What Microsoft announced
On November 5, 2026, Microsoft's Edge blog announced a "reimagined content experience." In a post by Julia Beizer, the company says the new experience appears in two places:
- The Microsoft Edge new tab page on desktop
- The Discover dashboard, opened from the Windows taskbar
Microsoft groups the changes into three areas: smarter recommendations, a more intuitive design, and a wider range of voices and formats. The company also says it plans to bring the experience to other Microsoft surfaces over time, including the Bing.com homepage and MSN.com.
A rebuilt recommendation engine
According to Microsoft, the recommendation system was rebuilt to put more weight on relevance, freshness and quality, so that new-tab stories better match each user's interests and current events. As an example, Microsoft cites an "immersive World Cup experience" from this past summer that it says was viewed more than 1.4 billion times.
That number needs context. Microsoft doesn't say how a "view" is counted or whether the figure means unique people. The post also doesn't say how relevance, freshness or quality are measured or weighted. "Better recommendations" is Microsoft's claim, not an independently tested result.
A redesigned layout
Microsoft says the new design makes it easier to catch up on trending stories, browse articles and videos personalised to your interests, and dig into favourite topics. The company puts the publisher network at 1,500 "premium" publishers, naming USA TODAY, Business Insider and PEOPLE, plus more than 3,500 creators whose content appears next to publisher reporting. Microsoft did not publish full partner lists or explain what earns the "premium" label.
Video moves up the page
Video gets more prominent placement and more recommendations. Microsoft says video already accounts for more than 40% of all engagement on the platform, and that partners publish more than 45,000 videos a day. The company doesn't define "engagement" or give a measurement period, so treat these as company figures, not audited ones.
Section summary: Microsoft says the recommendations are better, the layout is cleaner, the network of publishers and creators is bigger, and video is more prominent. Every number comes from Microsoft.
Curated by Copilot gets a bigger role
The most notable AI change is an expanded Curated by Copilot. Microsoft describes it as a feature that uses AI to combine perspectives from several articles into one view, tailored to what the reader cares about. The stated goal is to help readers understand a topic quickly and then go on to the original reporting.
The feature isn't brand new. In 2025, Windows Report described Edge Canary testing a Copilot news feed where the feed contains News and Videos, and every now and then, you'll see a "Curated by Copilot" card in the center that suggests content based on activity. Today's announcement expands that feature to the main consumer experience in the launch countries.
For publishers, Microsoft says the feature gives clear attribution to the original source. Content partners can manage their participation in Microsoft's "AI Experiences" at any time through the Partner Hub.
Questions the announcement doesn't answer
- How are source articles chosen for a synthesis?
- What does the attribution look like on screen?
- What checks make sure a summary accurately reflects its sources?
AI summaries of news have a mixed record across the industry, and the post doesn't explain the safeguards here. Until Microsoft says more, treat Curated by Copilot as a starting point and click through to the original articles on anything that matters.
Section summary: Curated by Copilot now has a larger role. Microsoft promises attribution and a publisher opt-out, but hasn't described how sources are chosen or how accuracy is checked.
Who gets it, and when
| Status | |
|---|---|
| Edge new tab page (desktop) | Available now in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, India |
| Windows taskbar Discover dashboard | Available now in the same five countries |
| Mobile | Planned "in the coming months" |
| MSN.com | Planned |
| Bing.com homepage | Planned "over time" |
| Other countries | Planned, no schedule given |
The post doesn't name a minimum Edge version, a Windows build, an account requirement or a phased rollout schedule within the five countries. If you're in one of those countries and still see the old feed, nothing is wrong with your PC. Microsoft just hasn't said whether every eligible user gets it immediately.
Don't confuse it with the Edge for Business Copilot new tab page
Microsoft now has two different new-tab redesigns, and it helps to keep them apart.
Microsoft 365 message center post MC1250274 describes a separate Copilot new tab page for Edge for Business. It brings search, chat, and web exploration together into a single search box, along with Copilot‑suggested actions and curated work content. The timeline in that post was a rollout starts mid-November 2025 (public preview) and general availability in May 2026. Under that plan, users will continue to see their existing new tab page unless they opt in to the Copilot new tab page, and the CopilotNewTabPageEnabled policy can be configured through Intune and ADMX in Edge 148.
