A bug in Microsoft Edge forces users to click many times to open downloads

Microsoft Edge is a fairly stable browser, but like every other piece of modern tech and complicated software, it is not immune to bugs. Recent Microsoft Edge updates contain an issue where the browser no longer lets you open a downloaded file with a single click. Instead, users must click two or even three times before the item opens.

Stuff like this might sound minor, but it can break your muscle memory big time and create unnecessary irritation, which is something Microsoft Edge users experience quite often nowadays with its constant prompt to change various settings. It can make you feel like your computer has hung up, your mouse is misbehaving, or you are simply going crazy and cannot remember whether you clicked the file or not. Either way, it is not a nice experience.

Windows lets you customize whether opening files and folders requires one or two clicks, but that feature does not affect downloads in Microsoft Edge. In addition, the bug is intermittent, which means sometimes it takes two clicks, and sometimes it takes more—the browser just cannot make up its mind and decide how many clicks are enough.

A frustrated user on Reddit conducted a small investigation, which concluded that the bug was introduced in Microsoft Edge version 120 and newer. Going back to Microsoft Edge 119 fixes the situation until you install a more recent release. As of right now, Microsoft Edge 121 is the latest version in the Stable Channel.

Hopefully, Microsoft will release a fix soon, just like it fixed the alleged bug causing the browser to steal data from Chrome and other browsers. Meanwhile, you can bypass the bug by opening your downloads from the edge://download page or by mashing the left clicks many times.

Are you experiencing this bug on your system? Let us know in the comments.

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