Change the default browser for opening links in Outlook

Dear Melanie Leon1,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you.

Based on your description, I understand that you have a query "Change the default browser for opening links in Outlook". At this very moment, I am looking into whether there could be a possible solution to this issue. I will get back to you as soon as I get any additional information about your query.

Your patience and cooperation are much appreciated.

Sincerely,

De Paul | Microsoft Community Moderator

Dear Melanie Leon1,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are glad to assist!

According to your description about "Change the default browser for opening links in Outlook" To understand the situation and be able to offer you relevant suggestions, we would need a little more information from you. Kindly help us in providing the following information.

• May I know your current environment? Is It Exchange Hybrid, on-premises exchange (Exchange server) or pure cloud?

• May I please confirm that you get same situation when default browser is selected under Link handling? To check this kindly open your Outlook go to File-->Options-->Advanced-->Scroll to Link handling then choose Default browser-->Ok then close outlook and re-Open it to check if it will make any difference.

  

  If you don't have this feature kindly refer to Open file links directly in Office desktop apps - Microsoft Support

• Would you mind to kindly provide the screenshot of the outlook version are you using? Kindly go to File-->Office Account

This requested information will help us to narrow down the scenario and find the right troubleshooting.

We are looking forward to your response! Thanks for your precious time. Have a nice day!

Sincerely,

Inema | Microsoft Community Moderator

So simple, this solved my issue.

Thank you very much. A few of us looked for about 30 minutes to find the cure.

Hi,

How will we change this across the board for multiple users? We want to make sure that the default setting for URL handling in Outlook is "Default browser" on all devices.

Is there a policy that can be applied for this?

Thanks

No such "Link" section exists in my copy of the program: Microsoft® Outlook® 2019 MSO (Version 2305 Build 16.0.16501.20074) 64-bit.

Is it possible to change it in Group Policy or the registry?

In Group Policy, I couldn't find anything,

In the registry I created a string called DefualtBrowser under: Computer\HKEYCURRENUSER\Software\Microsoft\Office16.0\Outlook\Link and set it to: "c:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"

However, Outlook remains open with Edge.

I'm trying to find a solution for a large number of desktops without going through them one by one...

I finally found it, no "Link Handling" title, just under Auto Archive that I was ignoring since it was obviously unrelated.

Is there anyone who knows how to change to "default browser" for all users in my domain?

Thanks!

Hi,

How can we set this setting to the default browser for all the users in my domain? Is there any Microsoft 365 policy or ACTIVE directory GPO for this?

Charles

This Microsoft 365 Message Center notice discusses this change: Message center - Microsoft 365 admin center. It points to Overview of Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365 - Deploy Office | Microsoft Learn and Download Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise/Office LTSC 2021/Office 2019/Office 2016 and the Office Customization Tool for Office 2016 from Official Microsoft Download Center.

I use Edge as my default browser with a different Profile for each login. No matter which option I set in Outlook settings (Edge or Default), all links open in one specific Edge profile. Previously, they would open in the most recently used profile. That allowed me to bring up an alternate Edge Profile window before clicking a link in Outlook to ensure it opened in that browser profile with that login. Now I have to copy/paste the link into the proper browser profile window. I don't like this new setting at all and want to revert to how things were before.