KEY POINTS

• A recent Microsoft Edge update unintentionally turned on the tablet-optimized “touch mode” for many Windows 10 and Windows 11 desktop users, leading to expanded spacing in the browser’s interface, including tabs and toolbar icons.
• Although “touch mode” is intended to improve usability on touch-enabled devices like tablets and 2-in-1s, its activation on standard desktop setups has caused frustration due to oversized UI elements and inefficient use of screen space.
• Affected users can manually disable the feature by navigating to Settings > Appearance and toggling off the “Touch mode” option. While Microsoft’s focus on optimizing Edge for tablets is evident, they must prevent such features from disrupting the desktop browsing experience.

Today, upon launching Microsoft Edge on my desktop, I noticed something odd—the interface had changed. Buttons appeared wider, the spacing between pinned bookmarks increased, and tabs were spaced much farther apart than before. This kind of layout is ideal for touchscreens, but not for a traditional desktop setup with a mouse and keyboard.

If your Edge browser now displays larger UI components or stretched spacing across tabs, favorites, or the sidebar, you're not imagining things. A recent update has mistakenly triggered Edge’s tablet-friendly mode on conventional desktop systems running Windows 10 and 11.

Microsoft Edge includes a hidden but useful setting called “touch mode,” designed to make the browser more navigable on touchscreens. When enabled, it increases the gap between UI elements—such as toolbar icons, sidebar items, and tabs—to make them easier to tap.

As shown in the image above, Edge’s interface now takes up significantly more vertical space compared to browsers like Chrome, with UI elements nearly twice as tall.

This unintended activation has introduced several visual issues: increased padding in the sidebar, bloated tab bars, and excessive white space throughout the browser. The tab strip, in particular, has been dramatically altered, with each tab enlarged and spaced far apart—great for fingers, not so much for precision mouse use.

This change has caught many users off guard, especially those who rely on screen real estate or prefer a compact, efficient layout.

Testing confirms the issue appears consistently across multiple devices using Microsoft Edge version 117 with default configurations. Numerous reports have surfaced on forums like Reddit and Microsoft’s official support community, validating that this is a widespread glitch, not an isolated incident.

The root cause appears to be the “Auto” setting for touch mode, which is enabled by default on compatible devices. This mode is supposed to activate only on tablets or hybrid devices, but due to a detection flaw, it’s now incorrectly classifying standard desktops as touch-capable devices.

Consequently, even users with no touchscreen hardware are being forced into a tablet-style interface, undermining usability for those relying on traditional input methods.

Microsoft has not yet acknowledged the issue or rolled out a patch to fix the faulty device detection. Until then, users affected by the bloated interface can manually restore the compact design by going to Settings > Appearance and disabling the “Touch mode” option.

Clearly, Microsoft is investing in improving Edge’s performance and usability on tablets—especially to compete with Chromebooks in education and mobile environments. However, such enhancements should not come at the cost of degrading the experience for desktop users.

While updates targeting hybrid and touch devices are welcome, Microsoft must ensure they don’t inadvertently disrupt the workflow of power users and desktop-centric audiences.

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