Microsoft has exerted much effort with its new browser: Microsoft Edge. And it seems that everything has paid off. This improved browser has plenty of amazing features that it makes a worthy competitor of Microsoft Firefox and Google Chrome.
An Overview of Microsoft Edge
Since its inception, Microsoft Edge has had several updates. Its newest version is what many call the Chromium browser.
Now, why “Chromium?” This is because it can run and support extensions that were originally designed for Chrome users. These extensions include in-browser games, screen readers, productivity tools, and a lot more.
This is already on top of the existing extensions available on Microsoft Store. So, if you have a feature you wish Edge has, then it’s safe to assume that there’s an extension for it.
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As with Google Chrome, your settings on Microsoft Edge can be saved. As long as you have a Microsoft account, you can sync your browsing history, passwords, bookmarks, extensions, and more. This also means that if you open Microsoft Edge on another computer, you can still access your browsing data in an instant.
If you wish to give this browser a try, feel free to download it from Microsoft’s official website.
Enable and Disable Sleeping Tabs in Microsoft Edge and Other Features
We’re not forcing you to choose Microsoft Edge, but we encourage you to give it a try. To help you make an unbiased choice, here are some of its best features:
Fast Speed
Instead of upgrading Internet Explorer, Microsoft built Edge from scratch, allowing them to add features that most internet users need: interactions, applications, and diverse content types. Even with all these additions, Edge does not fail in terms of speed. In fact, it’s as fast as its known competitors, Firefox and Chrome.
Personalized Content Feed
When you open Edge, its default page will display a selection of videos, news stories, and other pieces of information tailored to your interests and preferences. This is called My Feed.
Sleeping Tabs
Sleeping Tabs is another feature of Microsoft Edge you dare not miss. It is designed to improve your system’s performance and your device’s battery life. Once enabled, it allows you to save your system resources as it puts your background tabs into idle mode. By default, this feature is disabled. However, you can easily enable and disable them by following the instructions we have provided in the next section.
Enabling Sleeping Tabs in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10/11
To enable the sleeping tabs in Microsoft Edge, follow these steps:
- First, open the Microsoft Edge browser.
- Hover over to the address bar, copy-paste the following text, and then press Enter:
edge://flags/#edge-sleeping-tabs. - In the next section, you will see a highlighted flag named Enable Sleeping Tabs. On the right side of the flag, click the drop-down menu and change it to Enabled.
- Next, go to the address bar and enable these flags one at a time:
- edge://flags/#edge-sleeping-tabs-immediate-timeout
- edge://flags/#edge-sleeping-tabs-site-characteristics
- Hit the Restart button for the changes to take effect.
- Once the steps above are completed, you should notice that the new feature will automatically set the background tabs into idle mode.
Disabling Sleeping Tabs in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10/11
If you wish to disable the feature again, simply follow the instructions below:
- Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
- Go to the upper-right corner of the page and click Settings and More.
- Choose Settings and click System.
- Hover over to the right side of the window and locate the Save Resources section.
- Toggle off the button next to the Save resources with sleeping tabs option.
- If you don’t want to set some sites to sleep mode, go to Save Resources again and add the name of the website under the Never put these sites to sleep section.
- Close Microsoft Edge.
Summary
The Sleeping Tabs feature is already existing in a number of modern browsers like Firefox and Chrome. So, take advantage of it to reduce power consumption and improve system performance.
Do you know other web browsers that have the Sleeping Tabs feature? Share them with us below!