Windows OS Hub
  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu
  • Home
  • About

Windows OS Hub

  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu

 Windows OS Hub / Windows 10 / How to Uninstall or Disable Microsoft Edge on Windows 10/11

June 8, 2023 PowerShellWindows 10Windows 11

How to Uninstall or Disable Microsoft Edge on Windows 10/11

The Microsoft Edge browser is installed by default on Windows 11 and all new Windows 10 builds (and Windows Server 2022/2019). If you have another browser installed on the computers in your organization, you can uninstall or disable the Microsoft Edge browser on Windows.

Contents:
  • Uninstalling Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 and 11
  • How to Disable Microsoft Edge in Windows?

The main problem is that you cannot remove the MS Edge browser from your computer using the common Windows removal tools. It is also deeply integrated into the operating system, just like Internet Explorer, which it replaces (see how to Uninstall Internet Explorer on Windows). If you open the Apps and Features section in the Settings panel (use the ms-settings URI command ms-settings:appsfeatures ), you will see that the Uninstall button for the Microsoft Edge browser is inactive (grayed out).

Uninstall Microsoft Edge on Windows via Apps and Features in Settings

Note that you can only uninstall Edge through Control Panel if you installed it manually (not through Windows Update).

Also, you can’t use the Uninstall-Package PowerShell cmdlet to remove MS Edge on Windows.

Get-Package -name "*Microsoft Edge*" | Uninstall-Package

You run the command, but nothing seems to happen.

List installed Microsoft Edge apps

Uninstalling Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 and 11

The only way to uninstall MS Edge on Windows is from the command line. First, you need to find out the build number of the latest version of the MS Edge browser installed on your computer. Open the elevated PowerShell console and run the command below:

$EdgeVersion = (Get-AppxPackage "Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.Stable" -AllUsers).Version

There may be different versions of Edge installed on the computer. The one we’re looking for is the most recent one:

$EdgeLstVersion=$EdgeVersion[-1]

List MicrosoftEdge versions on Windows

Now get the path to the Edge installation directory:

$EdgeSetupPath = ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)} + '\Microsoft\Edge\Application\' + $EdgeLstVersion

In our case, it’s C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\103.0.1264.37

Next, go to the directory:

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\103.0.1264.37"

And run the command to remove Microsoft Edge:

.\Installer\setup.exe --uninstall --system-level --verbose-logging --force-uninstall

A window should then appear asking you to confirm the removal of Edge (in my case, it did appear in Windows Server 2022 and Windows 10, but not on Windows 11). Just click Uninstall.

Remove Microsoft Edge in Windows using the command line

You can also remove the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime feature, which is used to embed Web content in desktop applications using the Chromium engine in Microsoft Edge. Change the directory:

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\Application\103.0.1204.37\Installer\

Run the removal command:

setup.exe --uninstall --msedgewebview --system-level --verbose-logging

Unistall Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime in Windows 11

This removal command no longer works in the new build of Windows 10 and 11 22H2.

To uninstall MS Edge in new versions, you need to copy the old version of the setup.exe file (92.0.902.67) from the previous build of Windows 10 21H1 and use it to delete Edge:

setup.exe --uninstall --msedgewebview --system-level --verbose-logging

Check that the Microsoft Edge shortcut disappears from the taskbar and Start Menu.

Be sure to set a different default browser in Windows and configure file associations for *.HTML and *.HTM. Don’t forget to install an alternative PDF viewer if you used Edge to view PDF files.

To disable the automatic installation and updating of Microsoft Edge through Windows Update, you must create the DoNotUpdateToEdgeWithChromium registry parameter. You can create this registry key and parameter using PowerShell:

Set-item -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate" -Name DoNotUpdateToEdgeWithChromium -Type "DWORD" -Value 1 –Force

DoNotUpdateToEdgeWithChromium - registry key

I have also tried to uninstall built-in MS Edge as a regular Microsoft Store app (UWP/APPX):

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers "*edge*"|select Name,PackageFullName
Get-AppxPackage -allusers –Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.Stable_103.0.1264.37_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

But I ran into the error HRESULT: 0x80073CFA when trying to uninstall the built-in app. And while you can fix this error by following the instructions in the link, I still recommend using the first method because it’s much easier.

How to Disable Microsoft Edge in Windows?

If you don’t want to completely uninstall MS Edge from your Windows device, but just want to prevent users from using it, you can disable it. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a simple GPO or registry setting that would disable the Edge browser launch.

Therefore, you can simply prevent the msedge.exe executable from running on Windows using the Applocker, Software Restriction Policy, or Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). But it can be done more easily:

  1. First, disable MS Edge’s autostart on Windows sign-in;
  2. Then open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc);
  3. Go to User Configuration -> Policies -> Administrative Templates -> System;
  4. Enable the parameter Don’t run specified Windows applications, and click Show;
  5. Specify the name of the msedge.exe executable file that you want to prevent from running; gpo - block msedge.exe from running on windows
  6. Save the changes and update the Group Policy settings with the gpupdate /force command;
  7. Users will no longer be able to run Microsoft Edge on this computer. If you try to open Edge, an error will appear:
This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

cannot run ms edge in windows

5 comments
1
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
previous post
Convert a User Mailbox to a Shared in Exchange and Microsoft365
next post
Managing Inbox Rules in Exchange with PowerShell

Related Reading

How to Use Ansible to Manage Windows Machines

September 25, 2023

Installing Language Pack in Windows 10/11 with PowerShell

September 15, 2023

Configure Email Forwarding for Mailbox on Exchange Server/Microsoft...

September 14, 2023

How to View and Change BIOS (UEFI) Settings...

September 13, 2023

How to Create UEFI Bootable USB Drive to...

September 11, 2023

Categories

  • Active Directory
  • Group Policies
  • Exchange Server
  • Microsoft 365
  • Azure
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • PowerShell
  • VMWare
  • Hyper-V
  • Linux
  • MS Office

Recent Posts

  • How to Use Ansible to Manage Windows Machines

    September 25, 2023
  • Installing Language Pack in Windows 10/11 with PowerShell

    September 15, 2023
  • Configure Email Forwarding for Mailbox on Exchange Server/Microsoft 365

    September 14, 2023
  • How to View and Change BIOS (UEFI) Settings with PowerShell

    September 13, 2023
  • How to Create UEFI Bootable USB Drive to Install Windows

    September 11, 2023
  • Redirect HTTP to HTTPS in IIS (Windows Server)

    September 7, 2023
  • Add an Additional Domain Controller to an Existing AD Domain

    September 6, 2023
  • How to Install an SSL Certificate on IIS (Windows Server)

    September 5, 2023
  • Managing Windows Firewall Rules with PowerShell

    August 31, 2023
  • Fixing ‘The Network Path Was Not Found’ 0x80070035 Error Code on Windows

    August 30, 2023

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Telegram
Popular Posts
  • Fix: Remote Desktop Licensing Mode is not Configured
  • Configuring Port Forwarding in Windows
  • Manage Windows Updates with PSWindowsUpdate PowerShell Module
  • Start Menu or Taskbar Search Not Working in Windows 10/11
  • How to Install Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) on Windows
  • How to Delete Old User Profiles in Windows
  • Configuring SFTP (SSH FTP) Server on Windows
Footer Logo

@2014 - 2023 - Windows OS Hub. All about operating systems for sysadmins


Back To Top