Introducing link format, a new copy and paste feature in Microsoft Edge!

When copying and pasting URLs from Microsoft Edge, the URL will now be pasted in a friendly, readable link format by default. The link uses the page title as the link text and uses the full URL you copied as the link’s destination. We believe this makes the URLs you share easier to read, understand, and find again later.

 

If on occasion you would like to paste the full, plain text URL, that is still available. Right-click where you would like to paste and in the new Paste as menu, select Plain text. Alternatively you can use the shortcut key Ctrl+Shift+V.

 

If you would rather change the default URL copy and paste format back to plain text, you can do that as well. Visit the Share, copy & paste page in Microsoft Edge settings (you can get there easily by typing edge://Settings/ShareCopyPaste in the address bar) and select the Plain text option.

 

Finally, we’d love to hear from you! Here are some questions about this feature we’d love for you to answer:

1. Do you find the friendly link format helpful?
2. Is the ability to occasionally paste the full, plain text URL a good solution for you?
3. Do you prefer the full, plain text URL format when you copy and paste all the time?
4. If you prefer the full, plain text URL format, were you able to find the settings to change the default without the assistance of this or other articles?
5. Do you have any other feedback about this feature you’d like to share with us?

 

Thank you!

The Microsoft Edge team

Doesn't work. I don't get the "paste-as" item on the right click, and Ctrl-Shift V gives me nothing. I was TRYING to copy the URL and paste it into an email, but for this Edge is frankly useless -- too many people and MS got too many bonuses making changes to things that worked fine. Why on earth would you idiots have changed such a basic function?

After three quarters of a hour, I found that the work-around is to copy the Edge "URL" , open Notepad, paste the URL into this document, re-copy the URL, and only then can you paste the un-screwed up text into the document you're working on. Utter stupidity!

This is, unfortunately, one of my biggest dislikes of the new Edge.

When copying from URL bar in edge & pasting into a given messaging web app in edge, I have no way to get a simple URL in the output text. It's either the new happy friendly one, or one that includes all of the metadata.

I.e. I want to copy from URL & paste to messaging this https://cellcore.com/pages/protocol.  It either shows up as the Protocol – CellCore Biosciences, which I don't want, or as the following, which I sure as heck don't want:

{"domain":"cellcore.com","preferred_format":"text/html;content=titled-hyperlink","title":"Protocol – CellCore Biosciences","type":"website","url":"https://cellcore.com/pages/protocol"}

The ONLY way that I can paste the simple URL is to paste into a non-rich text box or notepad, then recopy the URL & paste back in. crtl+shift+v pastes in the same junk, as does right click paste as.

Amusingly enough, I note that this reply window is one of those windows where the busted form shows up, if you need a place to find out.

In my opinion, this feature addition came with a clear regression in functionality.

Finally, we’d love to hear from you! Here are some questions about this feature we’d love for you to answer:

1. Do you find the friendly link format helpful? Not due to the regression in functionality.
2. Is the ability to occasionally paste the full, plain text URL a good solution for you? No, because it is clearly broken
3. Do you prefer the full, plain text URL format when you copy and paste all the time? It depends, but I'd like it to work as expected
4. If you prefer the full, plain text URL format, were you able to find the settings to change the default without the assistance of this or other articles? Sure, it's fairly obvious
5. Do you have any other feedback about this feature you’d like to share with us? Fix the regression. Being able to copy & paste a URL in URL form from the universal box to a web app has been a "feature" that's been in every web-browser since IE3... which I worked on.

1. Do you find the friendly link format helpful? No as I work in a support role - i need to see the full sharepoint site URLs
2. Is the ability to occasionally paste the full, plain text URL a good solution for you? YES i use this all the time
3. Do you prefer the full, plain text URL format when you copy and paste all the time? Absolutely I do not like the alternative version at all
4. If you prefer the full, plain text URL format, were you able to find the settings to change the default without the assistance of this or other articles? No I had to search and I have to do this each time as i forget!
5. Do you have any other feedback about this feature you’d like to share with us? It would be nice to have a setting in profile that could stop this eg. IT profile need full URL or User use friendly url

Now how about an option to set the url for the new tab page, an option for a menu bar (that isn't in the window bar) instead of that giant list hidden behind the 3 dots, and an options to put the tabs on top where they belong.

This discussion is specifically about the friendly link format. Any suggestions you may have for changes or improvements to Edge will be seen by the Edge team if you submit them through the browser's Send feedback option (press Alt-Shift-i or click ⋯ (Settings and more) > Help and feedback > Send feedback).

Meanwhile,

... an option to set the url for the new tab page,

See here: How to set a custom New Tab Page in Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Community

... an option for a menu bar (that isn't in the window bar) instead of that giant list hidden behind the 3 dots,

You'd rather have something like this?

... an options to put the tabs on top where they belong.

Nowadays, they belong on the left-hand edge. Compare this window with the one above:

Minimum chrome, maximum page content.

Microsoft Edge’s vertical tabs are the best reason yet to ditch Chrome

Thanks for your thoughtful feedback.

HTML's ability to hide links under arbitrary text is a regularly-exploited risk, especially when the covering text looks like a URL. This feature encourages hi-risk URLs to use spoofy titles, ...

Here are a few links. Which ones would you prefer to see, e.g. in an email? Which ones would you trust? Are the underlying URLs displayed in the status bar or equivalent?

Introducing link format, a new copy and paste feature in Microsoft - Microsoft Community

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/msedge_search-msedge_win10/introducing-link-format-a-new-copy-and-paste/694e7e5c-5807-490c-907a-1cd0ab6a8cac?messageId=61bf1a57-a6e4-4ffe-8415-845b61deb6b6 

Any of them could in fact be hiding a malicious URL, and it could be that a user faced with a simple text link like the first one is more likely to check its underlying URL than he is to check whether a long, impenetrable one is bogus, simply because it looks authentic.

It's a simple matter to use the alternative link format, either one-off (Ctrl-Shift-V) or always (options on edge://settings/shareCopyPaste). It rather sounds as if you're chiefly concerned on the part of other users.