In 2022, Microsoft announced a major redesign of its browser to match the general aesthetics of Windows 11 with the operating system"s transparency, rounded corners, and other visual delights. Now, two years later, Microsoft is about to kill a part of that redesign that was never enabled by default.
In Microsoft Edge 128, which was released in the Stable Channel this week, Microsoft changed the description of the flag responsible for toggling on the rounded tabs feature. It now explicitly states that the ability to enable "floating" tabs with rounded corners is on its way out:
Changes browser tabs into rounded buttons. This feature will be discontinued soon. – Mac, Windows, Linux
Despite the quiet announcement, rounded tabs still work in Microsoft Edge. If you want to enable that feature, head to edge://flags/#edge-visual-rejuv-rounded-tabs and set the flag to Enabled. Next, enable edge://flags/#edge-rounded-containers. After that, restart Microsoft Edge to apply the changes.
What is happening to rounded tabs in Microsoft Edge is a reminder that flags in modern browsers are experimental features that may or may not make it to the public release. Microsoft probably has reasons to discontinue rounded tabs, but at this moment, there is no information on why the company decided to pull it from its browser. Also, there is no info on when Microsoft plans to remove rounded tabs from the Edge browser for good.
With rounded tabs off, tabs in Microsoft Edge will look very similar to those in Chrome (turned on by default). However, you can change them to a more squarish variant by setting the edge://flags/#edge-visual-rejuv-rounded-tabs flag to "Disabled." Other parts of the redesign, such as the Mica material, are still available with no signs of potential removal.
Do you like rounded tabs in Microsoft Edge, or do you prefer the more traditional look with squared tabs? Share your thoughts in the comments.