How To Block Edge in Windows 10

Like its impertinent sister Cortana, Edge – Microsoft’s successor to Internet Explorer (IE) – refuses to go away. It sets itself as your default browser and PDF reader in Windows 10, and there’s no built-in way to uninstall or block it.

You can change your defaults (to the more familiar Chrome and Adobe Reader, for example) and you can remove the Edge icon from your taskbar. But in our experience, Windows 10 only gives you temporary control. Edge always resets as the default updates to Windows 10. 

Edge Blocker is a new portable program that gives you back some control by preventing Edge from launching. It blocks the browser if a file, a program or someone using your PC tries to open it. Neither you nor Windows will be able to launch Edge until you run Edge Blocker again and undo the block.

To get Edge Blocker, scroll down and click the grey Download button above ‘Related Posts’. Save the ZIP and extract the portable program file (‘EdgeBlock.exe’). You can copy the file to a USB for safekeeping, and for running on any Windows 10 PC. Here's how you use it

1. Drag the Edge Blocker program file to your Desktop to create a shortcut. Right-click it then click ‘Run as administrator’ to control Edge for all users of your PC.

2. Click Block to block Edge and turn the big blue ‘e’ grey. If you try to launch Edge now, its window will open for a moment, but then automatically close.

3. Clicking Block doesn’t uninstall Edge from your PC or remove its icon from your taskbar. To remove the icon, right-click it and click ‘Unpin from taskbar’.

4. To unblock Edge, run Edge Blocker and this time click Unblock. The big ‘e’ will turn blue to show that Edge is available to use again.