Microsoft Edge

Is Microsoft Edge safe?

Against hackers, yes. Edge runs on the same Chromium engine as Chrome, gets the same fixes for attacked flaws, and adds Microsoft's SmartScreen checks. For privacy it is a weak choice, about level with Chrome. Apple's App Store label lists "user content" as data used to track you across other companies' apps and websites, plus browsing history and a device ID linked to your identity. Microsoft's own whitepaper says shopping features are "turned on by default for all users". We score Edge 64/100: ahead of Google Chrome (59) on its regulatory record and child tools, but far behind Firefox (79) and Safari (81).

What data does Edge send to Microsoft?

Microsoft's Edge privacy whitepaper, updated in August 2026, is unusually detailed, and it is worth reading because the defaults lean towards sharing. Your browsing history reaches Microsoft's servers when you sign in and sync, or when you turn on a setting called "Allow Microsoft to save your browsing activity including history, usage, favorites, web content, and other browsing data to personalize Microsoft Edge and Microsoft services like ads, search, shopping and news". If Bing is your search engine, Edge sends what you type in the address bar to Bing with a resettable ID unique to your browser. If you turn on optional diagnostic data, Edge also sends the websites you visit.

The App Store label goes further than the whitepaper suggests. It lists user content as used to track you, and browsing history as linked to you for analytics, personalisation and app functions. By our rules we score the broader of the two. Edge blocks some trackers with Balanced tracking prevention, its recommended level, which puts it slightly ahead of Chrome, but not enough to offset the data that flows to Microsoft.

Shopping, coupons and Copilot

Edge's shopping tools look for coupons, rebates and lower prices as you shop. The whitepaper says Edge downloads a list of shopping sites and checks each site you visit on your device. If you activate cash back, Edge sends the page address to Microsoft's shopping service to get an affiliate link, and stores cookies to credit the rebate. It is on by default.

Copilot is built into the sidebar and, since 2025, into an optional Copilot Mode that can act on pages for you. Microsoft said in October 2025 that Copilot Mode can use your browsing history "with your permission", that it "will never be accessed without your go-ahead", and that you opt in through the Page Context setting. When you ask Copilot about a page, the page address and content are sent to Microsoft. For how Microsoft handles Copilot chats, see our Microsoft Copilot page.

The Chrome import problem

In January 2024 The Register reported complaints from users that after a Windows update, Edge opened with their Chrome tabs and imported Chrome browsing data at each launch, even though they had not allowed it, and synced it to their Microsoft account if they were signed in. A person familiar with the matter told The Register that a continuous-import choice made on another device "may be syncing incorrectly", that this was "not the intended feature experience", and that Microsoft was fixing it for the next stable release. No regulator acted on it, but it is the kind of default that costs Edge points on transparency and control.

How secure is Edge?

As secure as Chromium, plus some extras. Microsoft's security release notes list each Chromium flaw that Google reports as exploited in the wild alongside the Edge version that fixes it, for example CVE-2025-10585 in Edge 140 on 19 September 2025 and CVE-2026-2441 in Edge 145 on 14 February 2026. SmartScreen checks the reputation of sites and downloads, and Microsoft pays $100 to $30,000 for bugs unique to Edge. The weak spot is sync: Microsoft says synced data is stored on "encrypted Microsoft servers", but it does not describe an end-to-end option like Chrome's sync passphrase or Firefox's default encryption.

Edge for children

Kids Mode is a simple, account-free mode inside Edge. Browsing is limited to an allowlist of child-friendly sites, Bing SafeSearch is set to strict, tracking prevention is set to Strict, and a password is needed to leave it. It suits younger children on a shared computer, but it does not replace system-level controls for a child's own device.

How to make Edge more private

1. In Privacy, search, and services, switch tracking prevention from Balanced to Strict.
2. In Privacy, search, and services, turn off the setting that lets Microsoft save your browsing activity.
3. In Search and connected experiences, turn off shopping.
4. Leave optional diagnostic data off.
5. Use a search engine other than Bing if you do not want your typed text sent with a browser ID.
6. Leave Copilot Mode and Page Context off unless you want Copilot to see your pages and history.

How we scored it

Security (74) is Edge's strongest factor apart from a clean regulatory record (90), thanks to Chromium's patching and SmartScreen. Privacy (45) is the weakest, because of the tracking data on Apple's label, shopping on by default and the setting that lets Microsoft use your browsing for ads. Transparency and control (60) loses points for the 2024 Chrome import. For a more private browser on the same engine, see Brave.