Solved Ms Edge running in background after closing

OAT · Nov 19, 2023

Cipri said:
Yes, since last update msedge.ese actually never exits...and that is why things like 'Clear browsing data on exit' option has not effect.

This is the solution that works for me (besides killing msedge.exe with taskkill):

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 ; Created by: Shawn Brink ; Created on: August 7th 2018 ; Tutorial: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/115545-enable-disable-pre-launch-microsoft-edge-windows-10-a.html [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\Main] "AllowPrelaunch"=dword:00000000

That did not do it for me.
Besides, what you are referring to is the auto-start feature, which, MS fancily calls Startup Boost.
What we are looking for is Edge not killing processes on close.

Cipri · Nov 19, 2023

The registry solution is enough to fix 'Clear Browing data on exit' not working and for forcing MS email to completely sign out. No Edge settings serve to this purpose, they are not working here.

For to kill everything a workaround is to start Edge with a batch file on the desktop like this:

Code:

rem edge.cmd

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"

taskkill /f /im msedge.exe

Gert · Nov 22, 2023

late reply to above after trying EVERTHING, i downloaded from MS not UUPDump the 25997 and clean installed 2-3 days back now, all good

EDGE is behaving itself, it not closing down properly freaks me out simply because i normally have several tabs open ( the more open it seems to ++++++ CPU & memory etc )

re-installing a pain yes, but all in an hour + or so.

ps this is after all Canary versions so there will be hic ups from time to time, verion before this it was printing to PDF not EDGE not Fully closing/shutting down. about 10 updates before tho were all mainly fine, the odd issue here and there. But mainly all good.

tw33k · Dec 5, 2023

this is driving me crazy. it's only happening on my work PC and I can't figure out why. I've turned off everything in Edge's System and Performance settings. I've disabled pre-launch and preloading in GPEdit. It should actually shutdown when i close it.
i believe it's because, there are a number of processes that go into "efficiency mode". if i turn this off for each process, Edge closes completely. I don't know why this happens because Efficiency Mode is turned off. I've tried repairing Edge a couple times but nothing has worked.

Reldel · Dec 5, 2023

tw33k said:
this is driving me crazy. it's only happening on my work PC and I can't figure out why. I've turned off everything in Edge's System and Performance settings. I've disabled pre-launch and preloading in GPEdit. It should actually shutdown when i close it.
i believe it's because, there are a number of processes that go into "efficiency mode". if i turn this off for each process, Edge closes completely. I don't know why this happens because Efficiency Mode is turned off. I've tried repairing Edge a couple times but nothing has worked.

Try going into Edge Settings>Sidebar>App and Notifications>App Specific Settings>Co-Pilot, then turn off all options including Co-Pilot, restart Edge. After restarting Edge, close Edge and check Task Manager to see if this has worked. It solved my problems with Edge always running when closed.

trevo · Dec 5, 2023

Reldel said:
Try going into Edge Settings>Sidebar>App and Notifications>App Specific Settings>Co-Pilot, then turn off all options including Co-Pilot, restart Edge. After restarting Edge, close Edge and check Task Manager to see if this has worked. It solved my problems with Edge always running when closed.

Nice one, just tried it and it works.

hwfanatic · Feb 3, 2024

TairikuOkami said:

Those entries have been reported to keep Edge running.

Code:

rem 1 - Allow the Search bar at Windows startup
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v "SearchbarIsEnabledOnStartup" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

rem 1 - The Sidebar appears in a fixed position on the Microsoft Windows desktop, and is hidden from the browser application frame
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v "StandaloneHubsSidebarEnabled" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f

Setting these two policies to disabled has finally solved it for me. Microsoft Edge process tree ends when closed. Thank you very much for this information.

If you don't want to edit the registry directly, you can download and install the Microsoft Edge administrative template as described on this page:

Configure Microsoft Edge for Windows with policy settings

Learn how to configure Microsoft Edge policy settings on Windows devices

learn.microsoft.com

The settings in question are:
Allow the Search bar at Windows startup (set to disabled)
Standalone Sidebar Enabled (set to disabled)

hwfanatic · Feb 17, 2024

It is perhaps worth noting that if you set "Standalone Sidebar Enabled" policy to disabled, you will not be able to use Copilot from Windows taskbar. However, you will be able to use it from within Microsoft Edge.

This is an acceptable trade-off for me to prevent Edge from running in the background.

Sqrly · Mar 18, 2024

hwfanatic said:
Setting these two policies to disabled has finally solved it for me. Microsoft Edge process tree ends when closed. Thank you very much for this information.

If you don't want to edit the registry directly, you can download and install the Microsoft Edge administrative template as described on this page:

Configure Microsoft Edge for Windows with policy settings

Learn how to configure Microsoft Edge policy settings on Windows devices

learn.microsoft.com

The settings in question are:
Allow the Search bar at Windows startup (set to disabled)
Standalone Sidebar Enabled (set to disabled)

View attachment 85944

YES! Thank you. Same BS different OS. This was the last tip I needed to get edge to actiually close when i close it.

Note: The actual download location for the polices template for edge is here. You click the appropriate blue link underneath the big "download" buttons.

Download Edge for Business

Download and configure Microsoft Edge for Business to enable your organization with the best, fast and secure business browser with multi-platform support

www.microsoft.com