How to uninstall Microsoft Edge in Windows 11

You can now uninstall Edge from Windows 11 using two methods.  The first one unblocks the uninstaller under Apps > Installed apps in Settings. The other one is possible thanks to new EEA regulations Microsoft now follows. While the company has officially added this option for the EU users only, there is a workaround that allows anyone to remove the browser.

The Microsoft Edge browser shares the same engine as Google Chrome. It is fast, compatible with modern web standards, and even supports extensions. Among other Chromium projects, it offers a number of exclusive options such as Bing Chat, shopping, and a sidebar with mini apps. Microsoft Edge is an integral part of Windows 11 where it powers Widgets and Copilot.

However, some users prefer an alternative browser over Microsoft Edge. Those just use it to download a different program and set it as their default instead. They are often interested in removing the Edge browser from the OS. Actually, there is no harm in keeping it, 'cause you simple never click its icon. But if you want to uninstall Microsoft Edge in Windows 11, you have t least two options. Let's review them.

We will start with the most recent option that allows uninstalling Edge via a special file, IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json. The file defines regions where the  This method works starting in Windows 11 Build 22621.2787, Windows 11 Build 22631.2787, and newer.

So, to uninstall Edge in Windows 11, do the following.

Uninstall Edge in Windows 11

Note: This method works starting in Windows 10 Build 19045.3757,  Windows 11 Build 22621.2787, Windows 11 Build 22631.2787, and newer.

1. Open the Edge browser, and go to its menu (Alt + F) > Settings.
2. On the left, click on System and performance.
3. On the right, disable the Startup Boost option. If you omit this step, the browser will prevent you from removing it, as it will keep running in the background.
4. Download the ViVeTool app and extract its ZIP archive to the c:\vivetool folder.
5. Right-click the Start button in the taskbar and select Terminal(Admin).
6. Now type the following command: c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:44353396, and press Enter.
7. Restart the computer to apply the ViVeTool changes and close background Edge processes.
8. Next, press Win + R and type regedit in the Run dialog, then hit Enter.
9. Navigate to the HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo key, and write down the Name value data. E.g. it says US for the United States.
10. Now, download and run the ExecTI app. It will allow you to modify the required file without changing its permissions.
11. In ExecTI, type notepad.exe C:\Windows\System32\IntegratedServicesRegionPolicySet.json and hit Enter. The Notepad will open elevated, allowing to edit the file with minimal efforts.
12. In Notepad, find the "Edge is uninstallable." section, and change the "defaultState" value from disabled to enabled.
13. Now, in the region array of values, add your region you noted from the Registry earlier, e.g. US. Add it in similar way you see the other values as a first value by taking it in quotes and adding a coma after it.
14. Finally, restart the computer to apply the changes in the JSON file.
15. Now, open the Start menu, click All apps, find Edge in the list, and right-click it.
16. You will see the Uninstall item in the menu. Clicking it will remove the browser.

You are done!

An alternative method involves a Registry tweak. It unblocks the default "Remove" option. Enabling it will allow uninstalling the browser from Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Here we go.

Make Edge removable with a Registry tweak

1. Disable the Startup Boost option in Edge > Settings > System & performance.
2. Now, press Win + R and type regedit in the Run dialog to open the Registry editor.
3. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Microsoft Edge. You can paste this key path to the address bar in the Regedit app.
4. In the right pane, double-click the NoRemove value, and change its value data from 1 to 0.
5. Now, open the Settings app (Win + i).
6. Navigate to Apps > Installed apps.
7. Find the Microsoft Edge entry in the list of apps and click on the three dot menu button.
8. Select Uninstall from the menu.

The browser will now be removed.

Command prompt method

For automation purpose, you can open a Windows Terminal or Command prompt as Administrator (elevated), and run the following command:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Microsoft Edge" /v NoRemove /d 1 /t reg_dword /f

This method is not official, and is not supported by Microsoft. However, the company now offers a supported method to remove the browser. If the reviewed Registry tweak fails for you, go with an alternative.

Following requirements in EU, Microsoft has made possible to remove Edge, turn off the news feed in Widgets, and disable promotions in Windows Search for select users. The options only appear if your country is part of the EEA, e.g. when you live in AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GF, GP, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LI, LT, LU, LV, MT, MQ, NL, NO, PL, PT, RE, RO, SE, SI, SK, YT. These are the alpha-2 codes.

💡 Long story short: If you live in the EEA, right-click the Edge browser in the Start menu  > All apps, and select Uninstall. No extra steps required.

However, if you are living outside of the mentioned regions, you aren’t of luck. There is relatively an easy way to unlock the uninstall options with a few Registry tweaks. The idea is to set a “proper” region for you user account, and then add the required values to the Registry. The checks will pass, and you will see the Uninstall Edge option.

Before you start, you need to install the latest KB, Windows 11 Build 22631.2787, released to the Release Preview channel of the Insider program. You may need to enroll your device to the Insider Program to test the new capability. Eventually the new options will become available in the stable version of Windows 11. I’ll update the tutorial to reflect the change.

Enable Edge removal with an EEA Option

Do the following steps to remove Edge with the EEA option.

Step 1. Save current values

1. Right-click the start menu button in the taskbar, and select Terminal (Admin).
2. In either Command Prompt or PowerShell tab, run each of the commands, one by one, and write down the values in the output. You will need them to restore them later (undo the changes).
3. Reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\DeviceRegion" /v "DeviceRegion" /z. Note the current DeviceRegion value.
4. reg query "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo" /v Nation /z. Here, note the Nation value.
5. Finally, run the reg query "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo" /v Name /z command and write down the Name data.

Now you are reading to change the region.

Step 2. Change the region data

1. Again, open Terminal as Administrator by pressing Win + X and selecting Terminal (Admin).
2. Type the following commands.
   1. reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\DeviceRegion" /v DeviceRegion /d 0x54 /t reg_dword /f.
   2. reg add "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo" /v Nation /d "54" /t reg_sz /f.
   3. reg add "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo" /v Name /d "FR" /t reg_sz /f.
   4. reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability /v EnablePreviewBuilds /d 1 /t reg_dword /f
   5. reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability /v BranchName /d "ReleasePreview" /t reg_sz /f
3. Leave the Terminal app open and open the browser.
4. Next, download ViVeTool from GitHub, and extract it to the c:\vivetool folder.
5. Run the following command: c:\vivetool\vivetool /enable /id:44353396.
6. Finally, restart the computer.

In the commands above, we have changed the Region data to France. France has the code 54 and FR alpha-2 code. You can pick some other country in EEA by replacing 54 with a different code from this list.

Step 3. Uninstall Edge

1. Now, open the Start menu.
2. Click on the All apps button.
3. Find Microsoft Edge in the list of the available apps.
4. Right-click it, and select Uninstall. The Edge app will be removed.

Congrats, the Edge is now removed using this semi-official way.

After that, you may reverse the region value changes you made. Here, the notes you have done at the step 1 will be of help.

Step 4. Restore the original region

First of all, open a new Terminal as Administrator (Win + X > Terminal (Admin)).

In the terminal, run these commands using the written values from the step #1.

reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\DeviceRegion /v DeviceRegion /d <your region code> /t reg_dword /f

reg add HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo /v Nation /d "<your Nation value>" /t reg_sz /f

reg add HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Geo /v Nation /d "<your Name value>" /t reg_sz /f

You can keep the rest of values unchanged. Now simply restart the computer, and you are done.

That's it.

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