a webpage, but you want your search to be case-sensitive, the “match case” option can do that. And if you’re searching for a word that also appears inside other words, you can turn on “Whole word match” to make sure you only get the results you want.
The “Include related matches” toggle will let Edge display results it thinks are related to what you’re looking for. And “match diacritical marks” takes into account any accents on the letters you use in your search.
Right now, this search tool is only on the Edge Canary branch. This means that you won’t get it if you boot up the version of Edge that came with your Windows PC. However, you can use the Microsoft Edge Insider channel to subscribe to the Canary version, which Microsoft uses to test features in the browser.
Is Microsoft trying to do away with the need for extensions?
This may seem like a small change at first, but it shows Microsoft is working toward “baking in” features that people often turn to extensions for. Doing so would make Edge a convenient alternative to its rival browsers.
For example, Chrome, the most used browser in the market, does not have advanced webpage search options by default. If you want to do a case-sensitive search, you’ll need an extension to do the work for you.
By adding these desired features to the browser itself, Microsoft is probably trying to make Edge a complete package out of the box without the need for extensions. This is great for people who would rather not install extensions, either because they don’t know how to, or they can’t because they’re on a public PC.
As such, it’s likely that we’ll see Microsoft add these highly desired quality-of-life features to Edge. And if the company is successful, it could be successful in preventing people from downloading competing browsers and going with what Windows gives them by default.
The search is over for a better webpage search tool
Once this new search tool hits the main Microsoft Edge branch, it’s going to be a lot easier to find things on a webpage. And if Microsoft is lucky, it might just give users yet another reason to stick with their browser instead of moving on to the competition.
If you’re a fan of Microsoft Edge, you might want to give the Canary build a look. Microsoft has just announced that it is expanding its updates for the Edge Canary branch from its usual one update a day to two.
A new update schedule for Microsoft Edge Canary
As spotted by Neowin, Microsoft is doubling the number of updates Edge Canary gets every day. The Redmond giant officially announced the change in a short post titled “Heads Up: Twice Daily Canary Builds Are Now” on the Microsoft Edge Insider website.