Edge Collections - Star To Collect - bad idea not to include a remove option

[Cody Arnould]

I noticed in the newer versions of edge collections "Start to collect" - After searching I've found this to be a very bad addition to collections.  Collections actually got me away from pocket but with this "Start to collect" I am wanting to go back to pocket. 

I submitted feedback but am hoping MSFT is reading these as Edge is a great browser - the collection option is great - especially when my favorites are full/unorganize I use collections for my "focus on" options.

[#2]

That's interesting. It does not do that for me. That said, I'm not complaining! :)

[#3]

@Cody Arnould 

Just adding my vile hatred for this "feature". Hey Microsoft, are you trying to annoy people?!?! I assume there was a meeting one day where someone said: "The collections feature is well-received and a useful tool, now, how can we ruin it?"

Forcing users to see a list of useless, and often inappropriate, nonsense while simultaneously slowing down the interface is just amazingly tone deaf. I'm sure no one asked for this, but you are likely getting some financial compensation for forcing this spam on users. You really need to reverse this "update". At the very least, give us the option to disable this blatant spam feed. 

THIS IS A TERRIBLE CHANGE TO WHAT WAS A GREAT TOOL!

[#4]

Agree, and the feed is often inappropriate. This is spam!

[#5]

100% agree, as I´ve said since day 1. Does anyone with influence in Microsoft ever get to see the feedback in this community? Doesn´t look like it!

[#6]

Now add to it - the constant interruption and delay, EVERY TIME I OPEN THE COLLECTIONS TAB, to tell me "Your collections have been updated!" - when I haven't added anything. I do not need to be told that they's just shoved more unwanted spam at me.

Turns out, like most other browsers, that Edge was too good to be true... at first.

[#7]

@Chris-Edge well said. I get that message every 1 or 2 updates too. Still hoping forlornly that MS will pay attention. Their silence is deafening.

[#8]

@Cody Arnould Since I signed out of my MS account, I have no longer had to deal with "Start to collect" for over a month. Granted that my devices Edge browsers are not synchronized, but I don't need them to be. I did send MS an email saying that I would no longer sign to my Edge browser to my MS account because of "Start to collect". I'm hoping that this will have more punch than simply telling them to give me an option to disable it. But will see, won't we?

[#9]

I gave up a while ago and just switched over to Pocket for saving and tagging items. I moved every item in my collections out to Pocket. They have a nice browser extension, and since it's a Mozilla product, they won't inundate you with irrelevant ads or other GUI nonsense. Best of all, it's portable and can be used in any browser.

[#10]

This is a good suggestion. I dislike having to use an add-on to replace native functionality, but I dislike even more how they are trying to force this spam on us. Complaining alone isn't the answer as I'm sure MS is getting revenue for clicks on that spam. There needs to be a drop in usage to get their attention. I will definitely look into Pocket.

[#11]

@Richard_Bottiglieri 

Because this annoyance has riled me for some time now, I recently switched to Chrome. Nevertheless, I do open Edge every once in a while to see whether Microsoft has finally ditched this unwanted feature. Alas, nothing has happened so far. A few days ago, I then decided to reset Edge and start anew. To my surprise, I have run into two new frustrating issues:

• Every time I open Edge, a privacy settings statement with prompt opens, which I have to confirm. I have not been able to find a way to stop this. This is incredibly annoying!
• Nine unwanted Direct links are displayed on the start page. Even If I remove each one individually, they reappear every time I restart Edge. This is similar to the Start to Collect disaster. Microsoft is shoving things down my throat that I simply don’t want.

I feel like I’m in a bad movie. Does anybody have a solution to at least my last two problems?

[#12]

I would completely nuke the profile folders. Quit Edge completely, then delete (or rename) the existing profile folders. To see where it is, go to edge://profile-internals/, and it'll tell you where on your PC or Mac the profile folder is.

To fix the new tab screen, I've long ago switched to Tabliss. It's an extension that I use in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. Very customizable, and you can export and import settings so that your browsers match. See more here:

https://tabliss.io/

[#13]

@mercerlivede 

I remember reading a review of Windows 11 where the author complained about MS actively looking for ways to insert revenue-generating ads into the OS. I believe this has become a priority for MS and this Start to Collect nonsense is another example of this new priority. We have to complain and hope it matters because it really feels like MS is looking to see how much invasive content, aka spam, people will tolerate.

(Remember when you could buy a television without worrying about ads in the setup menus? I guess people didn't complain when they started that nonsense and now it's commonplace.)

[#14]

@mercerlivede There are extensions out there which give a blank home page. 

In a world where you can just type a search term in the address bar who needs a home page anyway ? 

The failure to remember that you've answered the privacy thing suggests you're deleting all cookies every time you exit. 

[#15]

@Richard_Bottiglieri 

Thanks! So easy! Just logged out and the suggestions go away. This is such an annoying feature! my wife and I were talking about Shirley Temple and her famous curly hair once and my daughter asked who she was. I showed a photo and explained. Now the suggestions in collections are full of photos of Shirley Temple! Collections was really great and useful but, as usual, Microsoft ruined it! They seem to have a talent for messing stuff up and annoying people! I am still angry about Windows Phone 10!!!

[#16]

Yes I totally agree! I am so annoyed about this. I wrote to them too. They talk about caring about privacy and then do this! Perhaps take group legal action if they don't give the option to remove it. I am sure it is braking some law against privacy!!

[#17]

Just sign out of Edge. Your collections will not synchronise across devices but better than having the suggestions. I am looking to get rid of Bing as it seems Bing is the culprit

[#18]

@jhoneill 

You bring up an interesting option: Deleting cookies when exiting Edge. That would seem to explain the privacy statement prompt and the unwanted direct links. I checked that setting, and, surprisingly, none of the seven options were activated, i.e. nothing is deleted. Nevertheless, your tip got me thinking: for some reason, Edge does not remember my manual changes; that is why these things keep re-appearing. I then decided to log out of my Microsoft account, thereby stopping synchronization to the Cloud. I then once again cleared out my browser cache and checked that the Edge option Personalization and Ads was disabled. Out of frustration, I turned off my notebook and did not turn it on again until the next day. Lo and behold: no privacy statement to confirm and no direct links. Honestly, I still don’t fully understand what happened, but your tip steered me in the right direction. Thanks!

[#19]

@mercerlivede 

I had tried that in the past too but after a couple of days, the image suggestions appear again. However it is still crazy we have to find workarounds because Microsoft is violating our privacy and not listening to customer complaints. They could remove this frustrating and annoying feature in minutes

[#20]

I see that Microsoft is up to the same tricks with Windows 11 Widgets. Making them unusable by pushing adverts at people, according to a recent article.
Microsoft constantly annoys its loyal user base by ruining features. It ruined Collections as well (reported on another thread). And Outlook has been made more annoying too. Can't bring myself to describe it here. Off topic anyway.

[#21]

@zotric  yes off topic I know but I tried the new outlook at worrk and it is really annoying! I hate it and went back to the original one but see it will replace the actual one begining of next year!