Microsoft Edge on Windows in Liverpool: a practical guide for 2026
Updated 2026-10-20 · For Liverpool and the Liverpool City Council area
Why Edge on Windows in Liverpool
Liverpool is a port city with three universities, a big visitor economy and a dense Merseyrail network. Windows PCs are everywhere from student halls to hotel back offices, and Edge, already on every one of them, is the quickest place to start improving speed and safety.
Studying in Liverpool: tabs, reading and notes
Students at the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Liverpool Hope can use Sleeping tabs and vertical tabs to keep libraries, VLEs and email open without grinding an older machine to a halt.
Switch to vertical tabs when you have a pile of journal articles open, press F9 for Immersive Reader on long PDFs and web pages, and keep one Favorites folder per module. Collections no longer takes new items, so Favorites is the place to organise.
Commuting from Liverpool: stretch the battery
On Merseyrail, set Efficiency mode on before you board and close heavy tabs, such as video or maps, you are not using. It makes a real difference to how long a laptop lasts between charges.
Open edge://settings/system and turn on Efficiency mode and Sleeping tabs. Edge then slows or pauses background tabs, which helps a lot on a laptop that is unplugged for the whole journey.
Staying safe online in Liverpool: scams and readability
For online banking, ticketing and Liverpool City Council forms, zoom the page, use Immersive Reader for dense text and leave SmartScreen on to catch fake lookalike sites.
Zoom pages with Ctrl and +, use Immersive Reader (F9) for clutter-free text, and leave SmartScreen on to warn about fake sites. If a scam arrives by text, forward it free to 7726 and report it through the UK's national fraud reporting service.
Settings worth five minutes
| Feature | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Startup boost | Settings > System and performance. Lets Edge open faster after you sign in to Windows. |
| Efficiency mode | Same page. Cuts background activity to save battery on laptops. |
| Sleeping tabs | Same page. Puts idle tabs to sleep; you can set the timeout. |
| Keep Edge updated | edge://settings/help. Edge updates itself, not through Windows Update or the Microsoft Store. |
| Tracking prevention | edge://settings/privacy. Basic, Balanced or Strict. |
| Clear data | Ctrl+Shift+Delete. Choose a time range and what to remove. |
Shortcuts worth learning
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Shift+N | InPrivate window |
| Ctrl+Shift+T | Reopen closed tab |
| F9 | Immersive Reader |
| Ctrl+Shift+U | Read aloud |
| Shift+Esc | Browser task manager |
| Ctrl+Shift+Delete | Clear browsing data |
What is new in 2026
Recent Edge releases added a Copilot-driven new tab page, and you can hide the Copilot toolbar icon by right-clicking it. Copilot features have usage limits and availability varies by market. Collections has been retired, so move saved items to Favorites.
FAQ
Is Microsoft Edge a good browser for Windows PCs in Liverpool?
For most Windows users in Liverpool, yes. Edge is built on Chromium, so sites behave as they do in Chrome, and it adds Windows-focused extras such as Startup boost, Efficiency mode, Sleeping tabs, Immersive Reader and Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. It is already installed on Windows, so there is nothing to download.
How do I save battery on Merseyrail and bus journeys in Liverpool?
Turn on Efficiency mode and Sleeping tabs in edge://settings/system, close heavy tabs such as video before you set off, and use Shift+Esc to see which tabs use the most resources. This suits Merseyrail trains and local buses, where you often have no chance to plug in.
Will Edge keep working on Windows 10 for people in Liverpool?
Edge and the WebView2 runtime keep receiving updates on Windows 10 22H2 until at least October 2028, and you don't need the paid Extended Security Updates programme for that. The Windows 10 operating system itself is a separate matter, so plan an upgrade to Windows 11 where your PC supports it.
Independent guide, not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. Microsoft, Windows and Edge are trademarks of Microsoft. Menu names and features change between versions; check edge://settings/help for yours.