The Windows operating system is pretty popular, but I can’t say the same for its browsers. Right from internet explorer, Microsoft browsers have been known for their annoying speeds and inconvenience.
The introduction of Windows 10 back in 2015 led to the death of Internet Explorer while introducing Microsoft Edge (legacy) to us. However, it is a bit laggy and inconvenient compared to other browsers. Unfortunately, it is built into the operating system, so you uninstall it the standard way.
Over some time, Microsoft realizes that its native edge browser is on the verge of dead-bed. Hence, they embrace the open-source Chromium and rebuild the Edge browser in the Chromium version.
Microsoft Edge was in BETA for over two years, and they made it publicly available upon moving out of BETA. Just like Edge (legacy) browser, Microsoft is shoving the Edge to users with Windows 10 updates in 2020.
Recently, there has been a buzz around this forced bloatware that Windows has released, along with quarterly updates. The Windows PC user isn’t happy with this addition and raging toward uninstalling the Microsoft Edge Chromium version.
Thankfully with all the developments around technology, there are various ways. You can uninstall Microsoft Edge using PowerShell or third-party apps or disable it from the installation folder. I’ve listed all these techniques in this blog post.
Uninstalling Edge via Control Panel
There are also reports that Microsoft Edge is being forcefully downloaded and installed on older Windows PC versions like Windows 7 and 8.
Here are the steps to uninstall MS Edge using Control Panel:
- Open the Start menu and search for the Control Panel.
- Proceed to Programs and Features.
- Choose Microsoft Edge from the list and right-click.
- Hit the Uninstall command option, and Microsoft Edge will be removed from your computer.
If you have manually installed the Edge browser, these steps will also be helpful in that case.
Using PowerShell Command Line
If you are comfortable with using PowerShell, this is a great option. This option, however, may not work with the latest Windows 10 builds as Microsoft is making it harder and harder to uninstall their new default browser.
However, you can try your luck to see if this is working on your system. Make sure to run the PowerShell as Administrator.
Here is the step to uninstall Edge using PowerShell:
- Search PowerShell in the taskbar search box and select it from the results list.
- Right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run as Administrator.
- Enter the Get-AppxPackage command to view all installed apps. Type in the following Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, PackageFullName and press .
- Search for the result that contains the text Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge. Here is an example of how it will look:
Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_44.18362.1.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Copy the total value and edit the Get-AppxPackage command replacing PackageFullName with the copied information. It should look something like this:
Get-AppxPackage -allusers Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_44.18362.1.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe | Remove-AppxPackage
This will remove and uninstall the Microsoft Edge browser from your Windows computer. As mentioned, it might not work in a few cases if Windows is updated to the latest due to Microsoft’s brutal software policies.
Rename and Disable MS Edge
Here, you are opting for the safest and easiest method. It will disable the Microsoft Edge browser and save all associated data. However, if you update your Windows, the app will be re-enabled. However, worry not because you can follow these same steps to disable it again.
- Go to your Local Disk C:\ or Windows OS installation drive.
- Open the folder with preinstalled Windows apps. You can follow this path if you’re Windows is installed in C Drive; C:\Windows\SystemApps.
- Search for the folder with a name starting with Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.
Be careful not to choose the folder named Microsoft.MicrosoftEdgeDevToolsClient.
- Proceed to rename the folder with anything you choose – just appending _disable should work.
This makes it impossible for the browser to start since the system can’t find its required file.
Suppose the Edge browser is set to run when Windows Startup; you might encounter the error message. Disable Microsoft Edge from msconfig under the Startup tab services.
Use Third-Party App
This method will not work for the latest Windows 10 build after version 1903 since Microsoft improved its mechanism against third-party apps.
To uninstall any program, I use Geek Uninstaller, which is free to download and just under 3MB in size, although there are many other great tools like; IObit and Bulk, among others, available.
- Start by downloading the app from geekuninstaller.com.
- Install the app on your machine and open it.
- Select all Microsoft Edge programs and right-click on the selected area
- Then click the Uninstall command from the options menu.
- Confirm the action to complete uninstallation.
Check if Microsoft Edge is uninstalled from the Windows OS.
Bottom Line
We have listed different ways to uninstall the preinstalled Edge browser from Windows OS 2020 update. You can try one after the other method and check which helps remove the Edge chromium from the latest Windows 10 update.
Unfortunately, Windows updates do not give complete control over what to install and disallow update installation. So the only option for us is manually deleting the Edge from the PC.
What reason do you have for installing the Microsoft Edge browser? I do not use it, as my first preference is Google Chrome. Therefore I wouldn’t want any useless apps wasting space on my device. That is enough reason for me to uninstall it.
However, with Microsoft sending out updates now and then, which are meant to strengthen the browser against uninstallation attempts, the safest option here would be to disable it and forget about it.
Let us know why you want to uninstall Microsoft Edge from your Windows PC. Also, which method has helped your machine?
Lastly, if you've any thoughts or feedback on How to Uninstall Microsoft Edge from Latest Windows PC, then feel free to drop in below comment box. You can also report the outdated information.