Windows browser-choice steering remains a concern, according to a July 2026 Mozilla-published update of research by independent researchers Harry Brignull and Cennydd Bowles. Their tested Windows journeys included repeated prompts and other design patterns that Mozilla says can push users toward Edge. The available evidence does not establish how many people saw those prompts, so “millions” should not be read as a verified exposure count.
What the 2026 research found
Mozilla commissioned the update, while the findings belong to the independent researchers. They compared browser-choice journeys in Windows 10 and Windows 11 across the United States, United Kingdom, India, and Germany, used as a representative of the European Economic Area (EEA). Mozilla says the researchers identified patterns including trick wording, obstruction, visual interference, preselection, nagging, and forced action. Mozilla Research’s report and its July 14, 2026 summary describe the findings; they are not a verified count of prompt recipients or a census of every Windows user.
Two examples from the tested journeys
- Restoring a PC backup: Mozilla says a test backed up a Windows 10 machine where a non-Edge browser was installed and selected as default, then restored that backup to a new Windows 11 device. In that tested journey, the alternative browser did not transfer and Edge silently became the default. This is a reported test outcome, not evidence that every Windows migration behaves this way.
- Opening Copilot links: Mozilla’s summary says Copilot opens links in Edge even when the user has chosen another default browser. This is a specific behavior reported by the summary, not a claim about every link opened throughout Windows.
Do the findings apply everywhere?
No. The comparison covered two Windows versions and four named regions, not every device, country, or possible browser-choice route. Mozilla says the EEA journey had dropped some harmful patterns documented in earlier work, which it attributes to regulatory pressure associated with the Digital Markets Act, while other patterns remained. Germany was the study’s EEA representative; it should not be treated as proof that every EEA country has an identical experience. Mozilla’s blog also mentions Brazil when describing where harmful patterns continue, but that does not mean Brazil was among the four regions in the comparison described above.
What the survey figures do—and do not—show
A separate Browser Choice Alliance survey offers a measure of US respondents’ views and reported experiences, not a count of Windows prompts. Windows Central reported on August 12, 2026, that the survey polled 2,000 US adults. The Alliance includes browser companies that compete with Microsoft, including Chrome, Vivaldi, and Opera, so these figures should be understood as responses to a survey commissioned by an industry group, not independent academic research or system telemetry.
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| Survey response | Reported result | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Wanted primary control over their default browser | 86% | Attitude reported among the 2,000 US adults polled; not a measure of prompt exposure. |
| Favored a one-click default-browser setting | 80% | Preference reported in the same survey. |
| Among respondents who tried changing defaults in the previous one to two years, encountered challenges | 72% | Self-reported experience, as reported by Windows Central. |
| Said Windows system updates contributed to a browser preference being changed or reset | 29% | Self-reported experience, not independently verified system telemetry. |
Windows Central’s survey report presents these as responses from the poll. They cannot be used to infer how many people received a particular prompt, or to verify how often a default was changed.
Why you may see “This website works better in Microsoft Edge”
Microsoft Support’s guidance concerns this specific compatibility message, which can appear when a website or browsing scenario is associated with Edge or a legacy-browser compatibility option. Microsoft recommends switching to Edge, updating the browser you already use, or using compatibility options in relevant legacy-browser situations. Its page also explains how to download Edge. Those recommendations address the compatibility notice; they are not universal fixes for every default-browser prompt or every behavior described in Mozilla’s report. See Microsoft Support’s “Switch to Microsoft Edge for a better browsing experience”.
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What to take away from “millions”
Mozilla’s page separately says that more than one billion people have Windows 11 PCs, but that is an operating-system population figure, not the number exposed to Edge prompts. Neither that figure nor the survey establishes how many people encountered the design patterns. The supported conclusion is narrower: Mozilla’s account of the researchers’ tested journeys says browser-choice steering patterns persist, with some differences by region and scenario.
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