CHAPTER 3
Surfing the Web
This chapter shows you how to use Microsoft Edge (which replaces Internet Explorer in Windows 10) to navigate from site to site. You learn how to enter web page addresses, work with tabs, save your favorite sites, search for information, and more.
Navigate with the History List
Open a Web Page
Although you usually navigate web pages by clicking links, if you know the address of a specific page, you can type it into the web browser to display it. Every web page is uniquely identified by an address composed of four basic parts: the transfer method (usually http, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol), the website domain name, the directory where the web page is located on the server, and the web page filename. The website domain name suffix most often used is .com (commercial), but other common suffixes include .gov (government), .org (nonprofit organization), .edu (education), and country domains such as .ca (Canada).
Open a Web Page
Enter a Web Page Address
Click Microsoft Edge (
).
Click in the address bar.
Type the address of the web page.
Click Go (
).
The web page appears.
If you find that Microsoft Edge cannot display the page, this is usually a temporary glitch, so click Refresh (
) to try loading the page again.
Select a Link
Position the mouse (
) over a link ( changes to 
).
Click the link.
The Status area shows the link address.
Note: The address shown in the status bar when you point at a link may be different than the one shown when the page is downloading. This happens when the website “redirects” the link, which happens often.
The linked web page appears.
The web page title and address change after the linked page is loaded.
Open a Web Page in a Tab
As you surf the web, you may come upon a page that you want to keep available while you visit other sites. That page may contain important information that you need to reference, or it might be a page that you want to read later on.
Instead of leaving the page and trying to find it again later, Microsoft Edge lets you keep the page open in a special section of the browser screen called a tab. You can use a second tab to visit your other sites and then resume viewing the first site by clicking its tab.
Open a Web Page in a Tab
Open a Web Page in a Tab
Right-click the link you want to open.
Click Open in new tab.
A new tab appears with the page title.
Click the tab to display the page.
You can also create a new tab by clicking New Tab (
).
Navigate Tabs
Click Scroll tab list backward (
) or Scroll tab list forward (
) to display the tab you want.
Note: You see the tab scroll buttons only if Microsoft Edge does not have enough room to display all the tabs.
Click the tab.
The web page loaded in the tab appears.
Close a Tab
Position the mouse () over the tab you want to close.
Click Close Tab (
).
Navigate Web Pages
After you have visited several pages, you can return to a page that you visited earlier. Instead of retyping the address or looking for the link, Microsoft Edge gives you some easier methods.
When you navigate from page to page, you create a kind of “path” through the web. Microsoft Edge keeps track of this path by maintaining a list of the pages that you have visited. You can use that list to go back to a page. After you have gone back, you can also use that same list to go forward through the pages again.
Navigate Web Pages
Go Back
To go back one page, click Back (
).
The page appears.
Go Forward
To go forward one page, click Forward (
).
Note: If you are at the last page viewed up to that point, Forward () is not active.
The page appears.
Find Text on a Page
When you are reading a page on the web, it is not unusual to be looking for specific information. In those situations, rather than read through the entire page to find the information you are looking for, you can search the web page text for the data. The Find on Page feature in Microsoft Edge lets you to do that by enabling you to search through the current page text for a specific word or phrase.
Find Text on a Page
Click More (
).
Click Find on page.
You can also press 
+ 
.
The Find on Page bar appears.
Type the word or phrase that you want to locate.
Microsoft Edge highlights the matching text on the page.
You can click Next (
) to cycle forward through the matches.
You can click Previous (
) to cycle backward through the matches.
When you are done, click Close ().
Navigate with the History List
Back and Forward ( and ) enable you to navigate pages only in the current browser session. To redisplay sites that you have visited in the past few days or weeks, you need to use the History list, which is a collection of the websites and pages you have visited over the past month.
If you visit sensitive places such as an Internet banking site or your corporate site, you can increase security by clearing the History list so that other people cannot see where you have been.
Navigate with the History List
Click Hub (
).
Click History (
).
The History list appears.
Click the day or week that you visited the site.
A list of pages you visited during that day or week appears.
Click the page you want to display.
The page appears.
Change Your Startup Page
Your startup page is the screen, web page, or collection of tabs that appears when you first start Microsoft Edge. The default startup page is the New Tab page, which displays a list of common sites and some suggested content. However, you can configure Microsoft Edge to open a specific web page or a collection of tabs as the startup page.
Change Your Startup Page
Click More ().
Click Settings.
The Settings pane appears.
Click A specific page or pages (
changes to 
).
Click 
and then click Custom.
Type the web page address.
Click Add ().
Microsoft Edge adds the web page to the list.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 to add more web pages, as needed.
