Assistance Required for Disabling Microsoft Edge Update Prompt via Group Policy

Question

Assistance Required for Disabling Microsoft Edge Update Prompt via Group Policy

Praveen siva 45

Hello,

I need assistance with configuring a Group Policy to hide or disable the Microsoft Edge update prompt across our organization's devices.

Issue Description: We want to prevent users from seeing the "Can't update Microsoft Edge" prompt that suggests reinstalling or updating the browser. We've tried managing this via Group Policy but require further guidance.

We have multiple Windows machines with Microsoft Edge installed, and we've configured Edge Group Policy to restrict admin access for non-admin users. However, we've disabled the Edge auto-update feature for security reasons, and some users have reported seeing an update prompt. We want to hide or disable this update prompt, as well as any other prompts that might appear on non-admin Windows servers.

Could you please provide detailed steps or confirm if any additional configurations are needed to ensure these prompts are hidden or disabled?

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Lee W 1 Reputation point

2024-09-02T03:54:36.48+00:00

I have the same question. We are seeing this behaviour starting in v126.0.2592.81 on machines we roll quarterly updates to. We have a case open with MS support who are investigating, but is it possible this was a behaviour change or version issue? Our previous version was 123.0.2420.65 and we did not have this issue, nor in earlier versions. Approximately a month after 126.0.2592.81 was deployed (24th of August) we started seeing update notifications as per the original post.

We have UpdateDefault configured to 0 (Updates disabled (0): Updates are never applied.) via group policy and control deployment of new Edge versions via SCCM. I have tested "SpotlightExperiencesAndRecommendationsEnabled" and "ShowRecommendationsEnabled" as per suggestions with no change. I have also tested RelaunchNotification and RelaunchNotificationPeriod as per our vendor support suggestions without success.

My feeling is there is some kind of behaviour change (intended or not) between version 123.0.2420.65 and 126.0.2592.81 which is ignoring the policy-based update controls.

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This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Lee W 1 Reputation point

2024-09-02T03:54:36.48+00:00

I have the same question. We are seeing this behaviour starting in v126.0.2592.81 on machines we roll quarterly updates to. We have a case open with MS support who are investigating, but is it possible this was a behaviour change or version issue? Our previous version was 123.0.2420.65 and we did not have this issue, nor in earlier versions. Approximately a month after 126.0.2592.81 was deployed (24th of August) we started seeing update notifications as per the original post.

We have UpdateDefault configured to 0 (Updates disabled (0): Updates are never applied.) via group policy and control deployment of new Edge versions via SCCM. I have tested "SpotlightExperiencesAndRecommendationsEnabled" and "ShowRecommendationsEnabled" as per suggestions with no change. I have also tested RelaunchNotification and RelaunchNotificationPeriod as per our vendor support suggestions without success.

My feeling is there is some kind of behaviour change (intended or not) between version 123.0.2420.65 and 126.0.2592.81 which is ignoring the policy-based update controls.

Answer 1

I have a similar situation, using Windows 11. I blocked all websites in Microsoft Edge by using the blacklist in the local group policy editor (gpedit.msc), using the setting "Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Classic Administrative Templates (ADM)/Microsoft Edge/Block access to a list of URLs". Then every time I opened Microsoft Edge, I kept getting the popup saying "Nurturing is blocked". The problem seems to be caused by Microsoft Edge checking to see whether it is the default browser ("Nurturing" is a folder with path C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Nurturing ). To fix this, I used gpedit.msc to edit the setting "Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Classic Administrative Templates (ADM)/Microsoft Edge/Set Microsoft Edge as default browser". I set this to "Disabled" and it seems to have solved the problem. (Note: the notes for that setting state that "this policy only works for PCs running Windows 7" but nevertheless, it worked.)

Answer 2

Praveen siva 45

updated as comment

Best Regards,
Praveen Sivakumar

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Answer 3

Jinxin Wang (Shanghai Wicresoft Co Ltd) 2,205 Microsoft External Staff

Hi @Praveen siva,

I read your description, and you mentioned "We've tried managing this via Group Policy". I want to know what policy have you used to test? In addition, I also would like to know how you disable Edge auto update. I suggest you can try to use "SpotlightExperiencesAndRecommendationsEnabled" and "ShowRecommendationsEnabled" policies to disable the update prompt. Please note that you should disable these two policies instead of enabling them.

Update:

You can continue to use * in the URL blocklist, but since the "Nurturing is blocked" message is caused by 'edge://', the actual logic is that * includes 'edge://', so you only need to add 'edge://*' to the URL allowlist.

In addition, I read your reply about disabling Edge automatic updates. Please note that if you use policy to roll back the Edge version or disable Edge automatic updates, the "Can't update Microsoft Edge" prompt you described at the beginning will not appear. You can refer to this link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/deploy-edge-plan-deployment#define-your-update-strategy-and-policies

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Best Regards,

Jinxin Wang

Praveen siva 45 Reputation points

2024-08-27T07:01:49.7+00:00

Hi @Jinxin Wang

Thanks for your response. I’ve disabled the "SpotlightExperiencesAndRecommendationsEnabled" and "ShowRecommendationsEnabled" settings as you advised. However, I want to verify whether the issue is resolved, given that the prompt appears randomly. Is there a way to reproduce the prompt to test if the changes have been effective?

Additionally, some users are receiving a prompt saying "Nurturing is blocked." Is it possible to disable these prompts or notifications in the Edge browser? If so, is there a workaround for this issue?

Best Regards,
Praveen Sivakumar
Jinxin Wang (Shanghai Wicresoft Co Ltd) 2,205 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-08-27T09:50:37.5733333+00:00

Hi @Praveen siva,

Since the prompt appears randomly, the only way to solve the "Can't update Microsoft Edge" prompt is to observe whether the prompt will appear again in the future. There is no way to reproduce the prompt.

As for "nurturing is blocked", please check whether the "edge://" value is set in the "URLBlocklist" policy, as stated in the document: Note that blocking internal 'edge://' URLs isn't recommended - this may lead to unexpected errors. I suggest that you can remove "edge://*" from the mentioned policy, so the issue is not seen any longer.

In addition, I asked you in which way you disabled Edge update in the previous message. Please tell me if it is convenient for you.

Best Regards,

Jinxin Wang
Praveen siva 45 Reputation points

2024-08-30T04:56:03.8733333+00:00

Hi @Jinxin Wang (Shanghai Wicresoft Co Ltd)

Thanks for the response.

Additionally, I previously asked how you disabled Edge updates. Please confirm if this method is convenient for you.
Answer: We disabled Microsoft Edge updates by stopping or disabling the "edgeupdate" and "edgeupdatem" services in Task Manager.

For the URL blocklist, we're using "*" to block all URLs in Edge. However, this is causing a "Nurturing Blocked" error prompt. How can we block all URLs in the Edge browser except for specific allowed URLs?
Praveen siva 45 Reputation points

2024-08-30T05:00:43.56+00:00

Regards
Praveen Sivakumar
Jinxin Wang (Shanghai Wicresoft Co Ltd) 2,205 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-08-30T07:38:20.22+00:00

Hi @Praveen siva,

I have updated my answer, please check.

Best Regards,

Jinxin Wang
Jinxin Wang (Shanghai Wicresoft Co Ltd) 2,205 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-09-03T05:34:07.1766667+00:00

Hi @Praveen siva,

May I know if this issue has been resolved?

Best Regards,

Jinxin Wang

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Assistance Required for Disabling Microsoft Edge Update Prompt via Group Policy

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