Microsoft Edge’s Chromium-based browser has upscaled the popularity charts in no time whatsoever. It checkmarks all the prerequisites, but without being a resource hogger like Chrome, well, there’s not much that one could have asked for. Along the same lines, the browser also tends to get blessed with updates at regular intervals. These updates fix the underlying bugs, improve security and bring overall stability to the browning experience. However, in some instances, it could spell trouble for some of the app’s components. For example, a new update might break the third-party add-ons or extensions. Likewise, if a buggy update gets rolled out, it would hinder the browser’s usability. While the developers tend to address these issues, it could take a few hours to even days to release a new build that patches the problem. So what could be your course of action while the issue is being addressed? Well, rather than spending your precious time playing this waiting game, you could altogether skip this queue. In other words, you could consider rolling back the browser’s version to an earlier one that wasn’t bugged with this issue. And when this issue gets rectified, you could easily update it to the latest build. [related]Related: How to Reinstall Microsoft Edge on Windows PC?[/related] So without further ado, let’s check out the steps to downgrade your Microsoft Edge to an earlier version on your Windows PC.
Downgrade Edge Updates
First off, Microsoft has well-documented the downgrade process using the MSM Installer and Group Policy Editor methods. But both these methods are exclusively for the Business/Enterprise builds of Edge and wouldn’t work with the general build. So we will be taking an alternate approach here. But before that, it’s recommended to sync all your data to be on the safer side and avoid any data loss concerns. Moreover, do keep in mind that downgrading might increase the risk of security issues. Here are the steps to downgrade the Edge browser version on Windows PC:
- Exit the Microsoft Edge browser, and kill any processes from the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
- Keypress [btn]Win[/btn] + [btn]E[/btn] shortcut keys to open File Explorer.
- Head over to the Edge’s Installer directory under Program Files.
C:Program Files (x86)MicrosoftEdgeApplication92.0.902.84Installer
Make sure to enter correct the version number (check your version at [code]edge://settings/help[/code] page). - Go to the Address bar within Installer folder, type in [code]cmd[/code], and hit [btn]Enter[/btn] key.
It shall launch the Command Prompt window. - Execute the uninstallation command in the CMD window.
setup --uninstall --system-level --verbose-logging
- Hit the [cmdbtn]Uninstall[/cmdbtn] button.
That’s it. The currently installed version of Edge will be removed from your PC and replaced with an earlier build. While uninstalling, you will now get a checkbox asking if you want to delete the browsing data or not. Choose according to your preference.
Bottom Line: Rollback Edge Browser Version
With this, we conclude the guide on how you could downgrade to an older Edge version on Windows. As you might have noticed, all we did was uninstall this app, and the rollback was then carried out automatically. So couldn’t we have just uninstalled the browser directly from the Settings page and avoid this long route? Unfortunately, the answer is in a negative tone. Because Windows OS has greyed out the [cmdbtn]Uninstall[/cmdbtn] button for the Edge browser, you cannot remove it the normal way and would have to take the help of Command Prompt.