Here a capture:

"‎12/‎01/‎2024 ‏‎21:41:24","DESKTOP\admin","C:\program files (x86)\microsoft\edgeupdate\microsoftedgeupdate.exe","20.7.47.135","443 (https)","tcp"
"‎12/‎01/‎2024 ‏‎21:41:24","DESKTOP\admin","C:\program files (x86)\microsoft\edgeupdate\microsoftedgeupdate.exe","13.107.42.16","443 (https)","tcp"

Could you test uninstalling the updates in an elevated cmd.exe like this and see if it works:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe" /uninstall

It would be also nice to test it that it can be reinstalled using:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe" /install

I then wonder if these services edgeupdate and edgeupdatem would be left after running the official uninstaller. You can check their existing with following PowerShell:

(Get-Service -Name edgeupdate).StartType
(Get-Service -Name edgeupdatem).StartType

Other option would be to stop updates according to Microsoft docs, but this probably won't work is only designed for enterprises as usual:

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate" /v "UpdateDefault" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "0" /f

Removal of web view would break any third party or Microsoft application that tries to render native Windows browser inside. msedgewebview2.exe is most likely being used by another application in your case, so that one would break if we get rid of web view.

Could you test uninstalling the updates in an elevated cmd.exe like this and see if it works:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe" /uninstall

This results in nothing, the file still present in directory.

It would be also nice to test it that it can be reinstalled using:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe" /install

This results in an error message:

I then wonder if these services edgeupdate and edgeupdatem would be left after running the official uninstaller. You can check their existing with following PowerShell:

(Get-Service -Name edgeupdate).StartType
(Get-Service -Name edgeupdatem).StartType

This is the PS results:

Other option would be to stop updates according to Microsoft docs, but this probably won't work is only designed for enterprises as usual:

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate" /v "UpdateDefault" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "0" /f

I'm on an Enterprise version and I tried to add these reg value but I can notice the service running again.

It looks like the Edge setup.exe file doesn't allow uninstalling anymore, which is why the batch script https://github.com/ShadowWhisperer/Remove-MS-Edge seems to include an older version of it in order to still be able to.

More changes may come to the uninstallation procedure, now that the EU has forced MS to make it possible to uninstall Edge via official ways.

Thanks for the guidance and update @ltguillaume.

It sounds sad to rely on downloading and using a proprietary executable.

What do you think? Should privacy.sexy host this file, download/use it and remove?

I think it's rather nasty, too, but effectively it's just an older version of the official M$ file.

I'm not sure if/where we can track how/when Edge can be uninstalled for EU users, because making that method available to all users would be preferable: it should prevent anything that could possibly break updates, as was the case in the past.

This change might allow uninstalling Edge again without using an old setup.exe: https://github.com/AveYo/fox/pull/51/files

Using latest setup.exe from C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\126.0.2592.68\ works fine on Windows 11 23H2.

However, it fails for Windows 10 22H2:

Uninstalling through uninstaller: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\126.0.2592.68\Installer\setup.exe
Failed to uninstall, uninstaller failed with exit code 93.
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Write-Error], WriteErrorException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.WriteErrorException

So the problem is only affects Windows 10 using the latest setup.exe.

Exit code 93 leads also errors for winget: microsoft/winget-cli#1286. We should be watching this issue to see any official explanation.

@ltguillaume, these lines creates "fake existence" of legacy edge app:

New-Item -Path "$env:SystemRoot\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe" -ItemType Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Force 
New-Item -Path "$env:SystemRoot\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe" -ItemType File -Name 'MicrosoftEdge.exe' -Force 

And interestingly, it actually led to succesfull uninstallation of Edge on Windows 10 22H2 🥳. It means that setup.exe on Windows 10 checking the existence of legacy Edge and rejects uninstallation if it does note exist. I will fix that in a patch release, thank you for another great contribution @ltguillaume.

I can reproduce that the updater is not removed and exist at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate.

It means that setup.exe on Windows 10 checking the existence of legacy Edge and rejects uninstallation if it does note exist.

Yeah I saw, great, yet another piece of trickery needed to fool M$ then 😛

I'm not sure if EdgeUpdate would then still reinstall Edge (bad) or if it's necessary to still update WebView2 (possibly good if you still want it installed).

Note: I have seen this fail on Windows 11 LTSC 2024 as well, though. I resorted to using the batch script from https://github.com/ShadowWhisperer/Remove-MS-Edge with the older setup.exe to get it removed (that was before I found https://github.com/AveYo/fox/pull/51/files).

To close this issue, we need to take decisions about EdgeUpdate.

We could provide a script to delete it but then it will also affect WebView2.
WebView2 relies on EdgeUpdate for updates.

We could add a new category as Remove Edge (Chromium) components with two scripts to keep them separate for advanced users:

• Remove WebView2
• Remove Edge updater (disables Edge and WebView2 updates)

Does this make sense? If yes should they be under:

a. Remove bloatware category directly.
b. Add under Remove Windows apps > Remove system apps > . This category was designed for UWP apsp but these are for advanced users and make sense to isolated them outside the main category under more advanced one.
c. Another idea?

Yes, that would definitely be best imho.

Just put it all under Remove Bloatware > Remove Edge (Chromium), that's great.

Most novice user would think way:

I want to remove Edge, let me click on "Remove Edge (Chromium)", and then they get updates and WebView2 uninstalled too.

Separating other stuff (updates + webview2) to Edge components would prevent them from making mistakes i.e. removing, blocking stuff that may be useful.

So a categorization to simplify risk management would be beneficial, but unsure what's the best way.

That's a good point.

As for option B: I hate the idea that the clear distinction between Windows Store APPS and Win32 PROGRAMS is fading. Everything is called "app" nowadays. For that reason I would even rename Remove Bloatware > Remove Windows apps to Remove Windows Store apps for clarity.

So I wouldn't say the category Remove Windows apps is suited for EdgeUpdate and WebView2.

A category Edge Components would then make more sense, yes.

Thanks for feedback, let's leave that category for the apps. And I agree with renaming. I can merge a PR for it as I may forget this change.

I'll add stopping Edge updates + and the fix for Windows 10 and close the issue. We can create a new issue for disabling WebView2 later if we see necessary.

0.13.5 is now released 🚀.

Both the removal fix and disabling of auto-updates are released.
Disabling auto-updates are under Configure Programs > Configure Browsers > Configure Edge > Disable Edge and WebView2 automatic updates.
Added also Disable automatic installation of Edge and WebView under this category which is recommended on Standard.

Meanwhile looking at this, added tens of other ways to configure Edge. It resolves lot of privacy issues.

Credit given in release notes to @ltguillaume and @d3cim. Thank you again.

If we want to delete/uninstall WebView2, we can create a new issue. Closing this.

Fantastic, thank you! 🥇