Change history for Microsoft Edge

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Discover what's new and updated in the Microsoft Edge for both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile.

Note

You've reached the documentation for Microsoft Edge version 45 and earlier. To see the documentation for Microsoft Edge version 77 or later, go to the Microsoft Edge documentation landing page.

October 2018

The Microsoft Edge team introduces new group policies and MDM settings for Microsoft Edge on Windows 10. The new policies let you enable/disable full-screen mode, printing, favorites bar, saving history. You can also prevent certificate error overrides, and configure the New Tab page, Home button, and startup options, as well as manage extensions.

We have discontinued the Configure Favorites group policy, so use the Provision Favorites policy instead.

You can find the Microsoft Edge Group Policy settings in the following location of the Group Policy Editor unless otherwise noted in the policy:

      Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Microsoft Edge\

New or updated Group Policy Description
New Allow fullscreen mode Microsoft Edge allows fullscreen mode by default, which shows only the web content and hides the Microsoft Edge UI. When allowing fullscreen mode, users and extensions must have the proper permissions. Disabling this policy prevents fullscreen mode in Microsoft Edge.
New Allow Microsoft Edge to pre-launch at Windows startup, when the system is idle, and each time Microsoft Edge is closed Microsoft Edge pre-launches as a background process during Windows startup when the system is idle waiting to be launched by the user. Pre-launching helps the performance of Microsoft Edge and minimizes the amount of time required to start Microsoft Edge. You can also configure Microsoft Edge to prevent from pre-launching.
New Allow Microsoft Edge to load the Start and New Tab page at Windows startup and each time Microsoft Edge is closed Microsoft Edge allows preloading of the Start and New Tab pages during Windows sign in, and each time Microsoft Edge closes by default. Preloading minimizes the amount of time required to start Microsoft Edge and load a new tab. With this policy, you can configure Microsoft Edge to prevent preloading of tabs.
New Allow printing Microsoft Edge allows users to print web content by default. With this policy, you can configure Microsoft Edge to prevent users from printing web content.
New Allow Saving History Microsoft Edge saves the browsing history of visited websites and shows them in the History pane by default. Disabling this policy prevents Microsoft Edge from saving the browsing history. If browsing history existed before disabling this policy, the previous browsing history remains in the History pane. Disabling this policy does not stop roaming of existing browsing history or browsing history from other devices.
New Allow sideloading of Extensions By default, Microsoft Edge allows sideloading, which installs and runs unverified extensions. Disabling this policy prevents sideloading of extensions but does not prevent sideloading using Add-AppxPackage via PowerShell. You can only install extensions through Microsoft store (including a store for business), enterprise storefront (such as Company Portal) or PowerShell (using Add-AppxPackage).
New Configure collection of browsing data for Microsoft 365 Analytics Microsoft Edge does not send browsing history data to Microsoft 365 Analytics by default. With this policy though, you can configure Microsoft Edge to send intranet history only, internet history only, or both to Microsoft 365 Analytics for enterprise devices with a configured Commercial ID.
New Configure Favorites Bar Microsoft Edge hides the favorites bar by default but shows it on the Start and New Tab pages. Also, by default, the Favorites Bar toggle, in Settings, is set to Off but enabled letting users make changes. With this policy, you can configure Microsoft Edge to either show or hide the Favorites Bar on all pages.
New Configure Home Button Microsoft Edge shows the home button and by clicking it the Start page loads by default. With this policy, you can configure the home button to load the New Tab page or a URL defined in the Set Home Button URL policy. You can also configure Microsoft Edge to hide the home button.
New Configure kiosk mode Configure how Microsoft Edge behaves when it’s running in kiosk mode with assigned access, either as a single-app or as one of many apps running on the kiosk device. You can control whether Microsoft Edge runs InPrivate full screen, InPrivate multi-tab with a tailored experience for kiosks, or normal browsing in Microsoft Edge.
New Configure kiosk reset after idle timeout You can configure Microsoft Edge kiosk mode to reset to the configured start experience after a specified amount of idle time in minutes (0-1440). The reset timer begins after the last user interaction. Once the idle time meets the time specified, a confirmation message prompts the user to continue, and if no user action, Microsoft Edge kiosk mode resets after 30 seconds. Resetting to the configured start experience deletes the current user’s browsing data.
New Configure Open Microsoft Edge With By default, Microsoft Edge loads a specific page or pages defined in the Configure Start Pages policy and allow users to make changes. With this policy, you can configure Microsoft Edge to load either the Start page, New Tab page, previously opened pages. You can also configure Microsoft Edge to prevent users from changing or customizing the Start page. For this policy to work correctly, you must also configure the Configure Start Pages. If you want to prevent users from making changes, don’t configure the Disable Lockdown of Start Pages policy.
New Prevent certificate error overrides Microsoft Edge, by default, allows overriding of the security warnings to sites that have SSL errors, bypassing or ignoring certificate errors. Enabling this policy prevents overriding of the security warnings.
New Prevent users from turning on browser syncing By default, the “browser” group syncs automatically between the user’s devices, letting users make changes. With this policy, though, you can prevent the “browser” group from syncing and prevent users from turning on the Sync your Settings toggle in Settings. If you want syncing turned off by default but not disabled, select the Allow users to turn “browser” syncing option in the Do not sync browser policy. For this policy to work correctly, you must enable the Do not sync browser policy.
New Prevent turning off required extensions Microsoft Edge allows users to uninstall extensions by default. Enabling this policy prevents users from uninstalling extensions but lets them configure options for extensions defined in this policy, such as allowing InPrivate browsing. Any additional permissions requested by future updates of the extension gets granted automatically. If you enabled this policy and now you want to disable it, the list of extension package family names (PFNs) defined in this policy get ignored after disabling this policy.
New Set Home Button URL By default, Microsoft Edge shows the home button and loads the Start page, and locks down the home button to prevent users from changing what page loads. Enabling this policy loads a custom URL for the home button. When you enable this policy, and enable the Configure Home Button policy with the Show home button & set a specific page option selected, a custom URL loads when the user clicks the home button.
New Set New Tab page URL Microsoft Edge loads the default New Tab page by default. Enabling this policy lets you set a New Tab page URL in Microsoft Edge, preventing users from changing it. When you enable this policy, and you disable the Allow web content on New Tab page policy, Microsoft Edge ignores any URL specified in this policy and opens about:blank.
Updated Show message when opening sites in Internet Explorer Microsoft Edge does not show a notification before opening sites in Internet Explorer 11. However, with this policy, you can configure Microsoft Edge to display a notification before a site opens in IE11 or let users continue in Microsoft Edge. If you want users to continue in Microsoft Edge, enable this policy to show the Keep going in Microsoft Edge link in the notification. For this policy to work correctly, you must also enable the Configure the Enterprise Mode Site List or Send all intranet sites to Internet Explorer 11, or both.
New Unlock Home Button By default, when you enable the Configure Home Button policy or provide a URL in the Set Home Button URL policy, Microsoft Edge locks down the home button to prevent users from changing the settings. When you enable this policy, users can make changes to the home button even if you enabled the Configure Home Button or Set Home Button URL policies.