Forum Discussion
Geolocation wrong (really wrong) in Edge but correct in Chrome
Microsoft Edge determines your location using MAPS, an app within Windows 10.
Go to windows-button and type in "Maps" to open.
MAPS will use your location from your GPS chip on your device but if you have a PC without a GPS chip like me, MAPS will geolocate your location based on your ISP IP address. In my case, it's using a location that might have once been affiliated with my IP address 250 miles away in NJ. This is the exact same wrong location (down to the street address) that Microsoft Edge is using. If I do a "whois lookup" for my IP address I see it's currently referencing 3 neighboring towns to my town in MA. So, I don't know why MAPS cannot properly geolocate my IP address. In any event, Windows 10 gives you a way to change the "default location" in MAPS:
Click the elipse in the upper right, go to settings, and click "change default location."
This can also be accessed by going into Windows 10 settings/location/privacy/location and click "default location." Both methods above (MAPS and W10 settings) do the same thing which is change your default location.
One would think that would fix this problem but it doesn't.
When I go into MAPS it still uses my wrong geolocation.
Furthermore, when I go into Edge (then Google and type in "my location" in the search bar) is still uses that same erroneous location. I tried disabling MAPS permission to use my location so that the correct entered default location would be the only location associated with my PC. When I go into MAPS it shows no location and when I click the location button it says it can't locate my location. When I go into Edge it still shows me the old, incorrect NJ location. When I re-enable the ability for MAPS to access my location then upon going into MAPS I go to that same incorrect NJ location.
So, it seems the Windows 10 bugs are twofold:
(1) the MAPS geolocation is not correct (for me off by 250 miles)
(2) when you enter a "default location" in MAPS it does not over-ride the existing geolocation as it should to fix this problem
There is a link to a fix along the lines of above that will explain this in more detail but, like I said, the fix doesn't work as I tried to describe. But here it is:
https://www.howtogeek.com/264809/how-to-set-your-default-location-for-windows-10-apps/
If anyone knows how to override MAPS "location" with an entered "default location" please let us know.
Otherwise, Microsoft should fix this.
Chrome does not have this problem because they are not using Windows MAPS to determine the geolocation. In fact, they are not doing a geolocation because when I go into Chrome and within google type in "my location" it shows my exact city not the neighboring towns that my IP address is associated with. So, Chrome has the intelligence to associate my location with my profile either as part of my Google account or as a cookie in my Chrome browser. All I know is it works in Chrome but not Edge and that doesn't make Edge look very good.
SkipperGreg This is nuts - similar problem which seems to be on Microsoft but location dependent. Bear with me - I noticed my Window time (on auto time-zone) was incorrect. I have travelled up to my parents on the Sunshine Coast in Oz but it was fine when in Brisbane. The auto-time zone was showing Amsterdam, Rome, etc and not Briabsn. So I checked on the location settings and setting the "default" to choose current location and it zoomed the map to a town in Italy. Did the same in Google Maps in MS Edge. But not in Chrome - it went directly to where I am.
So I checked my parents' laptops and exactly the same problem - so it must be the ISP or the wifi router AND how windows/microsoft gathers the location data but NOT Google Chrome. So I tried my mobile hotspot - Same result but the mobile is on the same ISP (Optus).
So, process of elimination, the issue (in my case at least) surely must be a combination of what the ISP is showing to windows.
Two screenshots below, one from Edge thre other from Chrome, same action to select location from the map.
I believe the laptop has a GPS (spectre x360).
Then my Dad told me he noticed this a few weeks ago... what can cause this?
- I want to thank you for this insight. I always have issues getting the correct location while I move around the country. Your tip on the time has finally fixed the problems I've been having when using the RV Life Campground website. It has always been haphazard when trying to submit a speed test to post when performing a campground review. Again, I was having this issue when I stumbled upon your note. When I checked my PCs time, it was off by one hour. Once I changed to reflect the proper time, and ensured Maps had the correct location set as the default, the speed test submission found the correct campground. It appears that Windows 11 can't detect the correct location, even when you set the default manually in Maps, unless you also have the correct time/time zone.
Yes, Masobaso, if your device has no GPS then Windows 10 and its apps (like MAPS and Edge) use geolocation off of your IP address, which can be terribly wrong as this thread shows. The bug was that when you set a default location in W10/Settings/Privacy/Location -> Default Location button (which updates your default location in MAPS), it doesn't effectively over-ride the IP address geolocation consistently in Edge. As mentioned, I believe Microsoft fixed this in their latest Cumulative Update, July 13, 2021—KB5004237. Google uses the same methods to override IP address geolocation based on your Google Account defined location and that seemed to work and continues to work reliably when you use Chrome.
Regarding time zone, I have had no problem and you would think that the internet-based auto-set of time (and zone) in W10 would override any time-zone interpolation from the IP address geolocation. Check to make sure you have selected the right time-zone in W10 Settings/Time & Location/Date & Time/. In this setting you can switch "Set Time Automatically" and it will use synchronize your W10 clock with internet-time. You can click "Sync Now" to force it. For time zone, you can either switch to "Set Time Zone Automatically" ON or turn if OFF and manually pull-down your correct time-zone from the pull down labeled "Time Zone." For what it's worth, my set-time automatically is ON and set time-zone automatically is OFF. I have never had a problem with the correct time.
Good luck!
SkipperGreg - I agree with what you say about the IP address usage however, it's the time zone which is the key factor here; it's what drew my attention to the issue in the first place.
Time zone has always been set to auto and when it showed wrongly I started trying to find out why which is how I found that I'm in Italy not Queensland. See the screenshots, as soon as I set it back to Auto it resets to the wrong time.
I did also check something else. If I turn wifi off, it seems to not know where I am at all. Thing is, you might think that means there's something wrong witht he laptop (GPS or something) but I see exactly the same behaviour from my mum's newish Lenovo and Dad's old HP Pavilion.
Also, observation on default location - my understanding is that is only used as a fallback for when the device cannot find geolocation details (i.e. no GPS, no wifi or internet connection. It doesn't actually have any bearing on location identification. Could be wrong but that's my understanding - you can set it to anywhere in the world but it won't change where the device thinks it really is if it can get hold of any current location data.