Microsoft Edge displays these pages the next time you start the app.
Save Favorite Web Pages
If you have web pages that you visit frequently, you can save yourself time by saving those pages as favorites within Microsoft Edge. This enables you to display the pages with just a couple of clicks.
You save favorite pages in Microsoft Edge by adding them to a special section of the app called the Favorites list. Instead of typing an address or searching for one of these pages, you can display the web page by clicking it in the Favorites list.
Save Favorite Web Pages
Save a Favorite Web Page
Display the web page you want to save as a favorite.
Click Add to favorites (
).
The Add to Favorites dialog box appears.
Note: You can also display the Add to Favorites dialog box by pressing + 
.
Edit the page name, as necessary.
Click Add.
Display a Favorite Web Page
Click Hub ().
Click Favorites ().
The Favorites list appears.
Click the web page you want to display.
The web page appears.
If you use your Favorites list a lot, you can make it easier to display the pages by keeping the Hub visible. Click Hub () and then click Pin the Hub (
). Microsoft Edge pins the Hub to the right side of the window.
Take Advantage of the Favorites Bar
You can use Microsoft Edge’s Favorites bar to provide easy one-click access to those websites that you visit most often.
One of Microsoft Edge’s most useful features is the Favorites bar, which appears below the address box. The Favorites bar is fully customizable, which means you can populate the Favorites bar with new buttons associated with the sites you visit most often. This section shows you how to display and populate the Favorites bar and takes you through a few Favorites bar customizations.
Take Advantage of the Favorites Bar
Display the Favorites Bar
Click More ().
Click Settings.
The Settings pane appears.
Click the Show the favorites bar switch to On.
Microsoft Edge displays the Favorites bar.
Click outside the Settings pane to close it
Add a Web Page to the Favorites Bar
Navigate to the page that contains the link you want to add to the Favorites bar.
Click Add to favorites ().
The Add to Favorites dialog box appears.
Edit the page name, as necessary.
Click the Create in and then click Favorites Bar.
Click Add.
Microsoft Edge adds the web page to the Favorites bar.
Create Web Notes
The Web Notes feature enables you to mark up a web page by annotating and highlighting page elements, adding your own text notes, and clipping part of the page.
When you read a paper document, you might often mark up the page with proofreading symbols, highlight passages, and add your own notes in the margins. Microsoft Edge offers Web Notes, which give you the same capabilities when you are reading a web page. These annotations are stored in Microsoft Edge, where you can view them or copy them to other apps.
Create Web Notes
Display the Web Note Tools
Navigate to the page you want to annotate.
Click Make a Web Note (
).
Microsoft Edge displays the Web Note tools.
Annotate a Web Page
Click the annotation tool you want to use:
Click Pen (
) to draw lines or handwrite text.
Click Highlighter (
) to highlight page elements.
Click and drag on the page to create the annotation.
Add a Typed Note
Click Add a typed note (
).
Click the web page where you want the note to appear.
Type your note.
Click outside the text box.
You can click the typed note number to redisplay the text.
Save Your Web Notes
Click Save Web Note (
).
Edit the note name, as needed.
Select a location.
Click Add.
Microsoft Edge saves your web note to the Quick Notes section of the OneNote app.
Click Exit.
Search for Sites
If you need information on a specific topic, Microsoft Edge has a built-in feature that enables you to quickly search the web for sites that have the information you require. The web has a number of sites called search engines that enable you to find what you are looking for. By default, Microsoft Edge uses the Bing search site. You use the Microsoft Edge address bar to enter a word or phrase that is representative of the information that you seek. Microsoft Edge passes the word or phrase to Bing, which then looks for pages that match your text.
Search for Sites
Click inside the address bar.
Microsoft Edge selects the current address.
Type a word, phrase, or question that represents the information you want to find.
Press 
.
A list of pages that match your search text appears.
Click a web page.
The page appears.
Download a File
Many websites make files available for you to use on your computer, so you need to know how to save them to your PC, a process known as downloading. After you have downloaded a file, you can open it on your computer as long as you have an app that can work with the type of file you downloaded. For example, if the file is an Excel workbook, you need either Excel or a compatible program. You can either open the downloaded file right away, or open it later by displaying your downloaded files.
Download a File
Download and Open a File
Navigate to the page that contains the link to the file.
Click the link to the file.
Microsoft Edge downloads the file to your PC and displays the Information bar.
Click Open.
If you do not want to work with the file right away, you can click Close (), instead.
View Your Downloaded Files
Click Hub ().
Click Downloads (
).
Note: If you have just downloaded a file, you can also click View downloads in the Information bar.
Microsoft Edge displays the Downloads list.