How to Reset Microsoft Edge

We all know about Microsoft Edge. It comes pre-packaged with Windows 11 installation and Microsoft recommends Windows users to use it as their default internet browser. Despite the efforts of Microsoft, the browser has never been where Microsoft when it comes to popularity or userbase.

Almost every other browser like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is ahead of Edge because even after its re-design, the browser not only lacks in case of features but also has various bugs and stability issues. If you are a Microsoft Edge user and want to reset the browser to get rid of bugs or want to revert back to default settings, this guide will show you easy ways to do that.

You can reset the Microsoft Edge application from within the Edge application. To do this, first, open up the Microsoft Edge by searching for it in the Start Menu search and then selecting it from the search results.

Once the Edge window opens, click on the 3 horizontal dots next to your profile image.

Then, from the expanded menu, click on ‘Settings’.

Once the Settings page opens, from the left panel, click on ‘Reset settings’.

Then, on the right panel, you will see the ‘Restore settings to their default values’ option. Click on this option to reset Microsoft Edge.

You will see a dialog box appear called ‘Reset settings’. From there, click on the ‘Reset’ button.

After you click on Reset, you will get a notification on the right side of the Edge window that says ‘Settings were reset’.

Using Windows Settings to Reset Edge

As Microsoft Edge comes as a part of Windows 11, there are dedicated options in the Windows Settings menu to reset or repair edge like other system applications. To get to them, first, open up the Settings window by pressing Windows+i on your keyboard or by searching for Settings on Windows search and then selecting it from the Search results.

Once the Settings window opens, click on ‘Apps’ from the left panel and then click on ‘Apps & features’ from the right panel.

Now, on the right panel, there will be a list of applications. Scroll down till you see Microsoft Edge, click the 3 vertical dots next to it and then select ‘Modify’.

A window will appear called ‘Repair Microsoft Edge’. From there, click on ‘Repair’

Now windows will remove Microsoft Edge from the system, redownload it and then reinstall it. If you are having any issues with an edge, this process is highly likely to fix it.

There are some things you should be aware of. Firstly, do not use this method if you do not have an active internet connection on your device at the moment you reset edge. This is because otherwise, Windows will not be able to re-download the browser.

Secondly, this method does not reset your Microsoft Edge settings or data. Thus if you also want to reset the data, just follow the first method after the second method.

Reset Microsoft Edge by Using PowerShell

The PowerShell application in windows is a command-line tool that can be used to execute various commands. You can reset Microsoft Edge by executing the following command while running the PowerShell window in administrator mode.

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose}

But before you can do that, you have to clear a few folders. To do that, open up the Run window by pressing Windows+r on your keyboard to pull up the Run window. After the run window appears, type ‘appdata’ inside the command line and then press Enter.

The File Explorer window will open. From there, open the ‘Local’ folder by double-clicking on it.

After that, open up the packages folder.

If you scroll down, you will see two folders labeled as:

Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.Stable_8wekyb3d8bbwe
&
Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe

Now, open any one of the two and then press CTRL+a on your keyboard to select everything that is inside the folder.

Then, right-click and then click on the bin icon to delete everything or you can also press the ‘DEL’ key on your keyboard.

Repeat the process for the other folder and now you are ready to reset Microsoft Edge using the PowerShell window.

To do this, open up PowerShell in administrator mode by searching for it in the Start Menu search and then selecting the ‘Run as administrator’ option.

After the PowerShell window opens, copy & paste the mentioned command inside the command line and press Enter.

Now, PowerShell will reset Microsoft Edge and once it’s done, it will show you ‘Operation completed for:
C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppXManifest.xml’