Legacy Microsoft Edge to Remove Automatically from Windows 10 in April 2021

There are 2 types of Microsoft Edge web browser at the moment:

• Legacy Microsoft Edge
• New Microsoft Edge

Legacy Microsoft Edge is the old or classic version of Microsoft Edge browser which came preinstalled or bundled with Windows 10 operating system when first version of Windows 10 was released. It was basically an UWP based app (also known as metro, modern or store app) which was codenamed as “Spartan”. It featured new EdgeHTML and Chakra web rendering engines.

Review: Microsoft Edge (or Spartan) Web Browser in Windows 10

New Microsoft Edge is the latest version of Microsoft Edge browser which has been developed using Chromium project which also powers other popular browsers such as Google Chrome, Opera and Vivaldi. It’s new and feature-rich web browser and can be downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

[Software Update] Download Microsoft Edge Latest Stable Version

When Microsoft started releasing stable versions of new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser to public, the company also started replacing existing UWP based Legacy version of Microsoft Edge from Windows 10 operating system.

Microsoft released new updates for Windows 10 operating system which automatically replaced Legacy Microsoft Edge with new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge in Windows 10 devices.

Microsoft has no plan to support legacy Microsoft Edge any more. Recently the company announced that starting March 09, 2021, legacy Microsoft Edge browser will stop receiving new security updates.

More Info: Microsoft to Retire Internet Explorer and Legacy Microsoft Edge Soon

So basically, legacy Microsoft Edge browser will become dead or vulnerable after March 09, 2021 as Microsoft will not release new updates for this classic browser.

Now the company has made a new announcement that starting April 2021, Microsoft will start rolling out new updates for Windows 10 operating system again which will uninstall/remove legacy Microsoft Edge from all Windows 10 devices.

Apart from deleting legacy Microsoft Edge, the update will also download and install new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser in all Windows 10 devices.

So in April 2021, legacy Microsoft Edge will be replaced with new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge in all Windows 10 computer systems.

Here are some key points which you may want to know:

• From March 9, 2021, legacy Microsoft Edge will stop receiving security updates and support from Microsoft.
• Starting April 13, 2021, Microsoft will release new cumulative monthly security update for Windows 10 which will replace legacy Microsoft Edge with new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser.
• Users can manually install this new update early in March 2021 by clicking on “Check for Updates” button on Windows Updates page.
• Windows 10 versions which will receive this new update are: version 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004, 20H2.
• Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users will not receive this update because legacy Microsoft Edge was never released for these operating systems.
• If you already have new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser installed in your device, the new update will not reinstall it. It’ll only uninstall legacy version of Microsoft Edge from your device.
• Since legacy Microsoft Edge will be uninstalled completely from your Windows 10 device, you’ll not be able to run both legacy and new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge versions side-by-side.

It’s unclear at the moment whether the previous Registry tweaks to block or prevent automatic installation of Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser in Windows 10 will work for this new update or not.

If you want to skip or block removal of legacy Microsoft Edge browser and installation of new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser in your Windows 10 device, you can check out following tutorials:

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

[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