How to uninstall Microsoft Edge from Windows

Microsoft has been quite aggressive in pushing out the Chromium-based version of Edge, and not everyone is happy about it.

There is understandable anger at having a browser that isn't necessarily wanted being forcibly installed -- and to add insult to injury, Microsoft has also made it impossible to uninstall Edge. But there is actually a way to get rid of the browser. Here's what you need to know.

See also:

• Microsoft Edge caught importing data from other browsers without permission
• Microsoft pushes new Edge browser to Windows 8 and the unsupported Windows 7
• Microsoft is looking into why Edge is running at startup for some users

You may very well have decided that you're happy to stick with whatever browser you've chosen, so long as it isn't Edge. This is entirely reasonable, and if you've made this decision, why bother having Edge installed? There's no need to be restricted by what Microsoft says you can and can't do.

The company has decided that if you manually installed Edge, you can uninstall it (although there's no guarantee you won't be given it again), while if you had it installed for you via Windows Update, the option to get rid of the browser is unavailable in Settings. But you can turn to the Command Prompt.

1. Click the Start button, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
2. Type C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\83.0.478.58\Installer and press Enter
3. Type setup.exe --uninstall --system-level --verbose-logging --force-uninstall and press Enter

You will find that new version of Edge is gone, and the old non-Chromium edition is available again.

Image credit: joovaaana / Shutterstock