Microsoft has changed Windows for users in the European Economic Area (EEA) in response to its designation under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). On supported, up-to-date EEA installations, users can get more control over Microsoft Edge, Bing-related Windows features, browser defaults and Windows Search. Microsoft also announced that the Microsoft Store would become uninstallable in the EEA, but whether that option is available depends on the device and rollout. These are regional changes—not a new Windows policy for everyone—and the European Commission has not announced that it has completed its assessment of Microsoft’s measures.
Why the DMA changed Windows
The DMA is an EU regulation intended to make digital markets fairer and more contestable. It places obligations on designated gatekeepers and their core platform services, including rules concerning users’ ability to choose alternatives, competitors’ access and how services combine data.
The European Commission lists Microsoft’s designated services as Windows PC OS and LinkedIn; it does not list Edge or Bing as Microsoft-designated core platform services. The Windows obligations can still affect Edge and Bing when they are integrated into Windows. That distinction matters: the changes to those apps and features are part of Microsoft’s Windows response, not evidence that Edge or Bing were themselves designated. The Commission’s gatekeeper portal lists the designations.
Microsoft announced its initial Windows measures on March 7, 2024. It said Windows already met many DMA requirements, including allowing people to install apps and stores from outside Microsoft’s channels, while announcing further changes to defaults, uninstall options, interoperability, sign-in and data use. Those are Microsoft’s descriptions of its approach, not a final regulatory ruling. Microsoft’s announcement explains its position and the measures.
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Who gets the changes?
Microsoft described its DMA-compliant Windows 10 and Windows 11 versions for the European Economic Area, which includes EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. A computer simply being physically in Europe does not guarantee that every DMA control will appear. Regional configuration, account region, Windows build, update channel, organizational management and Microsoft’s rollout can affect what a particular installation offers.
Users in the United States and most other regions should not assume they have the same uninstall controls or default-app behavior. Windows 10 and Windows 11 also differ in features such as Widgets. Check the device itself rather than treating an announcement or an Insider preview as proof that a feature is available on every retail installation.
What changed first: the March 2024 measures
Edge and Bing-related Windows functionality
Microsoft said EEA users could uninstall Edge through standard Windows mechanisms. Its announcement also referred to making Bing web-search functionality uninstallable. “Bing” can mean a Windows app or search component, the web-results provider, Bing in Edge, or Microsoft’s website; removing a Windows component does not necessarily remove Bing from all of those places.
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Removing Edge can affect software that relies on it as an underlying platform. Microsoft warns that some apps and widgets depend on Edge and may stop working if it is uninstalled. Microsoft’s support page lists Edge-dependent apps and widgets. The uninstall option is also not guaranteed to appear on every edition, managed PC or regional configuration.
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Microsoft said third-party apps could provide web-search results in Windows Search and that developers received information for creating third-party news feeds in the Windows Widgets panel. Its DMA compliance resources link to technical materials for Web Search in Windows Search and feeds in the Widgets Board.
An integration framework is not the same as an alternative being available to install. A search engine or feed provider must build a compatible product, and users need to have that integration available on their Windows version. The existence of Microsoft’s technical documentation alone does not establish that every competing provider has implemented it.
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Sign-in and data use
Microsoft said Windows would no longer automatically sign users into certain other Microsoft services that combine data—including Edge, Bing and Start—when they first sign into Windows. This concerns automatic cross-service sign-in; it does not prevent users from signing in manually, make a Microsoft account unnecessary for every Windows feature or mean that Windows collects no telemetry.
Microsoft also described new controls for data collected from EEA Windows PCs about third-party apps, restrictions on using that data to compete against those app providers, and redesigned consent flows for combining Windows data with data from other Microsoft services. These are specific data-use and consent measures, not a general ban on telemetry, profiling or data processing.
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What Microsoft added in 2025
On June 2, 2025, Microsoft announced a further set of Windows changes. The table summarizes the announced changes; timing and availability can vary by feature, Windows version and rollout stage. Microsoft’s update describes the changes and rollout.
