Microsoft's Edge Browser Was Suspiciously Crashing When Google Was Set As Default Search Engine
Over the past six months, Microsoft's new Edge browser has become very popular with computer users. However, Edge users began reporting an issue yesterday with the Chromium-based browser crashing when attempting to type in the address bar to search. Oddly, the crash issue only surfaced when Google was set as the default search engine.
The crash happened with the official version of Microsoft Edge 84.0.522.48, as well as the Beta version of the browser. Other versions may have the issue as well, but those are the only versions confirmed to crash. Luckily, there is an easy workaround for users who are fighting the crash issue. The steps the workaround are:
- Launch Microsoft Edge
- Click the three dots to enter "Settings and more"
- Click "Settings"
- Click "Privacy and services"
- Click "Address bar"
- Click "Manage search engines"
- Click Add
- Enter Google in the "Search engine" box
- Enter www.google.com in the "Keyword" field
- Paste this text into the "URL with %s in place of query" field: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s
- Click Add
Microsoft tweeted a workaround of its own telling users to turn off Search Suggestions in Edge://settings/search to remedy the issue. The software giant confirmed the problem, and it is working on a resolution. Users of Microsoft Edge first reported the crash at about 7 pm last night, and it impacts both Mac and Windows users. A crash that only impacts those using its rival search engine is a curious issue that will undoubtedly spark conspiracy theories. However, Microsoft since tweeted that it believes that the issue has been resolved.
Thanks for everyone's patience while we investigated! We believe this to be resolved now. We encourage you to revert your browser settings that you may have changed, and let us know if you are still experiencing any crashes typing into the address bar. https://t.co/Icx2qR3UHM
— Microsoft Edge Dev (@MSEdgeDev) July 31, 2020
The Chromium-based Edge browser has proven popular surpassing Firefox to take second place in the desktop market back in April, with a 7.59% share. Even in second place, it's very far behind Chrome.
