How do I delete edge?

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How do I delete edge?

David Bradbury 50

How do I delete Edge? I have another browser set up as my default, but Edge still sometimes pops up when logging in to WiFi networks. I don't want to switch to it because I'm sick of all the nagging. How do I get rid of it completely? Do I have to track down and delete the executable? Where is it?

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Randy Baroja 20,690 Independent Advisor

Hi David,

Nice to meet you! My name is Randy and I'm an independent advisor.

You can’t fully remove Microsoft Edge from Windows 11, but you can stop it from taking over. First, go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps and set your favorite browser for everything (HTTP, HTTPS, .html, etc.) so Windows won’t switch to Edge. Second, stop Edge from opening when you log in to WiFi by turning off captive portal detection with a simple registry change.

Kind regards,

David Bradbury 50 Reputation points

2025-08-30T13:30:41.83+00:00

Hi. Thanks for that. This is a really odd bug. However, I have found a large number of folders and dll files with "edge" in the same, so I'll try deleting those manually and see how it goes.
Erland Sommarskog 134.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-08-30T13:33:49.9733333+00:00

While I am in no way a fan of Edge, I strongly recommend against that. There is likely to be functionality in Windows that uses Edge under the covers, so if you start to delete DLL:s high and wild, you may find that more than one thing stops working.

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David Bradbury 50 Reputation points

2025-08-30T13:30:41.83+00:00

Hi. Thanks for that. This is a really odd bug. However, I have found a large number of folders and dll files with "edge" in the same, so I'll try deleting those manually and see how it goes.
Erland Sommarskog 134.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-08-30T13:33:49.9733333+00:00

While I am in no way a fan of Edge, I strongly recommend against that. There is likely to be functionality in Windows that uses Edge under the covers, so if you start to delete DLL:s high and wild, you may find that more than one thing stops working.

Answer 1

Randy Baroja 20,690 Independent Advisor

Hi,

You should be t to be cautious here. Manually deleting DLLs and folders with "Edge' in the name can easily break parts of Windows because Edge isn’t just a browser -Microsoft also ties parts of the UI, search, and system services into it. If those shared files are missing, you could run into strange bugs (for example, Windows Search, Widgets, or even login-related components failing).

Kind regards,

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How do I delete edge?

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