How to Enable Mouse Gestures in Microsoft Edge

This article explains enabling or disabling mouse gestures in the Microsoft Edge web browser.

Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 11. However, users can switch to their preferred or favorite browser anytime. Edge is based on Chromium, similar to Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers today.

Starting with the most recent canary build of Microsoft Edge, a new feature that provides an easy way for you to complete everyday tasks like browsing forward and background, opening and closing tabs, refreshing a page, and more, simply by holding down the right mouse button and drawing patterns on the screen.

You don’t need to click when ‘Mouse Gesture‘ is enabled. However, not all browser tasks can be performed with this feature.

Enabling or disabling ‘Mouse Gesture’ in Microsoft Edge can be useful for users who want to browse the web more easily and conveniently. This can save time and effort, especially for users who frequently perform these tasks. However, not all tasks can be performed using the mouse Gesture,’ so some users may prefer to keep this feature disabled.

Turn on ‘Mouse Gesture’ on or off in Edge

As mentioned above, users can turn on a new feature in Edge that allows them to browse the web and perform everyday tasks simply by holding down the right mouse button and drawing patterns on the screen.

Here’s how to do it.

First, open the Microsoft Edge browser.

Then click on Setting and more (Alt+F) three dots (…) in the upper right-hand corner to access the Settings menu.

On the Settings page on the left panel, click the Start, home, and new tabs button.

On the right, select the “Enable Mouse Gesture” tile under Mouse Gesture.

Then, toggle the switch button to the On position to enable it. To disable it, toggle the switch button to the Off position.

Turn Mouse Gesture on or off using the Windows Registry Editor

Another way to enable or disable the new Mouse Gesture feature in Edge is to use the Windows Registry editor.

First, open Windows Registry Editor.

Then, navigate to the registry key below.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge

Next, double-click the MouseGestureEnabled (REG_DWORD) name on the Explorer key’s right pane to open it. Then, enter a value 1 to enable Mouse Gesture in Microsoft Edge for all users.

To disable the Mouse Gesture feature for all users, type 0.

If you do not see the ‘MouseGestureEnabled‘ item, right-click a blank area and create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value. Then, enter the name ‘MouseGestureEnabled‘.

To restore the default behavior, delete the ‘MouseGestureEnabled‘ item created.

You may have to restart your computer for the changes to apply.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Enabling or disabling the new Mouse Gesture feature in Microsoft Edge can enhance users’ browsing convenience.
• Not all browser tasks can be performed with this feature, so users may prefer to keep it disabled.
• Users can turn the Mouse Gesture feature on or off through the Edge settings menu or the Windows Registry Editor.
• Experimenting with the Mouse Gesture feature may help users determine its suitability for browsing habits and preferences.
• Users are encouraged to provide feedback or share additional insights using the comments section below the article.