Microsoft Edge | Open the browser | Windows 11
Launching Microsoft Edge on Windows 11
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Windows Defender Blocks Microsoft Edge
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JOHNIE M DRIVER
0
Reputation points
Windows Defender blocks Microsoft Edge from opening on windows 11 Dell Laptop after recent Edge update.
Microsoft Edge | Open the browser | Windows 11
5 answers
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![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(89.60000000000001, 72%, 18%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ESD%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Sumit D - IA 174.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor2026-07-25T16:03:10.0866667+00:00 -
Sumit D - IA 174.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-07-25T12:36:16.3133333+00:00 Alright. If you click More Information,> It should have a Proceed option. That being said, your PC might have malware. Run Malwarebytes free from https://malwarebytes.com and let me know if it finds anything.
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JOHNIE M DRIVER 0 Reputation points
2026-07-25T04:18:47.7+00:00 The Microsoft Defender screen pops up immediately when I click on the Microsoft Edge Icon to open it. So I cannot open the browser. I updated to the most recent version. That didn't help. I reinstalled Microsoft Edge. That didn't help. The Microsoft Defender Message is: "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen has blocked this unsafe content"
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JOHNIE M DRIVER 0 Reputation points
2026-07-25T04:03:00.8233333+00:00 his screen pops up immediately when I click on the Microsoft Edge Icon to open it. So I cannot open the browser. I updated to the most recent version. That didn't help. I reinstalled Microsoft Edge. That didn't help.
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Sumit D - IA 174.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-07-25T03:15:52.4133333+00:00 Hi Johnie,
I'm going to run through a few steps with you. Some of these are diagnostic — they help me narrow down what's wrong, not fix it outright. So if nothing changes after a step, that's normal and expected, not a dead end. I'll keep going until we've got this resolved.
Does it say that Windows Smartscreen cannot be reached right now?
Is it with a specific website, or opening the browser?
To attach a screenshot, see below:
- Press Windows key + Shift + S together on the keyboard. The screen will dim with overlay. Drag the pointer to take a screenshot.
- The screenshot will be copied to the clipboard. Please press Ctrl+V in the editor to paste it, then confirm to attach the image.
Alternatively, you can press the PrtScn key on the keyboard, if it exists, to directly copy the Entire screen, which you can paste using CTRL+V.
I look forward to hearing from you to get the results of the troubleshooting.
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JOHNIE M DRIVER 0 Reputation points
2026-07-25T04:01:27.6166667+00:00 This screen pops up immediately when I click on the Microsoft Edge Icon to open it. So I cannot open the browser. I updated to the most recent version. That didn't help. I reinstalled Microsoft Edge. That didn't help.
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JOHNIE M DRIVER 0 Reputation points
2026-07-25T04:13:28.7133333+00:00 The Microsoft Defender screen pops up immediately when I click on the Microsoft Edge Icon to open it. So I cannot open the browser. I updated to the most recent version. That didn't help. I reinstalled Microsoft Edge. That didn't help. The Microsoft Defender Message is: "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen has blocked this unsafe content"
I couldn't paste the screenshot here..
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JOHNIE M DRIVER 0 Reputation points
2026-07-25T15:50:52.2+00:00 I ran Malwarebytes and found no breaches and no active scams.26 potential threats were found and removed but that did noit solve the problem. However, I found that despite the blocked opening, I could still access the three dots und which I found the Reset option. I performed a full reset and that cleared the problem and now Microsoft Edge opens normally. Thanks for your help.
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