[Fix] How to Uninstall New Microsoft Edge in Windows 10? Uninstall Button Grayed Out or Disabled

This tutorial will help you in successfully uninstalling and removing new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser (which was automatically installed via Windows Update) from your Windows 10 operating system. Microsoft doesn’t allow uninstallation or removal of new Microsoft Edge web browser, that’s why the Uninstall button is grayed out or disabled. With the help of this tutorial, you’ll be able to forcefully uninstall new Microsoft Edge browser and will be able to restore classic or legacy UWP version of Microsoft Edge browser in Windows 10 which came preinstalled.

Although we recommend using new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser as it comes with lots of improvements and new useful features and provides faster web browsing experience due to Chromium’s rendering engine which is also used by many other popular web browsers such as Google Chrome, Opera and Vivaldi.

PROBLEM SYMPTOM:

New Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser was automatically installed in your Windows 10 computer via Windows Update (updates are KB4541301, KB4541302 and KB4559309). After installation, it automatically disabled or removed old UWP-based Microsoft Edge browser app which came preinstalled or bundled with Windows 10. Now you can’t launch or access old Microsoft Edge browser in your computer.

To restore old version of Microsoft Edge browser, you need to uninstall and remove the new Microsoft Edge browser which was forcefully installed via Windows Update.

When you tried to uninstall new Microsoft Edge browser, you found that Uninstall option is either grayed out i.e. disabled or not listed. When you right-click on new Microsoft Edge shortcut in Start Menu programs list, you don’t get Uninstall option in context menu.

When you open Control Panel -> Programs and Features to uninstall new Microsoft Edge browser, you notice that Uninstall button is grayed out i.e. disabled and you can’t click on Uninstall button to get rid of new Microsoft Edge browser. Some people are not getting Uninstall button available at all.

When you open Windows 10 Settings app (WIN+I) and go to Apps -> Apps & Features page and select new Microsoft Edge browser in the list, again you find that Uninstall button is grayed out i.e. not available.

So you can’t uninstall new Microsoft Edge web browser automatically downloaded via Windows Update in your Windows 10 device. All options to uninstall Microsoft Edge are either grayed out or not available. As a result, you can’t bring back and use classic legacy version of Microsoft Edge any more in your Windows 10 device.

PROBLEM REASON:

Recently Microsoft started rolling out new Microsoft Edge browser for all Windows 10 devices automatically via Windows Update. If Windows 10 detects that new Microsoft Edge browser is already installed in the system, it doesn’t download the browser. When Windows 10 detects the new Microsoft Edge browser missing on a device, it downloads and installs the browser automatically via Windows Update.

It has been done because Microsoft is going to replace classic UWP version of Microsoft Edge with new Chromium-based version in future versions of Windows 10. In other words, newer Windows 10 versions will come preinstalled with new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser in place of classic UWP version.

That’s why existing UWP versions of Microsoft Edge are being replaced by new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge on all Windows 10 devices via Windows Update.

Once new Microsoft Edge browser is downloaded and installed in a Windows 10 device automatically via Windows Update, it replaces old Microsoft Edge browser which was the default and built-in browser of Windows 10. All shortcuts of old Microsoft Edge browser now redirect to new Microsoft Edge browser.

Microsoft has blocked removal of the update as well as new Microsoft Edge browser. That’s why if you try to uninstall new Microsoft Edge browser or the Windows Update which automatically installed new Microsoft Edge browser, you find the Uninstall option grayed out i.e. disabled or not available.

Interesting thing is that if you manually download and install new Microsoft Edge browser, you’ll be able to uninstall and remove it. The restriction on uninstalling new Microsoft Edge only applies when it’s installed automatically via Windows Update.

PROBLEM SOLUTION:

Although Windows 10 doesn’t allow users to uninstall new Microsoft Edge browser but there is a workaround to forcefully uninstall it.

We can take help of a PowerShell or Command Prompt command to uninstall new Microsoft Edge browser from our Windows 10 computer.

Actually when new Microsoft Edge is automatically installed via Windows Update in Windows 10, it uses the same setup installer process which is used when we manually install the browser in our system. It creates a Setup.exe installer file which can be used to uninstall the browser with the help of a built-in switch or parameter. Although Microsoft restricts the UI options to uninstall new Microsoft Edge, we can use command-line switch of Setup.exe installer to uninstall new Microsoft Edge from our computer system. This method will work for both installations whether it’s automatic or manual.

If you also want to uninstall and remove new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser and want to restore old classic UWP version of Microsoft Edge in your Windows 10 device, following steps will help you:

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to following folder:

You can also directly open the folder by copying and pasting above mentioned path in RUN dialog box or Start search box.

2. In Application folder, you’ll see a folder with the name of installed Microsoft Edge version number such as 83.0.478.50 or 83.0.478.58 or 83.0.478.64, etc. The folder name will change with time as Microsoft Edge will regularly update itself with new available versions.

3. Double-click on the version folder in our case the folder name is 83.0.478.64. You’ll see Installer folder present under the version number folder, double-click on Installer folder.

So basically we need to go to following folder in File Explorer:

In our case the folder path is as following:

4. Now we need to open Command Prompt window to execute the required command.

a. Press and hold SHIFT key and right-click on empty area in File Explorer. You’ll get Open PowerShell window here option in context menu, click on it.

It’ll open PowerShell window active in the selected directory. Alternatively, you can also open PowerShell window by clicking on File menu button present in Ribbon bar and select Open Windows PowerShell option.

PS: You may get Open Command Prompt window here option instead of Open PowerShell window here option if you applied this trick. No need to worry, you can select the Command Prompt window option without any issue.

b. Type cmd in PowerShell window to activate Command Prompt inside PowerShell.

c. Now copy and paste following command:

Press Enter key and wait for a few seconds.

That’s it. It’ll immediately remove new Microsoft Edge browser from your Windows 10 device and you’ll get back the old classic UWP version of Microsoft Edge.

PS: You can also add –verbose-logging parameter to the above mentioned command if you want to see the uninstallation progress. The parameter is optional.

NOTE: Don’t forget to prevent the future automatic installations of new Microsoft Edge via Windows Update. Following tutorial will help you in blocking automatic delivery of new Microsoft Edge browser via Windows Update in Windows 10:

[Windows 10 Tip] Block or Prevent Automatic Installation of Microsoft Edge Browser via Windows Update

Also Check:

[Fix] Prevent or Remove Microsoft Edge Automatic Installation in Windows 7 and 8.1

[Windows 10 Tip] Prevent / Restrict New Microsoft Edge from Replacing and Disabling Old Legacy Edge

[Tip] How to Restore Old Legacy Microsoft Edge Browser After Installing New Edge in Windows 10