The new Microsoft Edge browser has adopted the Chromium open-source project code base and offers better web compatibility and performance over the legacy edge. Microsoft Edge browser is cross-platform and supports all Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. If you’re currently using Edge and want to learn how to block or disable extensions from being installed, and help protect against risky apps, the steps below should show you how to do it. By default, Microsoft Edge allows users to install extensions. Extensions are good and can be useful. However, installing extensions from an untrusted source can harm your computer and steal your information. In some environments, this can lead to password breaches and may go against environmental policy. If you want to disable or block your users from installing extensions in Microsoft Edge, continue below. To get started with blocking extensions in Edge, follow the steps below:
Disable Extensions in Edge
To block extensions in Edge, open Microsoft Edge and click the 3 horizontal dots ( . ) at the top right corner of your screen as shown in the image below. Then select Extensions. Or you can simply type the URL below in your Edge browser and press Enter to get to the Extensions page. On the Extensions page, look at the bottom left corner and move the button to Not Allow extensions from other stores. If you enable this setting, external extensions are blocked from being installed. If you disable this setting or leave it unset, external extensions are allowed to be installed.
Block Extensions in Edge via registry
You can also block or disable extensions in Microsoft Edge from the Windows registry. If you’re logged in as an administrator, you can also disable this feature via the Windows registry. To do that, use the steps below: Using the Windows registry is one way to force all users on the system to block or disable extensions from being installed. There are multiple ways to do this in Windows, however, using the Windows registry is the easiest and most effective way to do it. To enable, press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard to open the run command box. Or use the search function to search for the Run app. In the command box, type the commands below and press Enter. When the Windows registry opens, navigate to the path below. If you don’t see the Edge key, create one. From there, right-click on the Edge key and select the New > DWORD (32-bit) Value option to create a REG_DWORD value if you don’t see the existing BlockExternalExtensions value already created. If you don’t see the Edge key or folder, create one. Name the new DWORD value as: After saving the DWORD above, double-click it to open. Then enter the value of 1 to enable. 0 to disable. (delete) = Default0 = Always disabled 1 = Always enabled Next, create a new String value with the name below: Then change the value data to “” to block all extensions, not on the approved list. By default, all extensions are allowed. However, if you block all extensions by setting the ‘ExtensionInstallBlockList‘ policy to “”, users can only install extensions defined in this policy. List specific extensions that users can NOT install in Microsoft Edge. Use “*” to block all extensions that aren’t explicitly listed in the allow list. If you don’t configure this policy, users can install any extension in Microsoft Edge. That should do it! Conclusion: This post showed you how to block extensions from being installed in the Microsoft Edge browser. If you find any error above, please use the comment form below to report.
