Windows 11 Now Allows Users to Set Default Web Browser of their Choice

With the release of KB5011563 update, Microsoft has added a much awaited feature to Windows 11 i.e. ability to set a default web browser system-wide. Now users can set their desired web browser as default in Windows 11 using a single mouse click.

Recently Microsoft released a new optional update “KB5011563” for Windows 11 operating system which comes with many fixes for issues related to performance and stability. Along with these fixes, Microsoft has added a new option to Windows 11 Settings page which now allows users to change default web browser in Windows 11.

Previously, it was very hard and time consuming task to set a 3rd party web browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc as default web browser in Windows 11 as we had to set the desired browser as default for each file type. There was not a one-click solution available in Windows 11 to set a custom web browser as default.

Many users complained about this restriction and finally Microsoft has released KB5011563 update which adds a new button to Windows 11 Settings which can be used to set a default web browser quickly and easily.

How to Download and Install KB5011563 Update in Windows 11

There are 2 ways to install the new update in your Windows 11 device:

1. Download and Install KB5011563 Update via Windows Update

Open Settings app and go to “Windows Update” page. Here you’ll find the link to download and install this update. If you don’t see the update available, click on “Check for Updates” button and it’ll automatically detect the new update.

2. Manually Download and Install KB5011563 Update from Microsoft Update Catalog Website

You can also manually download and install the new update from Microsoft Update Catalog website using following link:

Download KB5011563 Update for Windows 11

How to Set Default Web Browser in Windows 11

After installing the update, you’ll need to restart your computer. After reboot, open Settings page from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+I keys together.

Now click on Apps section in left-side pane and in right-side pane, click on Default Apps section.

Now look for your desired web browser which you want to set as default in the given apps list.

For example, we want to set Google Chrome as default web browser in Windows 11. So we’ll click on Google Chrome app.

Now you’ll see a new button “Set Default” present next to “Make Google Chrome your default browser” text.

Click on “Set Default” button and it’ll immediately change your selected web browser as default in Windows 11. You’ll see a tick mark added before “Set default” button which indicates that the selected browser has been set as default browser in your Windows 11 device.

List of New Features and Improvements Added by KB5011563 Update

Once you install the new KB5011563 update in your Windows 11 computer, you’ll get following improvements and changes:

• Windows 11 will allow you to set a default web browser of your choice (as mentioned above).
• Windows 11 will now display up to three high-priority toast notifications simultaneously. This feature is for apps that send notifications for calls, reminders, or alarms using Windows notifications in the OS. As a result, up to four toast notifications might appear simultaneously – three high-priority notifications and one normal priority notification.
• Windows 11 will return the corresponding Settings page when you search for the word widgets.
• Adds support for Microsoft Account (MSA) Pass-through scenarios in Azure Active Directory(AAD) Web Account Manager (WAM).
• Addresses an issue that turns off auto-startup for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps after you upgrade the OS.
• Addresses an issue that causes SystemSettings.exe to stop working.
• Addresses an issue that affects searchindexer.exe and prevents Microsoft Outlook’s offline search from returning recent emails.
• Addresses an issue that increases the startup time for Windows. This issue occurs because a UI thread in a networking API stops responding when a 5G wireless wide area network (WWAN) device is slow to wake up.
• Addresses a memory leak in the wmipicmp.dll module that causes a lot of false alarms in the System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) datacenter monitoring system.
• Addresses an issue that incorrectly returns the Execution Policy settings from the registry.
• Addresses an issue in which modern browsers fail to correctly render HTML that is generated by gpresult/h.
• Addresses an issue that causes an “Access denied” exception for a file during a PowerShell test for AppLocker.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Remote Desktop Service (RDS)server to become unstable when the number of signed in users exceeds 100. This prevents you from accessing published applications using RDS on Windows Server 2019.
• Addresses an issue that returns an error message when you browse for a domain or organizational unit (OU). This issue occurs because of improper zeroing out of memory.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Group Policy Management Console to stop working after you close it. The system logs Application Error Event ID 1000 and the error, 0xc0000005 (STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION); the failing module is GPOAdmin.dll.
• Addresses an issue that might cause the Group Policy Service to stop processing telemetry information for Group Policy Registry Preferences.
• Addresses a stop error (0xD1, DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL) in the DirectX kernel component.
• Addresses an issue that might cause Kerberos.dll to stop working within the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). This occurs when LSASS processes simultaneous Service for User (S4U) user-to-user (U2U) requests for the same client user.
• Addresses an issue that affects the Key Distribution Center (KDC) Proxy. The KDC Proxy cannot properly obtain Kerberos tickets for signing in to Key Trust Windows Hello for Business.
• Addresses an issue that logs Event ID 37 during certain password change scenarios, including failover cluster name object (CNO) or virtual computer object (VCO) password changes.
• Addresses an issue that prevents the User Account Control (UAC) dialog from correctly showing the application that is requesting elevated privileges.
• Addresses an issue that might cause a Microsoft OneDrive file to lose focus after you rename it and press the Enter key.
• Addresses an issue that prevents Event 4739 from displaying the new values of certain attributes after a policy change.
• Addresses an issue that causes the Move-ADObject command to fail when you move computer accounts across domains. The error message is, “Multiple values were specified for an attribute that can have only one value”.
• Addresses an issue that prevents you from accessing Server Message Block (SMB) shares using an IP Address when SMB hardening is enabled.
• Addresses an issue that causes stop error 0x1E in the SMB Server (srv2.sys).
• Addresses an issue that causes a mismatch between NetBIOS and DNS Active Directory domain names when you create a cluster.

Known Issues in KB5011563 Update for Windows 11

There is a single known issue in the new update:

Issue Symptom:

After installing the Windows updates released January 11, 2022 or later Windows versions on an affected version of Windows, recovery discs (CD or DVD) created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app in Control Panel might be unable to start. Recovery discs that were created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app on devices which have installed Windows updates released before January 11, 2022 are not affected by this issue and should start as expected. No third-party backup or recovery apps are currently known to be affected by this issue.

Workaround / Solution:

Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

Also Check:

How to Download and Install New Redesigned Media Player and Notepad Apps in Windows 11

[Tip] Enable or Disable Windows 11 Style Menus and UI in Chrome and Edge

[Tip] Restore Full Classic Scrollbars in Mozilla Firefox on Windows 11