Microsoft Edge has finally received Quick Commands

It took Microsoft a while to bring this useful feature to their browser. Quick Commands is an input box that allows you to directly launch a specific feature of the browser by typing its name. The idea isn't new, and was first introduced in the classic Opera browser. Its ideological successor, Vivaldi, was first of the Chromium-based apps to implement it. In March 2021, Chrome has got something similar called "Commander". It is 2022 and Edge now follows the suit.

In Edge, it is currently an experimental feature. It is hidden behind a flag, so you must enable it in order to test Quick Commands. The flag name is DevTools Toaster. As follows from its description, the command area it opens launches dev tools commands. In other products, e.g. in Vivaldi, the command bar is more flexible and allows using most of its features via commands.

So, if you want to give a try to DevTools Toaster, you need to be on the latest Canary build of Edge, at least as of now. You can download it from the official Insider website. If you already have it installed, open the menu (Alt+F), head over Help > About Microsoft Edge, and let it check for updates. Now you are ready to active quick commands in Edge.

Enable Quick Commands in Microsoft Edge (DevTools Toaster)

1. Open a new tab in Edge, and paste this into the URL box: edge://flags/#edge-devtools-toaster.
2. Hit Enter to directly go to the flag, and select Enabled from the drop-down menu next to the DevTools Toaster name.
3. Restart the browser when prompted.
4. Now, to open the quick commands bar, press Ctrl + Shift + Space. Alternatively, open the menu (Alt + F) and select More Tools > Quick Commands.

Now, type some feature name, e.g. history to see the available options like "clear browsing history".

You can save the webpage to a file, open a new tab, clear cookies, and so on. While Edge doesn't support each and every feature via quick commands, this method of launching tools and settings of the browser is still quite useful.

Quick Commands is not the only novelty of the Canary build of Edge. Microsoft is testing an additional way to close tabs with a double-click. It is a new optional accessibility feature.

Thanks to @Leopeva64 for the tip.