Uninstall Microsoft Edge without losing data: A simple guide

Before uninstalling Microsoft Edge, if you want to keep the past usage data of the Microsoft Edge browser, you can refer to the content of the first part to back up the file data in advance, and then perform the uninstallation operation.

I. Before uninstalling, use Renee Becca to back up file data

1. What is Renee Becca?

Renee Becca is a tool specially used for system/hard disk data backup and restoration. This software adopts leading incremental/differential backup technology, which can save you more time and disk space. It can not only help you easily backup and restore important data in your computer, such as programs, system configuration, emails, photos, videos, documents, bookmarks, etc. In addition, it also provides a variety of functions including system backup, partition backup, hard disk backup, file backup, disk cloning and system migration, with various functions and very convenient to use.

2. How to backup file data with Renee Becca?

Backing up file data with Renee Becca is very simple, the specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Download, install and run Renee Becca on the computer, and select the (File Backup) option in the main interface (Backup) column.

Step 2: Next, select all files that need to be backed up in (source file device).

The data of the Microsoft Edge browser is typically saved in the C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe file folder. To choose where the backup data will be stored, select the hard disk partition in the “Destination” option.

For added security, the backup file can be stored on an external hard disk. To set up regular automatic backups, open the task plan and select the desired backup frequency – daily, weekly, or monthly – in the “Schedule” option. Then, click “Turn On” to activate the automatic backup function.

In addition, in (Backup scheme)-(Scheme Type), you can choose a suitable backup scheme mode according to your personal needs. Renee Becca has 5 backup schemes to choose from, namely version chain mode, single version mode, overall mode, incremental mode and diff mode.

Step 3: Finally, click the (Backup Now) button to start executing the backup file command according to your settings, and you can see the progress of all backup tasks on the task bar. After the backup is complete, you can click the (Recovery) button to restore the file to the specified disk when you need to restore the file.

Step 4: After that, select the location where the files are to be restored, and click the (Recovery) button.

II. How to uninstall Microsoft Edge browser?

1. Delete Microsoft Edge browser through settings

It is very simple to uninstall the Microsoft Edge browser through the settings. The specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Run the computer and press the (Windows and I) keys simultaneously to open the Windows settings window. Next, click on the (Apps) option.

Step 2: Switch the function tab bar to the (Apps & Features) option on the left, and search (Microsoft Edge) under (Apps & features) on the right.

Step 3: Click the Microsoft Edge option to find and click the (Uninstall) button, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation. If the (Uninstall) button is grayed out like the image below, you need to try something else.

2. Uninstall Microsoft Edge via PowerShell

PowerShell is a highly effective tool for Windows systems, encompassing a command line shell, scripting language, and configuration management framework. Its main purpose is to modify and troubleshoot your computer by executing commands and utilizing a scripting language. Additionally, this tool can also be used to view Microsoft Edge parameters and execute uninstall commands. In this tutorial, we will explore the process of uninstalling Microsoft Edge using the PowerShell command. The steps are outlined below:

Step 1: Run the computer, search for (PowerShell) in the search box in the lower left corner, right-click (Windows PowerShell) and select (Run as Administrator).

Step 2: In the opened PowerShell program, enter the command (Get-AppxPackage | Select Name, PackageFullName) and press the (Enter) key.

Step 3: Find (Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge) in the list, and record the PackFullName value on the right, as shown in the figure below (Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_44.19041.1266.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe).

Step 4: Next, continue to enter the command (Get-AppxPackage PackageFullName | Remove-AppxPackage)

Please replace PackageFullName with the recorded PackFullName value, here is Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_44.19041.1266.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe), that is, you should enter (Get- AppxPackage Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_44.19041.1266.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe | Remove-AppxPackage) and press the (Enter) key to execute the command to uninstall the Microsoft Edge browser.

3. Delete Microsoft Edge by modifying the MicrosoftEdge.exe folder

In addition to the above two uninstallation methods, you can also delete Microsoft Edge by modifying the MicrosoftEdge.exe folder. The specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Start the computer, right-click the (Start) button, and select the (File Explorer) option.

Step 2: Next, find the location of (C drive>Windows>SystemApps) in turn, then find the folder (Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge wekyb3d8bbwe), right-click on the folder and select (Properties).

Step 3: In the opened Properties window, check the (Read-only (applies only to files in the folder)) option and click (OK).

Step 4: Double-click to open the (Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge wekyb3d8bbwe) folder, then right-click the (MicrosoftEdge.exe), (MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe) and (MicrosoftPdfReader) files and select (Delete). Alternatively, you can also mouse over these files and press (F2) to rename them. Doing so disables other applications from accessing the Microsoft Edge browser.

The three methods listed above can all be used for uninstalling Microsoft Edge, so feel free to choose whichever one suits you best. And if you want to dive deeper, the following section covers how to disable Microsoft Edge and make another browser your default. Let’s explore these options together!

III. (Extended reading) How to disable Microsoft Edge and set the default browser?

If you don’t want to delete the Microsoft Edge browser but don’t want to use it, you can also disable it through the following methods, and then set other browsers as the default browser. The specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Run the computer, search for the Find and Open (File Explorer) option in the search box in the lower left corner.

Step 2: Next, find the location of (C drive>Windows>SystemApps), and then find the folder (Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge wekyb3d8bbwe), right-click the folder and select (Rename), and rename it to (Microsoft .MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbweold). Then the page will pop up a window to confirm the renaming, click (Continue) to disable Microsoft Edge. If you want to re-enable it, just change the folder name to its original name.

Step 3: Next, look for (default) in the search box and open (default app).

Step 4: Under the (Web browser) option, left-click the current browser and select the application you want to set as the default browser.