Microsoft Edge is ditching rounded corners design for tabs

Microosoft Edge browser’s development cycle frequently introduces new features. Some live on, while others have a short lifespan. Microsoft added rounded tabs in Edge last year but will purge it soon.

Microsoft watcher Venkat noticed this change in Edge in July, and the flag has now been updated to confirm that rounded tabs are going away.

The #edge-visual-rejuv-rounded-tabs flag bears a new description: “This feature will be discontinued soon.” However, when we checked a stable version of Edge, version 127, the rounded tabs feature wasn’t active by default. The same is the case with Microsoft Edge version 128, which is now rolling out in the stable branch.

Microsoft has added rounded tabs for a while, but they are not the default design. The current tab design is similar to Chrome, with rounded tabs on two sides and the bottom part merging with the tab.

Unlike the default design, the rounded tab design makes every tab pop and easy to distinguish. There’s an experimental setting that lets you turn on full-fledged rounded corners in the tab strip, but it has been available in experiments for so long that most users didn’t bother.

Then there’s a rounded corners flag in Edge that applies the same design to many browser elements. If you turn off the #edge-rounded-containers flag, Edge loses the rounded effect.

Microsoft is now killing off the experimental flag and plans to remove support for the optional full-fledged rounded corners feature.

If you found the rounded design appealing, you can still force Edge to use it.

1. Type edge://flags/ in the URL bar and press enter.
2. Search for the #edge-visual-rejuv-rounded-tabs flag and set it to Enabled.
   
3. Relaunch the browser to apply the setting.
4. If the tab design doesn’t change, navigate to the Appearance settings and enable the “Try the new look and feel of Microsoft Edge” option.
   
5. Restart Edge once more.

Upcoming Microsoft Edge Features

Most of the new features in Edge will be AI-centric. It means that most settings will use Copilot to do the task faster.

Windows Latest has covered many such features like Copilot in screenshot tool, AI theme generator, Crypto wallet section, site suggestions, and more.

However, performance improvement settings like RAM limiter and battery-life conserving features like using the built-in Windows 11 energy saver are also on the cards.

In some locations, you can also use Cloudflare-powered 15GB VPN in Microsoft Edge for free, which encrypts the traffic and protects your IP.