3 ways to customize Microsoft Edge

Microsoft's new browser may have dropped the 'Spartan' nickname, but if you open it up you'll find that, feature-wise, it's still pretty...spartan.

At the moment (Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview Build 10158), there's not a ton you can do to customize the new Edge browser to make it look and act the way you want. But you can change the browser's theme and customize your start page and your new tab page, so that's something. Here's how to make Edge bend to your will (sort of):

Change the theme

At the moment, Edge doesn't support third-party themes the way Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome do (though this might change in the future). But you can change the look of Edge by switching up Microsoft's built-in theme -- you have a whopping two choices: Light (default) or Dark.

To switch themes, click the ... button in the upper right corner of the window, go to Settings and under Choose a theme click the drop-down menu to choose Light or Dark. The light theme features traditional light grays, while the dark theme turns your toolbars and menus practically black.

Set your start page

What do you want to see when you first open up Edge? Microsoft offers four options: The MSN start page, the new tab page (the same page you see when you open a new tab), previous pages, or a specific page/pages.

To customize your start page, click the ... button, go to Settings, and navigate to the Open with section. Here, you can pick "Start page," "New tab page," "Previous pages," or "A specific page or pages."

If you choose A specific page or pages, a drop-down menu will appear with the options MSN, Bingand Custom. To set your own page or set of pages, choose Custom, enter your desired URL in the textbox that appears, and click the plus symbol. To add another page, enter a URL in the textbox that appears and click the plus symbol (and so forth). To remove a page, click the X symbol next to its URL. You can rearrange the order of the pages by clicking and dragging them around.

Customize new tabs

Now that you've set up your start page, what do you want to see when you open a new tab in Edge? You have three options: Top sites and suggested content, top sites, or a blank page. Internet Explorer users might decry the lack of a custom page option (you can't pick a custom URL or have new tabs open with your home page).

To choose your new tab page, click the ... button, go to Settings, and navigate to Open new tabs with and make your selection from the drop-down menu.

If you choose Top sites and suggested content, you can further customize what you see by opening a new tab and clicking customize next to Top sites.

Here, you can choose your language, content and favorite topics, which will dictate the suggested content you see.