When are the Edge tablet/touch issues on Windows going to be taken seriously?

Here is a long list of issues, most of which we've been complaining about since the move to Chromium a few years ago, and they keep getting ignored.

Last year they said that they would address those issues, but most of those issues are still there, and they even introduced new touch issues. Therefore I think the best way forward would be for Edge on Windows to adopt WinUI 3 for its UI, since it's currently the weakest link regarding the touch experience on Windows.

  • Touch is broken on many websites now in every Edge channel. Dropdown and hamburger menus don't respond with touch on many websites. Even on the Bing and Google homepage, top buttons, hamburger menu and dropdowns don't respond with touch. Also on Wikipedia, hamburger menus, language and profile dropdown don't respond with touch. This bug has been in Edge Canary and Dev channel since a few months ago, and has now been pushed to Beta and Stable.

  • Back/Forward (swipe left/right) touch gestures don't work on the right side of the new Split screen view.

  • Workspaces can't be reordered with touch.

  • Swiping to navigate forward and back will occasionally just stop working completely, especially in PWAs.

  • Also the context menu doesn't appear in Bing search results when you select text with touch. You can highlight text but that's it, no way to interact with it. Long pressing after selection just selects whatever word you long pressed on.

  • When creating or renaming a tab group close to the bottom when using vertical tabs, its input box gets obscured by the touch keyboard.

  • Long press with touch on horizontal tabs to bring up the context menu often doesn't work, but shows a stuck long press square.

  • Long press with touch on vertical tabs doesn't work at all unless they are pinned, and also shows a stuck long press square.

  • Long press with touch anywhere on the toolbar shows a stuck long press square.

  • Title bar buttons (Minimize/Maximize/Restore/Close) stop working with touch when you use "Open all in new Window" on a Favorites folder with many tabs, or when certain extensions create a new window with many tabs, such as tabXpert. This was also an issue with the old Edge Workspaces feature.

  • We can't drag tabs from single tabbed windows out of the window (It just fails to move) to another window with touch.

  • Grabbing the window divider of the new split-screen feature to resize the splits, almost never works with touch.

  • The 3 dots "..." in the toolbar at the top-right sometimes stops responding to touch, until I restart Edge.

  • Scrolling favorites/collections pages with touch, often inadvertently moves the items around, since it doesn't adhere to Windows conventions.

  • Often, when immediately typing on the touch keyboard after it shows up, it will inadvertently retract while you're typing.

  • Tapping the address bar of a maximized Edge window with touch, often inadvertently restores the size of the window.

  • Sometimes tapping the toolbar of a maximized Edge window inadvertently restores the size of the window.

  • Sometimes in a maximized Edge window, when a context menu extends towards the top of the screen, tapping a context menu item with touch near the top, inadvertently restores the size of the window.

  • Sometimes restoring the Edge window with touch, doesn't allow you to maximize it again, until you restart Edge.

  • Edge windows don't properly retain their snaps when rotating the device from landscape to portrait orientation and back again, like in this video. https://youtu.be/S8vO1inHBb8?t=63

  • The Downloads dialog (CTRL+J) is not touch friendly. The actions such as Pause/Cancel/Delete Files/etc don't show up until you tap it, making it easy to inadvertently do the wrong action.

  • Text selection is unreliable and doesn't adhere to Windows conventions.

  • In PWAs, the zoom buttons in "... -> More Tools -> Zoom -> +/-" don't work with touch.

  • Swiping down from the top during full-screen is unreliable and inadvertently scrolls the page.

  • CTRL+C/X/V/A etc, in the address bar inadvertently writes out the C/X/V/A characters.

  • Vertical tabs bar often inadvertently expands when it shouldn't, if you're using touch.

  • The Bing sidebar bar often inadvertently expands when it shouldn't, if you're using touch.

  • Snapping Edge windows with touch sometimes doesn't properly line up, until you restart Edge.

  • We can't rename "New Tab Page" items with touch, the touch keyboard dismisses before you can type.

  • Find on Page, up and down buttons are too small and too close to the close button for touch.

  • Touch keyboard obscures the input field while renaming vertical tab groups near the bottom.

  • Touch keyboard obscures the input field while adding or editing favorite folders near the bottom, in the add favorites dialog.

  • We can't easily copy the title of a selected link/url with touch, unlike Legacy Edge. There is Web Select now, but it's not as easy.

  • We can't reorder toolbar/extension icons with touch.

  • We can't select multiple tabs with touch.

  • The "Details" and "Remove" links on the edge://extensions/ page don't respond to touch, as does the "View in Microsoft Edge Add-ons Store" on the details page of a particular extension.

