Microsoft's Edge web browser has some nifty tab tools, aces JavaScript benchmarks, and has a clean, minimal interface. It even works as an ebook and PDF reader. Microsoft has been struggling to get people to use its Edge browser for years. Even though the company made Edge the default browser in Windows 10, users left in droves, most of them flocking to. Microsoft is locking down the new version of Edge in Windows 10. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images. Bad news if you’re not a big fan of the Microsoft Edge browser: it will soon become a.
Windows comes with many features so that you can do the basic of almost every activity. Going for a joyride on the information superhighway is one of them, with Internet Explorer being Microsoft’s first “vehicle” that got replaced by Edge in Windows 10.
In spite of the promising set of features provided by Microsoft Edge at a first look, getting to know it better actually reveals it’s not quite what you’d expect, or on the contrary, confirming everything you thought it wouldn’t be.
However, Edge is strictly tied to core components of Windows 10, which means you can’t just get rid of it like you dispose of other pre-installed apps. Luckily, you can take matters into your own hands and somehow sabotage Edge so it won’t pop up out of the bloom even though you’re using a different default web browser.
Note: Before going on with the following steps, remember that Edge is a core component of Windows, and removing it can cause stability issues. Although we recommend ignoring it in case it’s too frustrating, here’s how you can remove it anyway.
Removing Edge from Windows 10
| Taking matters into your own hands |
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Note: Make sure you’re using an administrator account.
Step 1: Navigate to this location C:WindowsSystemApps and look for a folder named Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
Step 2: Right-click the oddly-named Edge folder to access its properties.
Step 3: Switch to the Security tab and press the Advanced button For Special Permissions or Advanced Settings.
The first set of info shown refers to Name and Owner. You need to become the owner.
Step 4: Follow the link to Change owner so it’s no longer TrustedInstaller.
Step 5: In the prompt that appears, click the big text field and write down Administrators (plural). Then, press the button next to it to Check Names. Windows automatically detects and suggests the administrator account.
Step 6: Press OK to confirm changes. You’re taken back to the Advanced Security Settings panel.
Step 7: In the first set of info, the one with the Change link, there should now be an option to Replace Owner on Subcontainers and Objects. Make sure it is checked, and press OK.
I Hate Microsoft Edge Reddit
Step 8: Back in the folder properties panel, press Edit to Change Permissions.
Step 9: Select the Administrators account from the Group or User Names list, and check the Allow box for Full Control. Press Apply and OK to confirm changes, and OK to close the properties panel so that you become the owner.
Important Note: Now that you have complete control over Edge’s location (evil laugh), DON’T go off deleting it, or you risk causing serious system stability issues. What you can do is create a backup of it in case you ever decide to use Edge again, or unexpected consequences occur.
Step 10 (optional): Access the folder’s properties panel again. At the bottom of the General tab, press the Read-only checkbox until it’s marked with a check symbol ✓ and not a square ◼. Press Apply and OK to confirm.
This prevents Windows from accessing and making changes to any files inside the folder, thus rendering Edge unusable.
Step 11: Access the Edge folder and rename the MicrosoftEdge.exe and MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe files, or completely delete them. You can also unpin Edge from the Taskbar.
Note: If you ever consider using Edge in the future, simply rename executable files to something else, so you know how to change them back to make Edge functional again.| The easy way around |
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Important Note: Think twice before applying this method, because once you do, there's little to no ways to bring Edge back.
A few last words
It’s not nice, nor polite to treat Edge in such a rude manner, especially from the first few weeks of existence, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. In case you do choose to kick it out of Windows, you might want to know how to change Cortana’s default search engine, since it goes hand in hand with Edge, and also don’t forget to change your default web browser.
Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows 10, but despite the adoption of the operating system improving every month, this doesn’t mean that the app itself is also becoming more popular.
Windows 10 is close to overtaking Windows 7 for the most-used desktop operating system worldwide spot, but despite this, Microsoft Edge is very far behind all of its rivals.
According to third-party data, Google Chrome is the leading choice with more than 60 percent of the PC market, while Mozilla Firefox is the runner-up with less than 10 percent. Despite no longer receiving new features and improvements, Internet Explorer is still surprisingly popular, while Edge is far behind with a little over 4 percent.
Microsoft has often turned to controversial tactics to boost adoption of Microsoft Edge, but nothing worked and the app is still trailing behind its rivals on the PC.
And yet, figuring out why Windows 10 users do not stick with Microsoft Edge isn’t as easy as it sounds, and it’s probably a mix of reasons, including the ones we’re going to talk about today.
The aggressive manner that Microsoft has embraced to promote Edge is definitely part of the problem. No matter if we’re referring to ads on the desktop, popups, or occasional messages here and there, Microsoft’s aggressive strategy has backfired, and users were more inclined to switch to the likes of Google Chrome than stick with Edge.
Then, the feature lineup of Microsoft Edge has a major contribution to the app suffering in terms of adoption. Edge receives updates only as part of new Windows 10 feature releases, and this happens twice a year. In the meantime, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are both refined much more frequently.
And needless to say, the overall stability of the app has a lot to do with people switching to third-party browsers. A search in the Feedback Hub, which is Microsoft’s preferred feedback platform on Windows 10, shows that there are tens of thousands users complaining about slow browsing speed, hangs, freezes, and occasional crashes.
Truth be told, many of these issues have already been fixed, or at least more refined, and Microsoft says that it will continue to improve the experience with the browser in the coming updates. And as it happens every time, Microsoft hopes user feedback would help it improve the browser.
User comments posted in the Feedback Hub show that not everyone is pleased with the performance of Microsoft Edge.
“Funny but it seems Internet explorer performs far better than Edge on most of the sites especially in YouTube. There is no typing delay and everything load instantly and uses less PC resources,” user Vladimir N posted approximately a month ago. “Edge spends a lot of time waiting for responses from webpages while Firefox and Chrome seem to get responses right away,” Colin W. adds.
In the meantime, Microsoft seems to be increasingly focused on making Edge more advanced on mobile platforms, and this comes down to frequent updates for the browser on Android and iOS. Edge was also part of Windows 10 Mobile, but given the current state of the platform, Microsoft has focused all browser efforts on rival mobile platforms.
I Hate The New Microsoft Edge
Windows 10 October 2018 Update, which will launch next month, will also come with improvements for Edge, though the market share is unlikely to receive a substantial boost. However, Edge getting new features is definitely an important thing for everyone, as the simple fact that it is offered as a native browser means more and more refinements are mandatory.
What do you think? Is Microsoft Edge a worthy browser or is it still behind rivals like Google Chrome? Why aren’t you using Microsoft Edge on a daily basis?