Microsoft has unveiled a new feature for its flagship web browser Edge that will change the way links are copied and pasted.
The new Link Format feature, which will be introduced in an upcoming Windows 10 update, allows users to choose whether a URL copied from the address bar is pasted as a link or in plain-text.
To paste a URL as a simple link in a readable format, users can execute the traditional Ctrl+V keyboard command. The shortcut for pasting a full URL in plain-text, meanwhile, will become Ctrl+Shift+V, although the default option can be reversed via the Edge settings panel.
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The Link Format option only currently works with URLs copied from the web browser’s address bar, but Microsoft is working to expand the feature to include in-page links as well.
Windows 10 copy-and-paste update
Microsoft claims to have based the new copy-and-paste feature on an analysis of the ways Edge users copy and share web addresses.
“We wanted to dig into how users feel about copy and pasting a URL from their web browser. We looked to understand what they do when they copy and paste URLs, as well as the pain points they experience,” explains a new Microsoft blog post.
“We found that one has to regularly edit the URL to make them understandable for sharing or remove seemingly extra parameters. We also learned that nearly everyone, at one point, wants the full, plain-text URL exactly as it was copied.”
The new feature, according to the firm, should resolve this conundrum by providing a simple way to paste links in a user’s preferred format.
Anyone that wants to sample the option ahead of release can do so via the Windows version of Edge Canary, the browser build used to test features ahead of wider rollout. This browser version is updated almost daily with the latest tweaks and improvements developed by the Edge team.
The Link Format announcement also comes hot on the heels of a wider overhaul to the Windows 10 clipboard, revealed earlier this month.
The new-look clipboard will contain a panel that stores all the most recently copied images and GIFs, as well as 25 text entries - and is expected to arrive with the next Windows 10 feature update.
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