A feature many users have been wanting since the switch from Windows 8 to Windows 10 is a fullscreen mode for Microsoft’s Edge browser that works in a similar fashion to Internet Explorer’s fullscreen mode in the previous operating system.
Internet Explorer’s fullscreen mode in Windows 8 removed all program icons and allowed for a pure internet browsing experience that was particularly effective when switching to Tablet Mode on a touch device like the Surface Pro. This functionality has been sorely missed in Windows 10 and a fullscreen mode for Edge has constantly been one of the top requested items in the Windows 10 Feedback Hub with the topic currently sitting at 4909 votes and users commenting on the idea as recently as this week.
The thing is though that Microsoft appears to have already added a proper fullscreen mode to Edge in Windows 10. They just haven’t added the option to the program or told anyone about it.
This hidden feature was brought up earlier today in a post on Reddit where a user by the name of Phantasm1337 decided to post about it after having used the fullscreen mode for a while himself but realized that no one else seemed to be aware of it. Turns out it’s as simple as hitting the Shift, Windows, and Enter keys all at once on the keyboard. This same keyboard shortcut also works for many other Windows 10 apps made in the Universal Windows Platform app format.
Microsoft’s inability to properly communicate features and functionality to their users is pretty well known, just ask a casual user if they know what Windows Ink is, but keeping this functionality a secret is particularly confounding considering how in-demand it has been for so long. This shortcut is admittedly an operating system function that manipulates the apps and not one that’s built into Edge but it’s still strange that Microsoft tells people they’re working on a fullscreen mode for Edge instead of letting them know about this very functional method which has apparently been around for a while now.
What do you think? Did you know about this fullscreen functionality? How long have you been using it? Let us know in the comments below.
