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Remove Edge (Legacy) associations

Overview​

About this category

This category contains privacy scripts for Windows.

These changes use Windows system commands to update your settings.

This category removes file and URL associations from Microsoft Edge Legacy, to enhance privacy and potentially improve system stability and performance.

Edge Legacy, though outdated, may still have associations on modern Windows versions. Removing these associations:

  • Reduces potential data collection through Edge Legacy
  • Prevents accidental use of an outdated browser
  • May improve system stability if Edge Legacy is removed
  • Can potentially enhance performance by eliminating unnecessary file associations

This category applies only to Edge Legacy and does not affect newer versions of Microsoft Edge.

If Edge Legacy associations remain after uninstallation, certain Windows functionalities may malfunction 1. Running this category improves system integrity, as standard uninstallation methods often leave these associations.

On modern Windows versions (confirmed by tests since Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 21H2), Chromium-based Edge is associated with most default options (using ProgIDs such as MSEdgePDF and MSEdgeHTM 2). However, some Legacy Edge associations may persist depending on the Windows version.

Technical Details​

Edge Legacy is associated with several ProgIDs, each prefixed with AppX 3. Known ProgIDs include:

  • AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9 3 4
  • AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723 3 4
  • AppXq0fevzme2pys62n3e0fbqa7peapykr8v 3 4
  • AppX90nv6nhay5n6a98fnetv7tpk64pp35es 3 4
  • AppX7rm9drdg8sk7vqndwj3sdjw11x96jc0y 4
  • AppX3xxs313wwkfjhythsb8q46xdsq8d2cvv (Edge Holographic 4)

File and URL associations can be found under these registry keys:

  • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\Repository\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_{Version}\MicrosoftEdge\Capabilities\URLAssociations
  • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel\Repository\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_{Version}\MicrosoftEdge\Capabilities\FileAssociations

Within these registry keys:

  • URL associations may include http, https, microsoft-edge, microsoft-edge-holographic.
  • File associations may include .htm, .html, .pdf, .svg.

Not all these associations are present on every Windows system. The set of registered associations varies depending on Windows version and system configuration.

Caution

Removing these associations can affect how certain files and URLs if you rely on Edge (Legacy). Remember to set up an alternative browser to handle these file types and protocols.

Open With Associations​

This category does not modify Open File Associations, as no such associations for Legacy Edge exist on latest Windows versions (confirmed by tests since Windows 10 19H1 and Windows 11 21H2).

You can verify this by running the following PowerShell script:

$legacyEdgeProgIds = @(
    'AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9',
    'AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723',
    'AppXq0fevzme2pys62n3e0fbqa7peapykr8v',
    'AppX90nv6nhay5n6a98fnetv7tpk64pp35es',
    'AppX3xxs313wwkfjhythsb8q46xdsq8d2cvv'
)
@("Registry::HKLM\Software\Classes", "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes") |
ForEach-Object {
    Get-ChildItem -Path "$_\*\OpenWithProgIds" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    ForEach-Object {
        $extension = $_.PSParentPath.Split('\')[-1]
        $registryPath = $_.PSPath
        $formattedRegistryPath = $_.PSPath -replace '^Microsoft\.PowerShell\.Core\\Registry::', ''
        Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $registryPath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        ForEach-Object {
            $_.PSObject.Properties |
            Where-Object { $legacyEdgeProgIds -contains $_.Name } |
            ForEach-Object {
                $progId = $_.Name;
                [PSCustomObject]@{
                    Extension = $extension
                    ProgID = $progId
                    RegistryPath = $formattedRegistryPath
                    Hive = if ($formattedRegistryPath -match 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE') { 'HKLM' } else { 'HKCU' }
                }
            }
        }
    }
} | Sort-Object Extension, ProgID -Unique | Format-Table -AutoSize
Use with Caution

This category is only recommended if you understand its implications. Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this script.

Apply now​

These scripts are written using Batch (batchfile) scripting language.

Choose one of two ways to apply:

  1. Automatically via privacy.sexy: The easiest and safest option.
  2. Manually by downloading: Requires downloading a file.

Alternative 1. Apply with Privacy.sexy​

privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily.

Open privacy.sexy

It allows selectively choose parts of this action to conduct. You can fully restore this action (revert back to the original behavior) using the application.

privacy.sexy instructions
  1. Open or download the desktop application
  2. Search for the category name: Remove Edge (Legacy) associations.
  3. Check the category by clicking on the checkbox of the category.
  4. Click on Run button at the bottom of the page.

Alternative 2. Download​

Consider restarting your computer for all changes to take affect.

Reversible

This action is completely reversible, you can restore your changes to the initial/default state. The restore/revert methods provided here can help you fix issues.

If something goes wrong, use the Revert script provided above.

Strict​

This script includes Standard and Strict recommendation levels.

Use with Caution

This script is only recommended if you understand their implications of every single change. Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this script.

Download Strict scripts:

Download script

Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:

Download restore script

Explore further​

This category includes total of 2 scripts but no subcategories.

Explore its 2 scripts:

Remove Edge (Legacy) application selection associations

This script removes file and URL associations with Microsoft Edge Legacy (an old version of Edge), enhancing your privacy and potentially improving system performance. This script removes Edge Legacy from the default application selection dialog for certain file types and protocols, preventing it from being easily chosen as the default handler. Even on newer Windows computers, the old Edge might still be set to open common file types like: Web file formats (.htm, .html) • PDF documents (.pdf) • ...

Remove Edge (Legacy) user associations

This script removes user associations for the legacy Microsoft Edge browser. Even though these are user defaults, Windows includes Microsoft Edge (Legacy) as the default browser for some associations on older versions of Windows. It enhances privacy by preventing the legacy Edge browser from automatically opening specific file types and URLs. This helps reduce data collection and tracking by the legacy Edge browser. If you have removed the legacy Edge browser, this script improves system stabili...

Explore Categories​

This action belongs to Remove Edge (Legacy) category. This category includes scripts to remove Microsoft Edge Legacy. Microsoft introduced the Legacy version based on the EdgeHTML engine in 2015. However, as of March 9, 2021, they stopped supporting this version, implying it no longer gets security updates or patches. Keeping unsupported software... Read more on category page ▶

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