Microsoft is trying to Move Edge Users Away from Chrome Web Store: A Strategic Shift

Microsoft’s latest move signals a clear intent to steer Edge users toward its native add-on store. The company has removed the direct link to the Chrome Web Store in Edge Canary’s appearance settings to encourage users to explore and adopt extensions from its platform, Edge Add-ons Store.

The Switch to Chromium

Microsoft has switched Edge to the Chromium engine from EdgeHTML to make the browser more powerful and compatible with more extensions and themes, similar to Google Chrome.

Initially, Microsoft warned Edge users about the risks of installing extensions from the Chrome Web Store, with a message in the settings: “Extensions installed from sources other than the Microsoft Store are unverified, and may affect browser performance.”

Later, Microsoft changed the warning to a friendly note: “Chrome extensions and themes work in Microsoft Edge.” This made it clear that users could use Chrome’s extensions and themes.

Making Customization easy: direct Links to the Chrome Web Store

Microsoft also added a link to the Chrome Web Store in Edge’s settings, with a message like, “You can also find great extensions at the Chrome Web Store,” which was later changed to, “Didn’t find one you want? Discover more themes in the Chrome Web Store.” This helped users find more customization options.

Microsoft Plans to reduce Edge dependence on Chrome Extensions

By October 2024, Edge had its add-on store, and it had grown significantly, offering more themes and extensions. Today, we noticed that Microsoft has started testing the removal of the link to the Chrome Web Store from Edge’s settings in the Canary version to promote its store more.

Why the Shift?

Microsoft’s decision to move away from the Chrome Web Store may be influenced by several factors, amidst the ongoing browser wars with Chrome:

By focusing on its store, Microsoft can ensure better quality and security of extensions, leading to a faster and safer browsing experience.

If developers make extensions just for Edge, it will result in a more lively and creative collection of add-ons.
Reducing reliance on Chrome’s extensions helps Microsoft establish a stronger, more independent identity for Edge.

Microsoft Edge has come a long way. With its improved add-on store, it offers users a great browsing experience with plenty of extensions and themes to choose from. By prioritizing its add-on store and focusing on security, performance, and user experience, Microsoft aims to create a more competitive browser in the ongoing browser wars.

You can still manually visit the Chrome Web Store in Edge and install Chrome extensions and themes. However, Microsoft has made discovering the Chrome Web Store a little more difficult with this change. This is an A/B test in Canary. We have to wait and see if Microsoft makes this change permanent.