Edge wants to take screenshots of every webpage you visit, here is why and how to disable it

Microsoft Edge has numerous features to make the browsing experience better. For example, Startup Boost ensures Edge launches instantly, and improved text rendering delivers better fonts on Windows. These, in addition to several more, make Edge stand out among competitors. However, some services are head-scratching at best or outright bewildering at first sight.

Recently we covered a feature that could make one think Microsoft can see every picture you view online. Here is another one: an upcoming release will add a toggle enabling Edge to take screenshots of each page you visit. And no, it is not a clickbait-like assumption: Microsoft clearly states it wants to screenshot everything you view online.

Microsoft Edge 117, currently available for testing in the Canary and Dev channels, has a new toggle called "Save screenshots of site for History" with the following description:

We'll take screenshots of the sites you visit and save it so that you can quickly revisit the site you want from history.

Turning on the feature will let you revisit any page from your browsing history without an internet connection. In other words, you get a built-in Pocket-like service for offline reading. Besides, you will be able to hover a cursor over a webpage in history to preview its thumbnail.

That sounds great and useful—no more downloading third-party extensions or apps for reading pages offline (something Apple introduced in Safari years ago). However, Microsoft again falls flat on its face with a confusing feature name and description.

You cannot blame an average consumer for making false assumptions after reading about a service taking screenshots of each and every webpage without exception. There is no extra information about privacy, encryption, and other safeguards to give the user peace of mind.

Also, the initial implementation lacks the exception capability for preventing the browser from taking "screenshots" of specific websites (a button for manually saving a select page would also be great).

"Save pages for offline reading," or something similar, sounds much less alarming, but Microsoft decided to go the other way. One can only hope developers will ship this confusing-looking feature to the Stable channel in a much more polished and refined form.

Fortunately, the toggle is off by default, and now you know why Microsoft Edge Dev and Canary want to screenshot everything you view online. You can enable or disable the "Save screenshots of site for History" feature by heading to Settings > Privacy and Services. Alternatively, use the edge://settings/privacy link.