Microsoft is always striving to improve and streamline our product experiences, offering new ways to use the Outlook for Windows app and the Microsoft Teams desktop app for Windows with the Microsoft Edge web browser.
Web links from Outlook emails or Teams chats now open in Microsoft Edge. When the link opens, the Outlook email or Teams chat also opens in the Microsoft Edge sidebar pane so you can view the link and the email or chat side-by-side.
This experience lets you easily access, read, and reply to your Outlook email or Teams chats using your matching authenticated profile. No more disruptive switching—just your full email or chat open next to your web links so you can reference them side-by-side and stay in your flow.
Learn more about multitasking smarter with Microsoft 365 and Edge.
If this experience isn't right for you, you can turn off this feature at any time in Outlook or Teams settings by selecting a specific browser to open web links.
Note: If you’re an IT administrator looking to manage this feature for your organization, see View emails and web links side-by-side with Outlook and Microsoft Edge.
General FAQs
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To improve your experience when using Outlook email or Teams chat and browsing—letting you see email or chat and the web at the same time, in the same place. No more switching back and forth between apps.
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To provide a unique experience—at Microsoft, we strive to create the best customer experience across our products.
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To reduce task switching and improve workflow and focus—by opening browser links in Microsoft Edge, the original message in Outlook or chat in Teams can be viewed alongside web content to easily access, read, and respond to the email or chat, using the matching authenticated profile.
No, this only impacts which browser is used to open web links from the Outlook for Windows apps and the Teams desktop app for Windows. You have the option to turn off this feature in Outlook and Teams settings.
No, this change will only be applied to Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.
You can set Microsoft Edge as your Windows default browser in Windows settings:
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Go to Start > Settings > Apps > Default apps.
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Under Set defaults for applications, search for and select Microsoft Edge.
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Select Set default next to Make Microsoft Edge your default browser.
No, whatever you select for one app will be reflected in the other. If you opted-in for Outlook, you will be opted-in for Teams, and vice versa.
Outlook FAQs
Outlook users with commercial Microsoft 365 subscriptions or Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions will get this feature.
If you want to turn off the feature, you can do so from Outlook settings:
In new Outlook for Windows, select Settings > General > Files and links, and then select the desired browser from the dropdown menu Open hyperlinks from Outlook in.
In classic Outlook for Windows, select File > Options > Advanced > File and browser preferences, and then select the desired browser from the dropdown menu Open hyperlinks from Outlook in.
Note: Turning this feature off in Outlook settings will affect the feature in both Outlook and Teams.
Currently, the ability to view your email messages in the Microsoft Edge sidebar pane in a side-by-side view with web content is available for work and school accounts as well as Microsoft accounts, such as Outlook, Hotmail, Live and MSN. We’re working on providing this feature for third-party accounts in Outlook, starting with Gmail, to create a consistent experience across email providers.
To stop email from auto-opening, go to the Microsoft Edge sidebar settings page in one of the following ways:
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Type edge://settings/sidebar into the address bar.
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Select the Settings icon on the bottom of the sidebar.
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In Microsoft Edge, select Settings and more > Settings > Sidebar.
From the sidebar settings page:
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Under App and notification settings, select Outlook.
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Turn off the Automatically open Outlook email context in the side pane toggle.
You can manage Outlook—or any app displayed in the Microsoft Edge sidebar—from the sidebar itself:
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In Microsoft Edge, right-click (or press and hold) the Outlook icon in the sidebar to open the contextual menu.
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Select Hide from sidebar to remove it.
Teams FAQ
Users signed into the Microsoft Teams desktop app for Windows with their work account will get this feature.
If you want to turn off the feature, you can do so from Teams settings: Open Settings > Files and links > Link open preferences, and then select the desired browser from the dropdown menu.
Note: Turning this feature off in Teams settings will affect the feature in both Outlook and Teams.
The Teams app in the Microsoft Edge sidebar offers embedded chat within Edge, however, no other traditional Teams functionality is available currently within the sidebar app.
With the Teams app in the Edge sidebar, users can access their recent chats and start new chats directly from Edge, removing the need to switch back and forth between apps.
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To stop Teams chats from auto-opening, go to the Microsoft Edge sidebar settings page in one of the following ways:
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Type edge://settings/sidebar into the address bar.
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Select the Settings icon on the bottom of the sidebar.
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In Microsoft Edge, select Settings and more > Settings > Sidebar.
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From the sidebar settings page:
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Under App and notification settings, select Teams.
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Turn off the Automatically open Teams chat context in the side pane toggle.
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If you change your mind and want your chats to auto-open in the Microsoft Edge sidebar, you can turn this feature back on at any time.
You can manage Teams—or any app displayed in the Microsoft Edge sidebar—from the sidebar itself:
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In Microsoft Edge, right-click on a mouse (or press and hold) the Teams icon in the sidebar to open the contextual menu.
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Select Hide from sidebar to remove it.
Send us feedback
Please let us know what you think about the new experience in one of two ways:
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In Microsoft Edge, go to Settings and more > Help and feedback > Send feedback. Follow the on-screen instructions and select Send.
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Press Alt + Shift + I on your keyboard. Follow the on-screen instructions and select Send.
