How to open Edge using Powershell variable?

Question

I have tried the following:

$edge = New-Object -com microsoft-edge.application
$edge.visible = $true
$edge.FullScreen = $true

But I get error:

New-Object : Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID 
{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} failed
due to the following error: 80040154 Class not registered (Exception from 
HRESULT: 0x80040154 (REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG)).
At line:1 char:9
+ $edge = New-Object -com microsoft-edge.application
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo          : ResourceUnavailable: (:) [New-Object], COMException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoCOMClassIdentified,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewObjectCommand

Am I doing something obviously wrong here?

Edit 17/07/2019 - I have changed to below:

$edge = Start-Process -FilePath ($Env:WinDir + "\explorer.exe") 
-ArgumentList 
"shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge"
$edge.visible = $true
$edge.FullScreen = $true

So now Edge opens but the Visible and Fullscreen commands return errors - anyone have any ideas?

Cheers

has edge been run at least once by that account on that system? — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 9:01
Edge is not automatable in that way - see stackoverflow.com/questions/31302304/… — TessellatingHeckler
– TessellatingHeckler, Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 9:01
@Naz - isee that TessellatingHeckler has the answer ... you can't do that in that manner. [grin] — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 14:22

techguy1029 · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-17 16:10:11Z

9

I think this might be the solution:

start microsoft-edge:http://google.com
$wshell = New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell;
$wshell.AppActivate('Google - Microsoft Edge')
Sleep 2
$wshell.SendKeys('{F11}')

I found the above code here:start microsoft edge in fullscreen

You can send edge different keys depending on what you want: How to send CTRL or ALT + any other key?

You could find the key shortcut to whatever you want to do to the Edge window.

You could try this(source is link below):

Start-Process -FilePath ($Env:WinDir + "\explorer.exe") -ArgumentList "shell:Appsfolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge"

There is also a way to open it in Incognito Mode:

How to start Microsoft Edge in private mode by PowerShell

edited Jul 17, 2019 at 16:10

answered Jul 16, 2019 at 15:44

techguy1029

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3 Comments

Naz Over a year ago

Thanks for this, I tried it and it works to open it. However, the Fullscreen and Visible commands still return errors - any ideas?

techguy1029 Over a year ago

Actually, while looking this up, since I had no idea, I found a better solution. I'll add it to my answer

Technoob1984 Over a year ago

For me, the Sleep command before issuing seemed to help.

Zhi Lv · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-16 11:27:39Z

6

You could use the following command to open Microsoft Edge browser and navigate to the special URL.

start microsoft-edge:http://google.com

Edit:

If you want to use Edge Webdriver to open IE browser, you could download the Edge webdriver from this link, and refer to this article to use it.

edited Jul 16, 2019 at 11:27

answered Jul 16, 2019 at 10:31

Zhi Lv

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Comments

bsheps · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-23 20:53:10Z

3

The existing answers may work for some environments, BUT they are not guaranteed since they use the alias start instead of the Start-Process command directly.

It is best to use the command directly in scripts.

Open Edge full screen:

Start-Process microsoft-edge: -WindowStyle maximized

Explanation

The Start-Process command is executed on microsoft-edge, with the argument -WindowStyle set to maximized. This will open edge and maximize it to full screen.

Open Edge full screen AND navigate to specified webpage:

Start-Process microsoft-edge:https://stackoverflow.com -WindowStyle maximized

Explanation

Like before, the Start-Process command is executed on microsoft-edge and the : specifies to open https://stackoverflow.com. The argument -WindowStyle set to maximized will full screen Edge and load stackoverflow.com.

Official documentation: Start-Process

edited Dec 23, 2020 at 20:53

answered Dec 23, 2020 at 20:46

bsheps

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3 Comments

Michael Kintscher they-them Over a year ago

How can I control whether the tab opens in a new window or not? When I leave the URL blank it opens in a new window Start-Process microsoft-edge: -WindowStyle maximized , but when I add a URL (like this answer) it opens in a previous window. I want to force it to open in a new window.

Michael Kintscher they-them Over a year ago

Update on previous comment, leaving the URL blank (: followed by nothing) the script errors out with a NullArgumentException... which suggests the opening in a new window is an accident. How can I intentionally do this then?

praveenbharatsagar Over a year ago

How to open an extension page using Start-Process script? I tried using extension:// and chrome-extension:// but neither worked. Basically, I want to open non-http urls from powershell script inside edge browser.

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