How to Enable or Disable Restore Pages Dialog in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge browser is the default browser in Windows 11. You can  switch to their preferred or favorite browser to a different browser anytime if you prefer. Edge works similarly to Google Chrome and other browsers built on Chromium technology.

When Microsoft Edge crashes or your computer restarts while you have tabs open, Edge will show you a “Restore pages” dialog. This dialog lets you reopen the pages that were open before the crash.

Why might you want to disable this? If you don’t want to see a dialog prompt every time your browser crashes, you can turn it off. What happens when you disable it? Edge will start with a blank new tab page instead of showing the restore dialog.

Here’s what each setting does:

• Enable the policy: The “Restore pages” dialog will not appear. Edge starts fresh with a new tab page.
• Disable or don’t set the policy: The “Restore pages” dialog will show up normally.

How to Turn the “Restore pages” Dialog On or Off

Follow these steps to change this setting in Microsoft Edge.

1. [Admin Required] Open the Windows Registry on your computer.
2. Navigate to this folder path:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
3. If you don’t see an Edge folder, right-click on the Microsoft folder and create a new subfolder called Edge.

4. Right-click inside the empty space in the Edge folder’s right panel.
5. Select New and then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Name the new item: HideRestoreDialogEnabled
7. Double-click on the item you just created.
8. Make sure the Base is set to Decimal.
9. Set the Value data to one of these options:
   • Leave blank or delete: The “Restore pages” dialog stays enabled (default).
   • Type 1: The “Restore pages” dialog will be disabled for all users in Edge.

10. Click OK to save your changes.
11. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

That’s it! Your setting will now be applied.

Summary

The “Restore pages” dialog in Microsoft Edge appears after a crash or restart to help you reopen your previous tabs. If you find this annoying, you can disable it using the Windows Registry. Simply create or modify the HideRestoreDialogEnabled registry key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge and set its value to 1 to turn off the dialog. When disabled, Edge will start with a fresh new tab page instead of showing the restore prompt. Remember to restart your computer for the changes to work. For more details, check the Microsoft.com.