How to Prevent Microsoft Edge From Preloading on Windows 10

[RV_]

I was wondering why Edge seemed to always be running in the background, and holding up full shutdown. This like all registry changes is always done at your own risk.

Excerpt:

"If you have Windows Home edition, you will have to use Registry Editor to make these changes. You can also do it this way if you have Windows Pro or Enterprise, but feel more comfortable working in the Registry. (If you have Pro or Enterprise, though, we recommend using the easier Local Group Policy Editor, as described later in the article.)

Standard warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack, and as long as you stick to the instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.

To do this, you’re going to have to make two separate edits in the Registry: one to prevent pre-launching of processes and another to prevent preloading of the start and new tab pages. We’ll take them one at a time.

Prevent Pre-Launching of Microsoft Edge Processes

To get started, open the Registry Editor by hitting Start and typing “regedit.” Press Enter to open Registry Editor and then permit it to make changes to your PC.

In the Registry Editor, use the left sidebar to navigate to the following key (or copy and paste it into the Registry Editor address bar):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\Main

 

The very complete article with screen shots and easy directions from How To Geek can be found here: https://www.howtogeek.com/397718/how-to-prevent-microsoft-edge-from-preloading-on-windows-10/

I'm setting up my Windows 10 Pro machines using Local Group Policy editor.