Topedia notes that this policy applies only to Microsoft Entra ID profiles. In other words, it covers the work experience, not personal profiles.
Admins should also know about a feed-related policy in Microsoft's Edge Beta channel release notes: ConfigureNTPFeedTabVisibility - Configure whether the Discover or Work feed tabs are shown on the New Tab Page. Microsoft hasn't said that this policy controls the November 5 consumer redesign specifically. Still, it's the policy to look at if you manage new-tab feed visibility on corporate devices. Test it in a pilot group before rolling it out widely.
Section summary: The November 5 launch is the consumer news-and-video feed. The Copilot new tab page for Edge for Business is a separate, opt-in experience managed by admins.
How to adjust or hide the feed
Microsoft says you can follow topics and publishers and change settings to customise the look and feel. Its support documentation describes the existing controls below. These pages may not fully reflect the new design yet, so menu labels could be slightly different.
In Microsoft Edge
- Open a new tab.
- Select Page settings (the gear icon). Microsoft's Edge support page says this is where you choose a layout, background and content preferences.
- To pick topics and publishers, Microsoft's MSN help FAQ says to open the settings in the top-right corner of the new tab page and choose Personalize, then select or deselect topics and publishers.
- To hide or shrink the feed, the same FAQ points to Feed layout. There you can deselect Show feed to move the feed out of view, or switch between Expanded and Compact.
In the Windows Discover dashboard
- Press Windows key + W, select the Widgets area on the taskbar, or swipe in from the side of the screen.
- Select Discover in the navigation bar, then your user account button.
- In the Discover tab, select topics and publishers. You can review them in Following and undo blocks in Blocked.
- On individual stories, use Hide this story or the More like this / Fewer like this buttons to train the feed.
- To remove Discover completely, open the Widgets settings button, go to Dashboards, and turn Discover off. To remove Widgets from the taskbar, go to Taskbar settings and turn off Widgets under Taskbar items.
Which account drives personalisation
Microsoft's MSN FAQ says content opened from the taskbar is personalised with the Microsoft account signed in to Windows. Content on the Edge new tab page uses the account signed in to Edge. If your feed feels like it belongs to someone else, check for a mismatch between those two accounts. The FAQ also says you can sign out of your Edge profile or use InPrivate to stop preferences being tracked. Microsoft hasn't said whether the new experience changes any of this.
If the dashboard misbehaves
Microsoft's Widgets support page says Widgets and Discover need the latest Windows Web Experience Pack and Start Experiences App. Both normally update automatically, so check for updates if the dashboard is broken or stuck on the old design. The same page notes that, by default, the dashboard's language and content follow your Windows display language and Country or region settings. That can also affect whether you're placed in one of the five launch countries.
Analysis: a better feed, or just more of it?
For three years, Microsoft's new-tab strategy has gone back and forth between "news feed" and "Copilot box." Edge Canary builds in 2025 tested a Copilot-first page that, in Windows Central's words, outright removes the MSN news feed that is usually present below the search box. Now the feed is back with more emphasis than before, along with more video and AI curation. That shows how valuable this space is to Microsoft for engagement, partner traffic and advertising.
There are real positives. Ranking for quality and freshness is the right goal, and Microsoft has a long-running image problem with clickbait-heavy feeds. Follow and block controls also give users real ways to tune what they see.
The concerns are just as real. Nothing in the announcement lets anyone verify the quality improvements. Giving video more space makes the page busier, not calmer. And an AI layer between readers and journalism raises fair questions about accuracy and about whether readers ever click through to the publishers.
If you like a news feed with your morning coffee, the redesign is worth trying in the five launch countries. If you open a new tab to get work done, the off switches described above still exist. Microsoft hasn't announced any change to them, but check after updates in case labels move.
Bottom line: As of November 5, 2026, the redesigned feed is live on Edge desktop and the Windows Discover dashboard in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and India. Mobile, MSN.com, Bing.com and more countries are planned with no dates. The improvement claims come only from Microsoft. Your feed controls remain available, and admins should keep this consumer feed separate from the opt-in Copilot new tab page for Edge for Business.