  • The "Details", "Pin to taskbar", "Pin to Start" links on the edge://apps/ page don't respond to touch.

  • The 3 dots "..." on the edge://apps/ don't respond to single tap.

  • When opening certain PDFs, the "This file has limited permissions. You may not have access to some features." bar can't be interacted with touch. You can't tap "View permissions" nor the X button to close the bar.

  • Consider the option to hide the close buttons for non-active tabs, like it used to be in Legacy Edge. This prevents accidental closing of tabs with touchscreens, especially on small tablets.

  • Consider adding touch gestures to switch between tabs, like on iPadOS. I'm currently using GestureSign as a workaround to switch between tabs and close and reopen closed tabs.

  • Consider adding a site preview when long pressing a link, like Safari on iOS and iPadOS.

  • Inking latency is way higher than it was in Legacy Edge.

Also, here are a few Edge WebView and Chromium issues that some apps suffer from.

  • We still can't move built-in Windows 11 Teams Chat windows with touch.

  • The 3 dots "..." on the built-in Windows 11 Teams "Pop out chat" windows don't respond to touch.

  • We can't hold the backspace button on the touch keyboard in Skype to delete multiple characters.

  • Tapping X to close a full-screen Spotify window inadvertently also closes windows behind it.

  • Selecting text with touch in Visual Studio Code is broken. https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/yubppj/vscode_no_touch_support/

Hi Joshertx14,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I'm Hahn and I'm here to help you with your concern.

It's understandable to be frustrated by these touch and tablet issues in Edge and Chromium-based apps on Windows.

Microsoft typically releases updates and improvements to Edge on a regular basis, and these updates often include bug fixes and performance enhancements. If the issues you've mentioned are not resolved yet, it's possible that the development team is still actively working on them.

As a user, you can help Microsoft by providing feedback through official channels, such as the Feedback Hub in Windows or the Microsoft Edge browser itself. This allows the development team to better understand the scope and impact of the issues and prioritize their resolutions accordingly.

Addressing such issues can be complex, as they might involve the underlying browser engine (Chromium), Windows touch and input APIs, and specific UI elements in Edge.

Thank you for your feedback. I have submitted this issue for you through internal channels. In addition, you can also submit your problem through the Feedback Hub (if convenient, please provide as much detail as possible, including pictures, repro videos, etc.).  

Please share the feedback link after submitting, I will submit your feedback to the relevant team for investigation through internal channels. 

Moreover, you might consider checking Microsoft's official blog, developer forums, or support pages to stay up-to-date with the latest updates and announcements regarding Edge browser improvements and issue resolutions.

Regarding your suggestion for Edge on Windows to adopt WinUI 3 for its UI, Microsoft's approach to UI development might evolve over time, and they may consider different solutions to improve the touch experience on Windows devices.

Remember that technology companies are constantly working to enhance their products, and user feedback plays a crucial role in driving improvements. While there might be no definitive answer about when the specific issues you've mentioned will be addressed, your feedback can contribute to making a difference in future updates.

Your Sincerely

Hahn - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Hi Joshertx14,

I haven't received the message from you yet. If there is anything more that I can do for you or if anything is unclear, please do not hesitate to let me know.  

Your Sincerely

Hahn - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Hey Hahn,

I've used the feedback hub before and never had a response.

Windows central just posted these issues in an article: Microsoft Edge users complain about lackluster touch experience and long list of bugs | Windows Central

and youtube user brentech made a video here: https://youtu.be/RHcSWWhGUt4

so does the edge team have a place where we can check the known list of bugs and what they're working on?

Josher

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Hi Josher,

Thank you for using Microsoft Edge and sharing your feedback with us. We appreciate your interest in our browser and we are always working to improve it.

You can share the feedback link at and I will submit your feedback through internal channels to the relevant team for investigation. it will allow others on the forum to vote for your submission, including me. More votes will lead to more visibility and higher priority to the development team.

You can check the [ Microsoft Edge release notes for Stable Channel | Microsoft Learn ] to see what new features and fixes are included in each update.

You can also use the [ Microsoft Edge Insider - Microsoft Community Hub ] to report any bugs or problems that you encounter with Microsoft Edge. There, you can also interact with other users and Microsoft Edge team members, get answers to your questions, and learn about new features and tips.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by these issues and we thank you for your patience and understanding. We value your feedback and we hope you enjoy using Microsoft Edge.


Your Sincerely

Hahn - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Last updated October 3, 2024 Views 323 Applies to: