new messenger opens links in EDGE instead of default browser.

Can we please stop making comments that are just complaints against Meta and Microsoft? Let's keep the discussion practical, centered around the solutions/workarounds.

NO.
We are complaining because the complaint IS against Meta and Microsoft. The only way to get a practical ACTUAL solution is to complain about the root problem.
. . .
So, please, stop making comments shilling for Microsoft and Meta, and show some respect and support for those who aren't interested in tacit support of these monopolies.

No shilling from me - I'm not happy with Meta and Microsoft either (although I do think the lion's share of the blame lies with Meta - it's their messaging service, and they are the ones who developed a non-browser app and then lazily abandoned it for a browser version; they are also the ones who didn't bother supporting Firefox for video/audio calling in the browser). But complaining on a user forum has no effect other than filling our email inboxes with notifications of more people complaining. When posted here, it's just venting, not lodging real complaints. Complaints should be sent directly to Meta (and Microsoft if you want to go that direction). I don't know if any Microsoft employees even look at this forum, but obviously Meta employees don't, so it's the wrong channel.

I don't know if Meta has a feature-request/feedback area, but https://www.facebook.com/help/messenger-app/ might be a place to start - if lots of people write help questions about how to get a non-browser-based app for Windows again, it might get their attention. The Edge relationship isn't the only problem with the new app - it also doesn't start automatically at bootup and doesn't notify the user of new messages/calls when not open, both of which the old app does quite nicely (it has a memory-resident piece that runs quietly in the background to detect new content and respond accordingly).

They do not have feedback there; a workaround is that if you poke around in the help topics, and vote no on the "did this help you", you get a 500 character box to explain why it didn't help. I submitted some feedback that way. I hate these big corporations/brands removing all easy ways to reach them.

Can we please stop making comments that are just complaints against Meta and Microsoft? Let's keep the discussion practical, centered around the solutions/workarounds.

NO.
We are complaining because the complaint IS against Meta and Microsoft. The only way to get a practical ACTUAL solution is to complain about the root problem.
. . .
So, please, stop making comments shilling for Microsoft and Meta, and show some respect and support for those who aren't interested in tacit support of these monopolies.

No shilling from me - I'm not happy with Meta and Microsoft either (although I do think the lion's share of the blame lies with Meta - it's their messaging service, and they are the ones who developed a non-browser app and then lazily abandoned it for a browser version; they are also the ones who didn't bother supporting Firefox for video/audio calling in the browser). But complaining on a user forum has no effect other than filling our email inboxes with notifications of more people complaining. When posted here, it's just venting, not lodging real complaints. Complaints should be sent directly to Meta (and Microsoft if you want to go that direction). I don't know if any Microsoft employees even look at this forum, but obviously Meta employees don't, so it's the wrong channel.

I don't know if Meta has a feature-request/feedback area, but https://www.facebook.com/help/messenger-app/ might be a place to start - if lots of people write help questions about how to get a non-browser-based app for Windows again, it might get their attention. The Edge relationship isn't the only problem with the new app - it also doesn't start automatically at bootup and doesn't notify the user of new messages/calls when not open, both of which the old app does quite nicely (it has a memory-resident piece that runs quietly in the background to detect new content and respond accordingly).

pure microsoft scumbaggery per usual

I cannot see "Choose default apps by protocol" in the list - I only have "Choose defaults by file type," "Choose defaults by link type," and "Reset all default apps." Really annoying, and I am pretty angry about this, especially as Chrome is set to default on my machine.

Thanks so much for this. It worked great.

Quick question. How do you make this a shortcut on your desktop?

Thank you in advance.