One of the recent Microsoft Edge Canary updates introduced a new hidden feature that improves your interaction with pictures on websites. Called "Magnify image," It lets you right-click any image and preview it in a bigger window without leaving your current tab or opening a new one. Besides enlarging the pic, image magnification shows its alt text or brief description.
Like most changes and new features in the Canary Channel, "Magnify image" is available only to a subset of Edge Insiders. Still, you can force-enable it by modifying your Microsoft Edge Canary shortcut using a short command. Here is how to do it (via).
- Update Microsoft Edge Canary to version 120.0.2198 or newer by heading to edge://settings/help.
- Right-click your Microsoft Edge Canary shortcut and select "Properties."
- Click the "Target" box, place one space after the path, and add the following command: --enable-features=msEdgeImageMagnifyUI
- Save the changes by clicking OK.
- Go to Settings > System and Performance and toggle off Startup Boost. Skip this step if the feature is already turned off.
- Close the browser and launch it again using the modified shortcut.
- Navigate to any webpage, right-click an image, and click "Magnify image."
The image preview window also lets you give Microsoft a thumbs up or thumbs down—developers use those buttons to gather feedback from Edge users, so feel free to use them if you want to share your thoughts with the Microsoft Edge team.
It is worth noting that Google is working on a similar feature for Chrome. However, unlike Edge, it allows previewing links in small windows, similar to how Apple"s operating systems let you long-tap a link to preview its content.
Speaking of experimental features in Edge, Microsoft is also testing automatic browser restart to let Edge install available updates faster. You can check out this article to learn more about that.
Do you think image preview will be a useful feature in the Edge browser? Let us know what you think in the comments below.