On Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft Edge is the default browser. That means even to install an alternative browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, etc., you would have to open it. While Microsoft Edge is a pretty good browser, if you don’t like using it just to install another browser, you can avoid it and install the browser of your choice directly using Terminal and Winget. Follow the below steps to install another browser without using Microsoft Edge.
Before You Begin
You require administrator rights to use winget to install an alternative browser.
Using Winget to Install Another Browser
The trick to installing an alternative browser without opening Microsoft Edge is to use the winget package manager, a command-line utility to install, update, uninstall, and manage programs in Windows. It is available by default on both Windows 11 and Windows 10.
Note: If you using an older version of Windows 10 (lower than v2004), you might have to install winget manually before proceeding with the steps below. To verify if winget is installed, run the winget --version command in your terminal or PowerShell.
1. First, right-click on the Start button and select Terminal (Admin). Windows 10 users can select Windows PowerShell (Admin).
2. In the terminal window, run the following command depending on which browser you want to install. For instance, to install Google Chrome, run the Google Chrome winget command.
Google Chrome:
winget install --id=Google.Chrome -e
Mozilla Firefox:
winget install --id=Mozilla.Firefox -e
Brave:
winget install --id=Brave.Brave -e
Opera:
winget install --id=Opera.Opera -e
Vivaldi:
winget install --id=Vivaldi.Vivaldi -e
TOR Browser:
winget install --id=TorProject.TorBrowser -e
3. As soon as you run the command, winget will initiate the download. If prompted to agree, type Y and press Enter.
4. This action will make winget download and install the browser silently. You don’t have to click anything.
5. Once done, you will see the Successfully Installed message.
Note: The -e flag in the winget command ensures that only a package exactly matching the provided ID is installed.
Search For Your Browser in Winget
I tried to give you the winget commands to install all major browsers. If your web browser is not listed in the above commands, you can search for it directly in winget itself. Here’s how.
1. First, open Terminal as admin. Next, run the following command. Replace the YourBrowserName text with the actual browser name.
winget search "YourBrowserName"
2. For instance, I want to see if the Opera GX browser is available via winget. For that, I will use the below command.
winget search "opera gx"
3. From the result, find the relevant package and note down its Id.
Note: The random alphanumeric ID is for the Microsoft Store version.
4. Next, run the following command to install that browser. Replace “YourBrowserId” with the actual ID you got with the previous command.
winget install YourBrowserId
5. For instance, to install Opera GX, I’d run the following command.
winget install Opera.OperaGX
Wrapping Up – Installing Another Browser Without Opening Edge
As you can see, if you don’t want to use Microsoft Edge just to install an alternative browser then using winget is the way. The good thing is that winget installs any software silently. That means you don’t have to deal with the installation wizards. If your favorite browser is not listed in the commands I’ve given you, use the winget’s search flag to find and install the browser of your choice.
If you have any questions, comment below and I will answer.
