Windows 10: Default Browser

I am having a problem whereby my default browser keeps changing from IE11 back to either Edge or blank. Can someone suggest why this might be happening or what program is causing it to change? I thought it maybe the Windows Auto Update that keep changing but am now not so sure of that since the last recorded update is back on 14th January and my default Browser got changed again last evening.
The only other programs that run regularly are Norton Internet Security and Norton Utilities. However, I have been through the settings of both of those programs and cannot detect anything that would indicate that they change the default Browser.
Also, in IE11 under the advanced tab I have ticked the option the "Tell me if Internet Explorer is not the default web browser" and yet (a) I do not get a notification and (b) the default browser keeps getting changed.
Note: Please don't offer suggestions on how to set the default browser in Win10 because I am well versed in that operation having already performed it around 400~ times.
Any suggestions would be welcome - have already scanned this and other sites for solutions or those with the same problems but none seem to match my problem.

:)

 

Browser Defaults

Hi Jack, have you tried this method?

Open the Settings App

Go to Apps - Default Apps

At the bottom, click 'Set defaults by app'

Let the list build

Select Opera in the list on the left

On the right, click 'Set this Program as Default'

The text above that button should change to 'This program has all its defaults'

Close the Settings App Windows

 

Default browser

did you experience any errors or did the suggestions simply not have any effect?

i do not recommend removing Edge. Edge is an integral part of windows 10 and you may cause more problems by removing it.

 

Hi, just wondering if you've successfully changed any other defaults and if so, is this the only one with which you have problems? There are some lengthy threads where people find their defaults revert to MS after restarting.

Sometimes this is found to be due to old versions of other apparently unrelated programs- example Winzip.
File associations revert to Windows default apps on every boot - Windows 10 Forums
(That's a short thread- there's a much longer one near it)

 

Thanks dalchina. I don't seem to be having that problem with other defaults as reported by other contributors. The only other app that tries to keep changing is Adobe (I use Nitro Pro instead) but it least it gives me the option which I can decline. I have however just noticed that I did have Maxthon browser installed and I suspect that program may be the culprit. I have now uninstalled so will monitor over the next few days. (I think Maxthon came as bloatware on my new Lenovo laptop). Thanks

 

Just a thought.. some programs don't respect the default internet browser and launch IE regardless. So how/when do you observe the change? For example, on clicking a hyperlink, opening an html document...)

Note that setting defaults for hyperlinks seems to have to be done manually- simply setting a browser as your default in Settings, say, does not include setting it as default for hyperlinks.

(The same thing is true if you set another file manager as the default file manager- again some programs will insist on launching explorer).
(Maxthon seems an odd choice for bloatware- it was free last I knew..)

I struggle to imagine sthg common to the browser and Adobe, except that Edge is MS's default for pdf.
Is that a clue? Suggests Edge is being reallocated its defaults.

Suggest monitoring the icon of a URL shortcut or html document, for example.
When this changes, you know the default has recently changed.
This may help to give a clue as to when the change happens.

Ideally you could find the event in event viewer- so suggest researching what event id is recorded for such a change (assuming there is one)

 

Dalchina thanks again - I have checked the Event Viewer and cannot find anything related to IE. Will keep monitoring over the next few days and hopefully by uninstalling Maxthon it may have solved the problem. I usually only notice the change when I go to browse the Internet and find that Edge has opened instead of IE.

 

Ok, specifically- how do you launch your browser? If it has an icon, do you notice which it is?

 

I have the IE browser icon in my task bar so it is normally launched from there and will of course be IE since that is what I selected. However, when launched from a link in an email or other document if it launches as Edge then that is the signal to me that my defaults have again changed. At that point I go back to Settings-Default Apps and reset my default browser to IE. However, as stated in my original post, after a day or two, it usually either reverts to Edge or the default field is blank.

 

Ah, now I understand your problem I think - quite a common one, and a deficiency of Win 10 failing to set defaults completely. It's not that your defaults have been reversed, but that a browser has a lot of different associations and two have not yet been set.

You need to set hyperlinks (http) to launch in your preferred browser. That has to be done manually. I suppose (sigh) MS will catch up- one day.

Go here:
(Open Control panel using Windows key + X, click Control Panel)
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Associate a file type or..
wait for it to populate..
go right to the end of the list and look for
http
and
https

Select each in turn and click 'Change Program'
- select your preferred browser.

Your pdf association should be a different matter- I think you'd need to check that afterwards, and report your observations carefully and exactly.

 

I have checked the settings and both HTTP & HTTPS are already set to Internet Explorer so no action required at this stage.
Thanks,

 

Ok, so that means hyperlinks should launch IE. Is that what happens?

Also, look down that list of extensions and find anything that is allocated to Edge, note it, and change it as appropriate.

(Quickest and most reliable to click on Description to organise alphabetically, and look for Microsoft Edge - you can check for Edge as well).

 

Yes IE currently launches from a hyperlink which is as expected since the default browser is still set to IE. I have also checked the default protocols and nothing is currently set to Edge - so all good.
As I said in an earlier reply, I suspect that by uninstalling Maxthon Cloud Browser I may have identified and fixed the original problem because the default has not changed since that uninstall and previously it seemed to keep changing every few days.
My problem can be marked as solved - if it re-emerges I will re-post as a new thread.
Thanks to everyone that contributed.