How to open URL in Microsoft Edge from the command line? - windows-10

Question

I need to open URL in Microsoft Edge (on Windows 10). When I invoke
start shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge http://www.google.com
then Microsoft Edge is started correctly but it doesn't open the given URL (www.google.com, in this case). It opens Bing search where the given URL is used as a search term instead.

Answer 1

The following method should work via Command Prompt (cmd):
start microsoft-edge:http://www.cnn.com

Answer 2

Windows 10: Create a shortcut with this destination:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /c "start microsoft-edge:https://twitter.com"

Answer 3

and a shortcut:
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c start shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge http://localhost:6516

Answer 4

I too was wondering why you can't just start microsoftedge.exe, like you do "old-style" applications in windows 10. Searching the web, I found the answer -- it has to do with how Microsoft implemented "Universal Apps".
Below is a brief summary taken from that answer, but I recommend reading the entire entry, because it gives a great explanation of how these "Universal Apps" are being dealt with. Microsoft Edge is not the only app like this we'll be dealing with.
Here's the link: http://www.itworld.com/article/2943955/windows/how-to-script-microsofts-edge-browser.html
Here's the summary from that page:
"Microsoft Edge is a "Modern" Universal app. This means it can't be opened from the command line in the traditional Windows manner:  Executable name followed by command switches/parameter values. But where there's a will, there's a way. In this case, the "way" is known as protocol activation."
Kudos to the author of the article, Stephen Glasskeys.

Answer 5

All the other solutions work for Microsoft Edge (legacy) and on Windows 10 only.
As of 2020, it will be discontinued and replaced by Microsoft Edge (Chromium based).
The solution that works with the new Edge on Windows 7, 8 and 10 is :
start msedge URL
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Edge#Anaheim_(2019%E2%80%93present)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-sysupdate-windows-updates

Answer 6

While the accepted answer is correct, it has the unwanted artifact of flashing a console window when running from a non-console application.
The solution I found works best, which is only mentioned here in a comments to the question, is the following command line:
explorer.exe "microsoft-edge:<URL>"
Keep in mind that if contains the % sign you will need to type %% as Windows uses the symbol for variable expansion.
Hope someone finds this helpful.

Answer 7

Personally, I use this function which I created and put in my profile script ...\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\….profile, feel free to use it. As I am from the UK, I prefer to go to .co.uk where possible, if you are from another area, you can add your own country code.
# Function taking parameter add (address) and opens in edge.
Function edge {
param($add)
if (-not ($add -contains "https://www." -or $add -contains "http://www.")) {
if ($add[0] -eq "w" -and $add[1] -eq "w" -and $add[2] -eq "w") {
$add = "https://" + $add
} else {
$add = "https://www." + $add
}
}
# If no domain, tries to add .co.uk, if fails uses .com
if (-not ($add -match ".co" -or $add -match ".uk" -or $add -match ".com")) {
try {
$test = $add + ".co.uk"
$HTTP_Request = [System.Net.WebRequest]::Create($test)
$HTTP_Response = $HTTP_Request.GetResponse()
$add = $add + ".co.uk"
} catch{
$add = $add + ".com"
}
}
Write-Host "Taking you to $add"
start microsoft-edge:$add
}
Then you just have to call: edge google in powershell to go to https://www.google.co.uk

Answer 8

I would like to recommend:
Microsoft Edge Run Wrapper
https://github.com/mihula/RunEdge
You run it this way:
RunEdge.exe [URL]
where URL may or may not contains protocol (http://), when not provided, wrapper adds http://
if URL not provided at all, it just opens edge
Examples:
RunEdge.exe http://google.com
RunEdge.exe www.stackoverflow.com
It is not exactly new way how to do it, but it is wrapped as exe file, which could be useful in some situations. For me it is way how to start Edge from IBM Notes Basic client.

Answer 9

Looks like things have changed and the previous solution doesn't work anymore.
However, here is the working command to launch CNN.com on Microsoft Edge:
microsoft-edge:http://www.cnn.com

Answer 10

I want to complement other answers here in regards to opening a blank tab in Microsoft Edge from command-line.
I want to add an observation from my end. Windows doesn't detect the command microsoft-edge if I remove the trailing colon. I thought colon would be required only when I've to provide the target URL to open e.g. when I've to open a blank tab. But that's not the case. Color (:) is required all the time.
How to open a blank tab in Microsoft Edge?
From Run prompt (press Window logo + R):
microsoft-edge:about:blank
microsoft-edge:
msedge
From Command(cmd.exe) prompt:
start microsoft-edge:about:blank
start microsoft-edge:
start msedge
You can also initiate a search using Edge from run prompt. Let's say I've to search Barack Obama then fire below command on run prompt-
microsoft-edge:Barack Obama
It starts Microsoft's Bing search website in Edge with Barack Obama as search term.

Answer 11

It will do more or less the same thing in good old dos script fashion
set add=%1
if %add%$ ==$ set add="about:blank" && goto launch
rem http://
set test=%add:~0, 7%
if %test% == http:// goto launch
rem ftp://
set test=%add:~0, 6%
if %test% == ftp:// goto launch
rem https://
set test=%add:~0, 8%
if %test% == https:// goto launch
rem add http
set add=http://%add%
:launch
start microsoft-edge:%add%

Answer 12

microsoft-edge:http://google.com (open google as desired)
microsoft-edge: (just open)