How the new Edge will handle file:// URI ?

[sylvainrodrigue]

file: links seems to be ignored in this version of Edge (like they are in Chrome). In the previous version of Edge however (and all IE versions), clicking on a file: link opens the original document.

This is why by the way we are still using IE / Edge at my office. A lot of important intranet applications allow users to upload document and modify them later. Using Chrome, the document has to be downloaded locally before editing, and then re-uploaded after editing. With IE/Edge, the original document opens in Word/Excel/Acrobat in edit mode. The user just have to press CTRL+S to save it. 

I really hope Edge will keep this behavior.

[#2]

There is an extension for chrome (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/enable-local-file-links/nikfmfgobenbhmocjaaboihbeocackld) which also works for edge.

But it's generally not a good practice to use local file links. Better way for your described usecase would be sharepoint or similair products.

[#3]

@Kneecht Sadly, you can download a file with this extension but you cannot open the original.

Thank for the answer.

[#4]

@Kneecht"Use SharePoint or similar products," sounds to me like "spend many $100,000s of dollars on licensing, hardware and administration/support payroll per year in perpetuity" to maybe solve a problem that was previously not a problem, and cost $0. 

File:\\\ links are plenty good practice when they're used responsibly in a secure, local intranet / web app environment. I need to link to Windows folder paths and files in non-SharePoint apps, period.

IE 11 or the EdgeHTML version of Edge should hopefully stick around for legacy support if Edge Chromium can't support file:\\\ links due to inherent Chromium limitations, but it would be fantastic if MS's future flagship browser supported them along with all the latest bells and whistles.

[#5]

Just adding that we are also heavy users of the File:// links on our intranet.

Not having this feature would limit our switch from the old Edge browser.   

[#6]

@mach1-69 Same here. We use SharePoint 2013 as a project manager - it has many task type lists. They control workflow for massive amounts of documents and photos that live on our network shares. The actual documents are managed by other applications and syncing SharePoint libraries isn't feasible for the number of documents and the number of people.

One of the only reasons we really stick to IE11 is support for file://   We also drive complex .bat files that securely log and open Excel spreadsheets from our network share. Also why we will be sticking with SharePoint 2013 since SPO doesn't play nice with file:// in their hyperlink list columns.

So far the Dev Edge is honoring file:// in IE Mode so that's promising.

[#7]

Also a big user of file:// in our organization.

[#8]

@sylvainrodrigue 

This is also the most important feature for our company's intranet ! In the past, we used IE as our main browser. Now, we use Firefox with an extension, but we still have some issue when the file link is inside an iframe. In the futur, we plan to use the new Edge browser if the file link are supported.

Many users see a security problem with file link, but this can easily mitigate with options like "open only non-applicative files" or "open only files from theses secures servers : ___", etc.