Microsoft today announced that it is rolling out a new share menu for users running Canary and Dev builds of Microsoft Edge on the desktop, bringing a design that is akin to what is present on mobile apps. The new Share menu replaces the default Windows and macOS share option, providing users with quick share targets in the way of app icons and a nifty way to add one’s email address to share webpages with themselves. The native share menu, however, can be accessed by clicking on the “share options” icon.
Currently, the new menu supports a small list of apps that include Outlook, Gmail, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp – which is more than the existing options in the stable version. The firm says that it will be adding support for more apps in the coming weeks. Tapping on any of the app options opens those services in a new tab with the requisite information. There is also the option to copy a link to the webpage, similar to the option present in the native flyout on Windows.
The other interesting and useful option being added especially for those who like to email themselves webpage links is the ‘Email to myself’ feature. Users can save their own email addresses and quickly share links to those addresses right from the browser. Clicking on the saved IDs automatically populates an email with the webpage title in the subject line and the URL in the body. This feature might prove useful for those who do not enable tab or history syncing on their mobile devices or use a different browser on their phones.
Since the feature is just beginning to roll out to Dev and Canary channel builds, not all users will receive it right away. The Redmond firm says that it will be adding a separate flag to Edge Canary in the next few days to force-enable the feature.