It took a while for Microsoft to become competitive in the browser market again, but the company has finally released a browser worthy of use in the new Microsoft Edge powered by Google Chrome. Microsoft’s new browser has been recognized for its speed and ease of use across multiple platforms, including smartphones.
However, Microsoft Edge isn’t for everyone. If you enjoy using Chrome or Firefox, you’re probably in no rush to switch to another Microsoft browser yet. You can bypass Edge quite easily if you’re not using it, but if you want to know how to completely remove Microsoft Edge from Windows 10, you’ll need to follow these steps.
Is it possible to remove Microsoft Edge from Windows 10?
Answer: it depends on the circumstances. There are currently two versions of Microsoft Edge that you may have installed on your computer, and the ability to uninstall them varies.
If you have an old Microsoft Edge browser installed that used Microsoft’s own view engine and had a different interface, you won’t be able to uninstall it directly. However, starting with Windows 10 version 2004, this version of Edge is automatically replaced with the new version of Edge for Chrome.
Unfortunately, you also won’t be able to uninstall this version of Microsoft Edge directly. The only way to uninstall Microsoft Edge from your computer is to download the new Chrome-based Edge and manually install it from Microsoft’s website. However, this will not remove Edge completely.
Anyway, Microsoft Edge is a core component of Windows 10. If you’ve pre-upgraded and installed Chrome-based Edge, uninstalling it will revert the original Edge browser (at least until it’s replaced with a newer version. automatically).
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There are options to stop, hide, or otherwise disable Edge if you don’t want to use it, but that’s not necessarily the best option. Some basic Windows functionality will rely on Edge, but you can (for the most part) bypass it entirely by setting another browser as your default web browser and ignoring Edge entirely.
This ensures that in almost every situation, your third party browser will be used for the Internet. If you insist on disabling Edge, you need to keep this warning in mind as it can lead to complications later on.
Using Windows 10’s uninstall menu (for manual edge installations)
If you’ve installed the new Chrome-based Microsoft Edge yourself from Microsoft’s website, you can uninstall it like any other Windows app from the Windows Settings menu.
- Right-click the Start button. menu icon and click Settings to start. From here click on Apps> Apps & Features and find Microsoft Edge in the list (or using the search bar).
- Once you’ve found Edge, click on the entry and click Remove to start uninstalling. Click Delete again on the pop-up menu to confirm. Make sure all open Edge browsers are closed or the uninstallation will not proceed.
- Edge will ask you to confirm the deletion. Click “Delete” again to agree to this, and make sure “Also clear browsing data” is unchecked if you want to erase your browsing history in the process.
This will only work if you’ve manually installed the new version of Edge. After updating Windows 10 (version 2004 and newer), this version of Edge will completely replace the old version via Windows update and you will not be able to uninstall it.
Change your default web browser in Windows 10
If you prefer to use a different web browser, you can ignore the existence of Microsoft Edge by choosing another browser as your default web browser on Windows 10.
- To do this, right-click the Windows icon From the menu “Start” select “Settings”. From here click Apps> Default Apps. Click an existing web browser entry to start changing the default browser.
- In the Select Application pop-up window, select another installed web browser from the list. If you don’t have one, click Find App in Microsoft Store to find an alternative.
Once selected, your browser of choice will be used for almost all web services on Windows 10. You can change this at any time by repeating the steps above.
Use PowerShell to remove Microsoft Edge
If you intend to try and uninstall Microsoft Edge completely, you may be able to do so using PowerShell command However, this does not guarantee it will work and can be difficult if you try to use an app or system feature that requires Edge.
- To do this, open a PowerShell window by right-clicking the Start menu and choosing Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- With a PowerShell window open, enter get-appxpackage * edge * to find all suitable system packages for Microsoft Edge on your PC.
- Note the PackageFullName value for the Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge package. To remove this from your PC, enter remove-appxpackage. In the next step, enter the PackageFullName value and press Enter.
However, this may only work for older versions of Microsoft Edge. If this method doesn’t work for you, try manually disabling it using the method below.
Disable Microsoft Edge using Windows File Explorer
For security reasons, Windows protects essential system functions and files well. If you are trying to disable Microsoft Edge and you are unable to use the methods above, you can rename the folder it is in using Windows Explorer.
Renaming the folder will hide all Edge system files, prevent it from starting, and disable it in the process.
- To disable the system version of Edge, open C: Windows SystemApps in File Explorer. Locate the Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_xxxxxx folder, right-click and select Rename.
- You can rename this whatever you like, but it’s better to just add -OLD to the folder name. This will allow you to easily rename and restore the folder if you run into problems later.
- A UAC window will appear asking for confirmation. Click “Yes” to allow the change.
Renaming the Edge system files will remain in place, but Windows won’t be able to access them (because it doesn’t know where to find them). This will ensure that Edge stays disabled, but you can regain access to it by renaming the folder back to its original folder name later.
Better Windows 10 Web Browsing
Whether you’re an Edge fan or too used to Firefox or Chrome, there are plenty of options to choose from to get online and browse your favorite websites. If you are concerned about your online safety, you can use VPN Chrome extensions to hide your IP address.
You can go even further and use the browser sandbox in Windows 10 by completely isolating your web browsing from other system resources. If you want to make money while browsing the web, you might even consider using the Brave browser, which offers cryptocurrency rewards for using it.
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