Security News > 2021 > September > Firefox now bypasses Windows 11's messy default browser settings
Likely fed up with the new Windows 11 default apps interface, Mozilla has bypassed Microsoft's policies to make it easier for users to switch their default browser.
After some programs began hijacking default program settings without permission, Microsoft added restrictions in Windows 10 by requiring users to specifically choose their default programs.
This all changed with Windows 11 as Microsoft introduced a new and confusing interface for the Default apps settings that now require you to manually change the default program for every protocol and file type.
Instead of having their users wade through a series of annoying Windows 11 settings, Mozilla has reverse-engineered Window 11's default settings process to allow users to make Firefox the default browser with one click.
As first reported by The Verge, starting in Firefox 91, when a user clicks on the 'Make Default' button, the browser will automatically become the default browser without opening Windows 10 or Windows 11's 'Default apps' settings screen, as shown below.
"All operating systems should offer official developer support for default status so people can easily set their apps as default. Since that hasn't happened on Windows 10 and 11, Firefox relies on other aspects of the Windows environment to give people an experience similar to what Windows provides to Edge when users choose Firefox to be their default browser."