The Access Edge Browser Control from VBA: what it supports
For Access developers deciding how to show web content on a form.
The Edge Browser Control is Access’s built-in control for showing web pages on a form, based on Edge’s WebView2. It applies to Access for Microsoft 365 and Access 2024. From VBA it offers four browser methods (Navigate, Refresh, ExecuteJavascript, RetrieveJavascriptValue), a TrustedDomains property and three browser events (BeforeNavigate, DocumentComplete, NavigateError). This page lists that surface from Microsoft’s documentation, notes how code for the old Web Browser control maps to it, and names options for projects that need more.
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What the control is and where it applies
Microsoft’s Support article “Use the Edge browser control on a form” says: “Use the Edge Browser Control to specify a URL and show web pages on a form.” The Office VBA reference describes it as a control that “Represents a web browser control on a form based on Edge’s WebView2.”
The article applies to Access for Microsoft 365 and Access 2024, and notes: “The Edge Browser Control feature is currently only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers who are using builds 16.0.16327.20214 or greater.” Microsoft also lists the control in What’s new in Access 2024. In its Access Blog post “New Edge Browser Control in Microsoft Access” (August 23, 2023), Microsoft announced it for the Current Channel, with the Monthly Enterprise and Semi-Annual channels following between September 2023 and January 2024.
The same post notes: “Unlike the old browser control, you can use the new Edge browser control in continuous forms, reports, and renders for printing.” It also shows that DevTools open from the control’s right-click menu (Inspect).
Its documented VBA surface
From the EdgeBrowserControl object reference. The descriptions in quotes are Microsoft’s.
| Member | Kind | What Microsoft’s reference says |
|---|---|---|
| Navigate | Method | “Navigates the specified browser to the target URL.” |
| Refresh | Method | “Refreshes the specified browser back to the Control Source” |
| ExecuteJavascript(script) | Method | “executes JavaScript inside the browser control”; “The execution of the script happens asynchronously”. No return value. |
| RetrieveJavascriptValue(expression) | Method | “Returns the value of the provided javascript expression”, as “A string representing the value the javascript expression evaluated to”. |
| TrustedDomains | Property | Read/write. Names a table whose first column lists the domains the browser is allowed to navigate to again. |
| BeforeNavigate(Cancel, URL) | Event | “Occurs before navigation occurs in the given EdgeBrowserControl.” |
| DocumentComplete(URL) | Event | “Occurs when a document is completely loaded and initialized.” |
| NavigateError(URL, StatusCode) | Event | “Occurs when an error occurs during navigation.” |
The reference also lists LocationURL, ReadyState, Progress and ControlSource, and the standard members every Access control has (for example SetFocus, Requery, Click and GotFocus).
Moving code from the old Web Browser control
Microsoft explains the main difference on the Access Blog: “Previously, when writing VBA for the old browser, you’d reference the Object property of the control, which allowed you to use the MSHTML VBA API built into the underlying browser engine. This was useful for performing tasks such as HTML DOM manipulation. Unfortunately, the browser engine used in the new control, WebView2, doesn’t have a built in VBA API, so we added some VBA functions directly to the control within Access.”
So code that read or changed the page through .Object (the MSHTML API) has no direct equivalent. The documented route is to run a script with ExecuteJavascript and read a value back with RetrieveJavascriptValue, which returns the value of a JavaScript expression as a string. Microsoft’s article on the old control, “Add Web browsing to a form”, adds: “If you’re using Access for Microsoft 365, we recommend using the new Edge Browser Control for new development.”
When a project needs more than the documented surface
Some projects need things this surface does not cover:
- a host other than Access, such as Excel, Word or VB6;
- an Access version the control does not apply to (Microsoft lists Access for Microsoft 365 and Access 2024);
- messages from the page to VBA: Microsoft documents no page-to-VBA channel for this control;
- DOM helper calls from VBA, or a JSON parser in VBA.
LiteView2 is one option for these cases: a WebView2-based ActiveX/COM control that runs in Access, Excel, VB6 and other COM hosts, with DOM helpers such as GetElementValueById and SetInnerHtmlById, messages from the page through the WebMessageReceived event, and a standalone JSON engine. The quickstart and the Cookbook show examples.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between WebView2 and the Edge Browser Control?
WebView2 is Microsoft’s control for embedding web content in native applications. The Edge Browser Control is an Access form control based on Edge’s WebView2; its documented VBA surface is listed on this page. LiteView2 is a WebView2-based ActiveX/COM control for COM hosts, including Access.
Can the Edge Browser Control access the DOM from VBA?
Not directly. Microsoft explains that the new control has no Object property, so the MSHTML VBA API that the old control offered for DOM manipulation isn’t available; Access instead adds VBA functions such as ExecuteJavascript and RetrieveJavascriptValue to the control.
Does the Edge Browser Control work in Excel?
No. It is an Access control: Microsoft’s article applies to Access for Microsoft 365 and Access 2024. For Excel, Word or VB6, a COM control such as LiteView2 is one option.
How do I call JavaScript from VBA?
In the Edge Browser Control, ExecuteJavascript runs a script asynchronously and returns nothing, and RetrieveJavascriptValue evaluates a JavaScript expression and returns the result as a string. In LiteView2, ExecuteScript returns the script’s result as a string, and ExecuteScriptWithResult also reports whether the script succeeded and any exception message.
What happens to code written for the old Web Browser control?
Code that used the old control’s Object property (the MSHTML API) has no direct equivalent in the Edge Browser Control: Microsoft notes that WebView2 has no built-in VBA API and that Access adds VBA functions to the control instead. For new development in Access for Microsoft 365, Microsoft recommends the Edge Browser Control.
Can I use LiteView2 on an Access form instead?
Yes. LiteView2 is also WebView2-based and works on Access forms. In Registered Mode you place the LiteView2 control on the form; in Reg-Free Mode you create it at run time through IBrowserPool.
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