Microsoft simplifies Edge extensions installation in latest Windows 10 Insider build 14342

Laurent Giret

Microsoft Edge logo

If you’ve been following Microsoft’s progress around Edge extensions, you may have spotted yesterday among the release notes of the latest Windows 10 Insider Build 14342 that the company has reached a new milestone. Indeed, build 14342 for PCs finally makes all Edge extensions available on the Windows Store. That’s a big deal considering that when Microsoft made the first Edge extensions available in the Windows 10 build 14291 a few weeks ago, Windows Insiders were presented with a cumbersome sideloading process to actually install them.

While some Edge extensions such as Pinterest’s Pin It Button have already been released on the Windows Store, the Windows Store is now the official place where Windows Insiders can satisfy their Edge extensions needs. However, Microsoft has also warned yesterday that the Insider build 14342 will erase all preinstalled extensions on an Insider machine, which will force Windows Insiders to visit the Windows Store to reinstall their favorite Edge extensions. Painful, certainly, but the new installation process is straightforward and makes sense. It’s actually so smooth that Microsoft has already indicated that it’s working to support Edge extensions on Windows 10 Mobile, even if we’re still waiting for the company to share more details about it.

Last, it’s worth repeating that Microsoft is aware of a bug in this build that can cause extensions to prevent Edge from working normally. Read the full details below:

There is a bug in this build that occurs if you turn off all extensions without uninstalling them, you may not be able to close the browser or get context menus to work. To avoid this issue, uninstall any extensions you no longer want to use instead of turning them off. If you do hit this issue, to get out of this state you will need to turn on one or more extensions or uninstall all extensions, kill any Microsoft Edge processes running in Task Manager, and restart Microsoft Edge.

Have you already played with Edge extensions in the latest Windows 10 Insider build 14342? If so, please share your experience with us in the comments.