How to Reset All Settings on Microsoft Edge
Step-by-step guide to reset Microsoft Edge settings for improved performance.
If you’ve been using Microsoft Edge for a while, it can become slow, perform poorly, or even crash periodically. Typically, clearing cookies and browsing history can solve these problems. But that isn’t always the case, and you might need to reset all settings on Microsoft Edge.
Should Edge freeze up, you can always force close the app. But you might encounter other problems, such as your camera for Zoom not working. You may also experience difficulties with specific extensions.
Whatever the reason you’re having problems with Edge, we’ll guide you through some basic steps to take before performing a full reset. We’ll also show you how to reset settings on Microsoft Edge.
Clear Cookies and Browsing Data
If Edge isn’t performing well, there are steps to take before completely resetting the browser.
Like Chrome, you should take minimally invasive steps before doing a complete reset. That starts with clearing cookies and browsing history from Edge.
To clear cookies and browsing history in Edge:
- Launch Microsoft Edge, click the menu (three-dot) button and choose Settings from the list.
- Click Privacy, search, and services from the left column on the Settings page.
- Scroll to the Clear browsing data section and click the Choose what to clear button.
- Check the items you want to clear and select a time range. For example, if you choose the All time option, you will need to relog into all your websites, but choosing everything allows you to have a fresh start with the browser.
- After making your selections, click the Clear now button. Once the data clearing process is complete, the Clear browsing data screen will disappear, and you won’t need to click a verification message.
Reset All Settings on Microsoft Edge
If deleting cookies and browsing history doesn’t resolve the issue, you can perform a Microsoft Edge reset. This will reset all settings and return Edge to its original settings when it was first installed.
Note: When you reset Edge, it deletes all settings, cookies, browsing history, passwords, and more. If you do not want Edge to restore data from another system, navigate to Settings > Profiles > Sync and toggle off each item you don’t want to resync. The main one to disable is the Settings option.
To completely reset Microsoft Edge:
- Launch Microsoft Edge and open the Settings page.
- Click the Reset settings option from the left panel.
- Click the Restore settings to their default value option in the right column.
- When the Reset settings notification appears, click the Reset button.
- A notification will appear informing you that Edge settings were reset. Click the X to close the message.
The reset feature will return the browser to the state when you first installed it. It resets the startup page, new tab page, search engine, pinned tabs, history, saved passwords, and more. Remember, you should use this as a last resort if you have several custom settings.
Fresh Start with Microsoft Edge
If you encounter a problem with your Microsoft Edge browser, try removing cookies and history first. After resetting all settings on Microsoft Edge, any issues you had with the browser should be resolved. If the issue persists, you can reinstall Microsoft Edge on Windows 11.
For more on Edge, check out how to share files between devices with Edge Drop. Or, if you find sidebars with features you never use annoying, learn about disabling the Edge sidebar.
If you don’t want to clear all your cookies in one go, you can clear individual cookies for a specific site on Edge. Also, if you’re using Google Chrome, you can reset Chrome to default settings without reinstalling it.
