Uninstall Microsoft Edge on Windows 11, 10

Yes, Windows now has a mechanism to completely remove Microsoft Edge from the system, and here's how.

Windows 11 uninstall Edge
Windows 11 uninstall Edge
  • To uninstall Microsoft Edge on Windows 11 or 10, open the “IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json” file, set the “Edge is uninstallable” option to “enabled,” specify your device region, and then open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, open the “Microsoft Edge” app menu and choose “Uninstall.”
  • Users in the European Union can remove Edge directly from Settings > Apps > Installed apps, opening the “Microsoft Edge” app menu and choosing “Uninstall.” After Microsoft releases the update that enables the uninstall option.

UPDATED 12/18/2023: On Windows 11, it’s possible to uninstall Microsoft Edge, and in this guide, I’ll guide you through the necessary steps, including removing the web browser on Windows 10.

Although you can install and use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox alongside Edge, some users may want to remove it altogether. The only caveat is that the system doesn’t include an option to remove the browser. However, as part of the new European Union regulations, Microsoft can no longer force users to use many of its apps and services, such as Microsoft Edge and the Bing search engine. As a result, the company has added a mechanism to let users decide whether to keep the web browser, search engine, and several other products. The problem is that this is limited to European users, but there’s a workaround that anyone can use to remove these features regardless of the device region, including Microsoft Edge (via Deskmodder).

If you plan to use these instructions, the device must be on build 19045.3757 for Windows 10 and 22631.2787 or build 22621.2787 for Windows 11 or higher releases.

In this guide, I’ll outline the steps to remove Edge from your Windows 11 or 10 computer.

Uninstall Microsoft Edge on Windows

To uninstall Microsoft Edge from Windows 11 (or 10), use these steps:

  1. Open GitHub website.

  2. Download the ViveTool-vx.x.x.zip file.

  3. Double-click the zip folder to open it with File Explorer.

  4. Click the Extract all button.

    File Explorer extract ViveTool files

  5. Click the Extract button.

  6. Copy the path to the folder.

  7. Open Start.

  8. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

  9. Type the following command to navigate to the ViveTool folder and press Enter:

    cd c:\folder\path\ViveTool-v0.x.x

    In the command, remember to change the path to the folder with your path.

  10. Type the following command to enable the option to uninstall Microsoft Edge and press Enter:

    vivetool /enable /id:44353396

    ViveTool enable uninstall Edge option

  11. Restart the computer.

  12. Open File Explorer (Windows key + E).

  13. Type the following path on the address bar and press Enter:

    C:\Windows\system32
  14. Right-click the IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json file and choose the Properties option.

    IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet file properties

  15. Click the Security tab.

  16. Click the Advanced button.

    Security advanced option

  17. Click the Change option for “Owner.”

    IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet change ownership

  18. Confirm the Administrators object name.

  19. Click the Check Names button.

    Select User or Group

  20. Click the OK button.

  21. Click the OK button again.

  22. Click the Edit button from the “Security” tab.

  23. Select the Administrators item from the “Group or user names” section.

  24. Check the Allow option for Full control from the “Permissions for Administrators” section.

    Windows 11 permissions full control

  25. Click the Apply button.

  26. Click the Yes button.

  27. Click the OK button.

  28. Click the OK button again.

    Quick tip: Right-click the “IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json” file, and copy and paste the file to another folder to have a configuration file backup.
  29. Open Start.

  30. Search for Notepad, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option to open the app.

  31. Click on File and choose the Open option.

  32. Open the IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json file from the “C:\Windows\System32” path.

  33. Open Start.

  34. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

  35. Browse the following path and note the value of the “Name” String:

    HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo

    Registry Geo location

    Quick note: In my case, the value is “US.” You will need this information to edit the JSON file.
  36. In the IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json file for the “Edge is uninstallable.” setting, change the “defaultState” option from disabled to enabled.

    Windows 11 json file uninstall Microsoft Edge

  37. In the “region” setting, in the “enabled” bracket, add the supported region. For example, “US” followed by a comma.

    Quick note: The line should follow this parent “US”, “AT”, “BE”, “BG”, “CH”.
  38. Click on File and choose the Save option.

  39. Restart the computer.

  40. Open Settings (Windows key + I).

  41. Click on Apps.

  42. Click the Installed apps tab.

    Quick tip: On Windows 10, open Settings > Apps > Apps & features to find and remove apps from the system.
  43. Open the menu (three dots) button for Microsoft Edge and choose the Uninstall option.

    Windows 11 uninstall Edge browser

  44. Click the Uninstall button again.

Once you complete the steps, Microsoft Edge will be completely removed from Windows 11 or 10, depending on the operating system. 

When using this method, the system should not try reinstalling the browser after an update or running the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool.

Although the browser is no longer present, some links (such as articles from the Widgets board) will require Microsoft Edge to open. As a result, clicking these links will direct you to the Microsoft Store to download the browser instead of opening the link in the current default folder.

If you want to reinstall Microsoft Edge, open “Command Prompt” (admin) and run the winget install --id XPFFTQ037JWMHS command.

Update December 11, 2023: This guide has been update with additional details.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.