How to Disable or Remove MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe Process Running in Task Manager?

This article will help you if you want to know following things:

• What is MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process running in Task Manager in Windows and how to disable or remove it and stop it from running in background?
• How to disable or block auto-update feature in Microsoft Edge web browser so that it can’t upgrade to new versions automatically.

Many users have noticed a new process “MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe” running in Task Manager in Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 operating systems. When they launch Task Manager (using Ctrl+Shift+Esc hotkey), they find this process running in background as shown in following screenshot:

The MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process also tries to connect to Internet. Following screenshot shows MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process trying to access Internet and blocked by our Firewall software:

So what is MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process and why is it running in background and trying to connect to Internet?

MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe executable is installed by Microsoft’s new Chromium-based web browser Microsoft Edge. So this EXE file is not suspicious. It’s a genuine file used by Microsoft Edge browser.

MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe regularly connects to Internet to look for new versions and updates available for Microsoft Edge web browser. If it finds a new version or update available, it automatically downloads and installs it so that the browser installed in user’s device always remains updated.

That’s why you see MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process running in Task Manager as it periodically checks for new versions and updates.

You may want to disable or remove MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe from running in background due to several reasons. You want to manually check for latest versions and updates using Microsoft Edge Settings page and don’t want the MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process running all the time in background and consuming CPU resources/RAM and your Internet data. Sometimes you may want to completely block MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process from connecting to Internet and installing new versions.

If you also want to disable or remove MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process from running in background in your Windows PC, following methods will help you:

METHOD 1: Disable Microsoft Edge Update from Startup

The MicrosoftEdgeUpdateCore.exe file is set to automatically start with Windows so whenever your start your computer, the Microsoft Edge Update process also launches with Windows and starts running in background.

So first of all disable it from startup using following steps:

1. Right-click on Taskbar and select Task Manager option. It’ll open Task Manager. Alternatively, you can also direct launch Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys together.

If Task Manager is opened in mini mode, click on “More details” button. It’ll launch Task Manager in full version mode.

2. Now go to “Startup” tab and there you’ll see a list of all startup apps.

PS: In older Windows versions, you’ll need to open msconfig and go to Startup tab.

3. Look for “Microsoft Edge Update” item. Select it and click on “Disable” button.

That’s it. Now Microsoft Edge Update will no longer automatically start with Windows.

METHOD 2: Disable Microsoft Edge Update Services

There are several Microsoft Edge Update services which are set to automatically start with Windows. You’ll also need to disable them.

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box, type services.msc and press Enter. It’ll open Service Manager.

2. Now scroll down and look for Microsoft Edge Update Service (edgeupdate) and Microsoft Edge Update Service (edgeupdatem).

3. Double-click on both services one by one and it’ll open properties window. Click on Stop button to immediately stop the services.

Now set “Startup type” to “Disabled” from the drop-down box for both services and apply changes.

That’s it. It should disable and remove MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process from running in background.

METHOD 3: Delete Microsoft Edge Update Scheduled Tasks

Microsoft Edge web browser also creates some scheduled tasks at the time of installation which regularly launch MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe and other files to check for new versions and updates. You’ll also need to disable or delete those scheduled tasks.

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box, type taskschd.msc and press Enter. It’ll open Task Scheduler.

2. Now click on “Task Scheduler Library” in left-sidebar and look for following tasks in right-side pane:

• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineCore
• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineUA
• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskUserS-1-5-21…….Core
• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskUserS-1-5-21…….UA

3. Select the above mentioned tasks one by one and press Delete key to delete them. Click on Yes button to confirm the action.

That’s it. Now MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process will never run automatically in background.

METHOD 4: Block Microsoft Edge Update Using Firewall

If you want to block or disable auto-update feature of Microsoft Edge web browser, the most easiest way is disallow “MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe” service to access Internet using your Firewall program. You can create a new rule in your Firewall settings to block this EXE file. Once you block MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process from connecting to Internet, it’ll be unable to download and install new updates and will never update Microsoft Edge to newer versions.

METHOD 5: Delete or Rename Microsoft Edge Update Executable

If you are not using a firewall program or unable to block the file from accessing Internet, you can simply delete or rename the “MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe” file. Once you delete or rename this EXE file, Microsoft Edge will be unable to find this file and will never launch it and download new updated versions.

Open following folder using RUN dialog box:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate

In the above mentioned folder, you’ll find the “MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe” file. Delete or rename the file. If you delete the file, make sure to create a backup of this file at a safe place so that you can restore the file if you want to restore auto-update functionality in future. We’ll suggest to rename the file. In future if you want to download and install new versions of Microsoft Edge, you can restore the original name of the file and Microsoft Edge will start using the file to download new versions.

If you find any difficulties in deleting or renaming the file, make sure MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe is not running in background, if it’s running then End Task of it using Task Manager and then try to delete or rename it again.

Also Check:

[Tip] Disable Automatic Background Updates Feature in Mozilla Firefox

How to Disable GoogleUpdate.exe Background Process After Installing Google Chrome

[Tip] How to Disable or Block Auto-Update Feature in Opera Web Browser