Windows Start menu links could finally launch via Google and Chrome

Last week, we covered how Microsoft is revamping the Start menu with some big upgrades, standardizations, and cleanups. One more thing possibly coming to the Start menu is a welcome change to how web links are treated when clicked.

More specifically, it appears that when you click on links from Windows’ built-in search feature—whether in the Start menu, the taskbar, or elsewhere—those links will now open in your system’s default browser instead of always opening in Microsoft Edge, reports Windows Latest.

All of this is based on some new flags that Windows Latest discovered in Edge’s Canary build (which is the most recent and most “in development” version of the browser). For example, a new flag named msExplicitLaunchNonEdgeDB seemingly refers to an explicit launching of a “non-Edge default browser.”

However, the flags go even further, with one called msExplicitLaunchNonBingDSE that seemingly refers to an explicit launching of a “non-Bing default search engine.” If true, this would mean you’d be able to launch links via Google Search (non-Bing) in Google Chrome (non-Edge)—a huge change for the Start menu!

The exact reason behind these developments is unclear, but it’s possible that Microsoft is worried about being slammed with new fines from the European Commission. Most recently, Microsoft was forced to make Windows 10 extended security updates free for users in Europe.