EDGE Recover lost favourites and fill forms faster
In the past year, we’ve frequently complained about Microsoft stuffing Edge with unnecessary features, so we’re pleased that version 117 (released in September) removes some of this junk. The ‘deprecated’ tools include Maths Solver, Picture Dictionary, Citations and Kids Mode, and their removal makes the browser less cluttered and quicker to navigate.
The two new features in Edge 117 are genuinely useful additions. One is called Microsoft Edge Sync Favourites Recovery, and lets you recover ‘favourites’ (Microsoft’s name for bookmarks) that you’ve accidentally deleted.
Provided you have Sync enabled in the browser, and are signed into your Microsoft account, you can now restore deleted favourites from the past 14 days.
To do so, click the Favourites button on Edge’s toolbar (this looks like a star with three lines on it) and click the new ‘Restore deleted favourites’ option, which looks like a bin with a reverse arrow ( 1 in our screenshot below left). Alternatively, type edge://favorites in the search bar and open the ‘Deleted favourites’ folder 2 . Right-click a deleted favourite or folder and choose Restore 3 .
The other new feature is Autofill Autocomplete, which saves you time when filling in online forms. When you start typing in a form field, Edge will automatically detect whether matching data – such as your address – is stored in the browser, and complete it for you. You can manage your saved autofill information at edge://settings/personalinfo.
BRAVE Make web pages easier to read
When we reviewed Brave in our ‘Stop using browsers that track you’ Cover Feature in Issue 668, one useful tool we didn’t have space to mention is its ‘Speedreader’ option. This works like the ‘reading mode’ in other browsers, by removing images, design elements and other clutter from web pages to make their content easier to read. It also allows you to print online articles without wasting ink and paper on superfluous items.
Unlike other reading modes, Speedreader modifies the page content before it loads, rather than after, which saves you data and provides faster load times. Brave 1.58, released in September, enhances the feature by letting you adjust the colour and font of pages to suit your visual needs. See our Workshop below to find out how.
FIREFOX Import all your browsing data from Chrome
In Issue 667 (page 43), we explained how to import Chrome extensions into Firefox by activating a hidden experiment. Version 11