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| Area | What Microsoft announced | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Default browser | “Set default” would cover the link types ftp, http, https and read, and file types .htm, .html, .mht, .mhtml, .shtml, .svg, .xht, .xhtml and .xml. |
A single action can assign more registered web-related types to a chosen browser. It does not mean every Microsoft experience uses that browser. |
| PDF handling and taskbar | A browser that registers for .pdf could be selected as the PDF handler. Setting a browser as default could also pin it to the taskbar, with checkboxes to clear for users who do not want that. |
Check the options shown during setup; PDF handling depends on browser registration, and taskbar pinning is optional. |
| Windows Search | Search could support multiple web-search providers, with providers reorderable in Settings. Microsoft also described provider results, scoping tabs and automatic enablement when a provider app is installed. | Users can benefit only if a compatible provider app is available and installed; local file, app and settings search remains distinct from web results. |
| Bing app and Start Experiences | The Microsoft Bing app and Start Experiences app could open web content in the user’s default browser. | This reduces reliance on Edge for web content from those experiences, subject to rollout and the app involved. |
| Edge prompts | Edge would stop prompting users to make it the default unless they launched Edge directly. | Microsoft said this would reduce default-browser prompts in the EEA. |
| Microsoft Store | Microsoft announced that the Store would become uninstallable in the EEA on Windows 10 and Windows 11, removable from Start or Settings and reinstallable later. It said Store-installed apps would continue to receive updates and the Store Web Installer would continue to work. | This was an announced rollout, not proof that the uninstall option is present on every current EEA device. Verify before relying on removal. |
Microsoft’s 2025 post also said Edge’s News & Interests feature would continue opening web content directly rather than follow the default-browser change. Default-browser selection therefore does not control every link in every Windows experience.
How to check the controls on your PC
Use these steps as a verification workflow on an EEA-configured Windows 10 or Windows 11 device. The exact options can vary; these paths do not guarantee that every feature has reached your installation.
- Install current updates. Open Settings > Windows Update and install available updates. Microsoft’s March 2024 post once advised users to enable Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available to accelerate access to that initial update. That was rollout guidance at the time, not a guarantee or the only route to features in 2026.
- Check uninstall options. Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Find Microsoft Edge, any Bing-related Windows app or component, and Microsoft Store. If an item’s menu offers Uninstall, the option is available on that installation. Record the Windows version and build if documenting availability.
- Choose a browser. Open Settings > Apps > Default apps, select the browser you want and choose Set default if shown. Review the link and file associations and any taskbar-pinning checkboxes presented.
- Check Windows Search. Search from Windows and look in Settings for available web-search providers or provider ordering. The mechanism does not create a third-party option if no compatible provider app is installed.
- Test the experiences you rely on. Open links from Windows Search, Start and Widgets, and check whether they use your chosen browser. Test important apps, installed web apps and feeds before removing Edge or Store.
- Recover if needed. If removing a component breaks a dependency, reinstall it from Microsoft’s official source or use the available Windows recovery or organizational support route.
What may not change—and what can go wrong
Default browser choice has limits
The expanded defaults cover more registered file and link types, but Microsoft has expressly identified experiences that continue to open content directly, including Edge’s News & Interests feature. Test the links that matter to you instead of assuming that every Windows surface obeys the same setting.
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Removing Edge can affect dependent apps
Some PWAs, widgets and other Microsoft experiences rely on Edge. Removing it may disable them; an uninstall option is a choice, not a guarantee that every dependent feature will continue unchanged. Consider the apps you use and whether you can reinstall Edge before removing it.
Search and feeds need competing implementations
Windows may offer a route for third-party search or news-feed providers, but that route is useful only when providers build and distribute compatible integrations. Support may also vary across Windows 10 and Windows 11, particularly because their Widgets experiences are not identical.
The Store’s operational role deserves testing
Microsoft said Store-installed apps would continue receiving updates even if the Store were removed. For organizations and users whose installation or support processes depend on the Store, test the removal and recovery workflow on the relevant configuration before making it part of a managed deployment.
If an uninstall control is missing
- The installation may not be recognized as EEA-configured, or the relevant update may not have reached it.
- The feature may still be rolling out or may differ between a retail release and an Insider build.
- An organization’s management policy or Windows configuration may affect available controls.
Has the Commission approved Microsoft’s approach?
Do not equate Microsoft’s announcements or compliance reports with final Commission approval. Microsoft published updated DMA compliance and consumer-profiling reports on March 6, 2026. On March 9, the Commission said it would analyze gatekeepers’ updated reports and assess the effectiveness of their measures. That statement describes an ongoing evaluation, not a finding that every Microsoft measure fully satisfies the DMA. The Commission’s March 2026 statement explains its review; Microsoft’s reports archive contains the company’s submissions.
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