How to uninstall Microsoft Edge in Windows 11

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Microsoft's Edge browser is much better today than it was when it debuted in Windows 10 nearly a decade ago, but it's still not for everyone. Unfortunately, not only does Microsoft include Edge with every copy of Windows 11 (and 10), but it's impossible to uninstall it normally, and you're also forced to use it with certain system features like widgets.




Fortunately Is It is possible to remove Edge from your Windows PC if you are willing to put in the work. We are here to help you do it. By the way, if you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), you can uninstall Edge normally in the latest versions of Windows.

Screenshot of Windows 11 with the browsers Firefox, Vivaldi and Brave

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How to uninstall Microsoft Edge in Windows 11 if you are in the EU

Users in the EEA can thank the Digital Markets Act, which made it mandatory to uninstall Microsoft Edge on Windows 11. Due to this rule, Microsoft has made it easier to uninstall Edge in these regions, so all you need to do is:

  1. Open the Windows 11 Settings app.
  2. Choose Apps.
  3. Choose Installed apps.
  4. Find Microsoft Edge in the list, select the three dots and then Uninstall.
    Uninstalling Microsoft Edge on Windows

  5. Click Uninstall again to confirm your selection and again in the last dialog box that appears.


Your PC will remove Microsoft Edge and you will need to restart your PC. Microsoft warns you that certain system features may not work as expected if you remove Edge, so if you notice anything strange, you may need to reinstall it.

How to uninstall Microsoft Edge everywhere else

If you don't live in one of the regions affected by the Digital Markets Act, you'll have to do some tinkering. Here's how it works:

  1. First, download ViVeTool from GitHub.
  2. Extract the contents of the ZIP file and copy the path where you extracted the folder.
    Screenshot of File Explorer with ViveTool files and path highlighted in the address bar.

  3. Right-click on Start menu icon (or press Windows + X on your keyboard) and select Terminal (Administrator).
  4. type CD followed by the path you copied above. In our case it looks like this: 
    cd C:\Users\joaoc\Downloads\ViveTool-v0.3.3
  5. Now enter the following text: 
    ./vivetool /enable /id:44353396
    Uninstall Edge 3

  1. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
  2. Now open the file explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32.
  3. Find the file named IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.jsonright-click on it and select Characteristics.
    Screenshot of File Explorer showing a context menu with Properties option highlighted

  4. Switch to Security and click on Progressive.
  5. Click here Change right at the top next to Owner: TrustedInstaller.
    Screenshot of the advanced security settings for a file in Windows 11

  1. Enter the text Administrators in the box below and then click Check names to make sure it works as intended. It should look like this, but with your PC's username instead:
    Screenshot of the Change Ownership dialog with the owner set to Administrators

  2. Click OK and then OK again until you are back in the Properties window.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Select the Administrators Group in the upper area, then check the box Full control in the area below.
    Screenshot of the properties dialog that grants the administrator group full control over a file

  5. Click OKThen Yesand then OK again to confirm the changes.

  1. Open the Start menu and enter regedit Then press Enter to open Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to this path (or copy and paste it into the address bar): 
    HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo
  3. Note the value next to name.
    Screenshot of Registry Editor showing a value named

  4. Now open the start menu and search for notepadSelect the Run as administrator Option.
  5. Click File > Open and navigate to C:\Windows\System32.

  1. Change the Text documents Dropdown menu bottom left to All filesand then select the IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json File.
    Screenshot of the Open With dialog box for Notepad

  2. Note the first block of text that begins with Edge can be uninstalledmake the following changes:
    1. Next to Standard statuschange the text in brackets to enablesThe line should look like this: 
      "defaultstate": "enabled",
    2. Towards the end of this block, next to enablesadd the value from step 18. For example, we will add “US” followed by a comma. It then looks like this: 
      "enabled":{"US", "AT", "BE", (...)
      Screenshot of Notepad after modifying a JSON file to enable Edge uninstallation

  3. Click File > Save and close the editor.
  4. Open Microsoft Edge.
  5. Click the ellipsis icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
    Screenshot of Microsoft Edge with Settings button highlighted

  1. Go to System and performance and switch Start-up boost.
    Screenshot of Microsoft Edge system and performance settings with Startup Boost feature disabled

  2. Close the browser and restart your PC.
  3. Open the Settings app.
  4. Choose Apps.
  5. Choose Installed apps.
  6. Find Microsoft Edge in the list, select the three dots and then Uninstall.

    If the Uninstall button is grayed out, restart your PC to make sure all changes take effect. If it doesn't work after a few restarts, check your steps again.

    Uninstalling Microsoft Edge on Windows

  7. Click Uninstall again to confirm your selection and again in the last dialog box that appears.


You don't need to uninstall Edge

As you can see, Microsoft doesn't make it easy to remove the Edge web browser in Windows 11. However, you don't actually have to uninstall Edge. Once you've changed your default browser, you can mostly just ignore Edge, so you don't have to go through all that trouble. If you don't even want to see Edge when you use widgets or the Windows search bar, a tool like MSEdgeRedirect can redirect links from those features to your default browser.

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