Microsoft is foisting Office web apps on Edge users
Microsoft is no stranger to using Windows and other software to promote more of its own apps and services. The latest way the company is doing this is via Edge.
Accusations of using its products as an advertising tool or as a means of forcing products onto users are nothing new for the Windows maker, and the company's latest move with Edge does nothing to shake them off. The browser has been found to install Microsoft Office web apps without asking for permission.
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It does not seem -- at the moment, at least -- that this is something that is happening to all users of Microsoft Edge, but instead is currently limited to Windows Insiders running the latest preview build. The uninvited installation of the Office PWAs (progressive web apps) appears to be something that Microsoft is just testing, and it has been compared to the way Google has done with its own Docs, Sheets and Slides apps in Chrome.
The tactic Microsoft has taken means that as well as installing the app under the Edge browser, shortcuts are also added to the Start menu. It is possible to remove the PWAs if you don't want them, but many people will feel that this is not really the point; had people wanted the apps, they could have manually installed them, rather than taking the opposite approach and having to remove unwanted items.
If you have noticed the arrival of Microsoft Office PWAs on your computer and you want to get rid of them, here's what you need to do:
- Open up Settings from the Start menu
- Head to Apps and click the Programs and Features link to the right
- In the Control Panel applet that appears, you can select any of the PWAs you want to remove and click the Uninstall button
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