How to Enable or Disable ‘Add Profile’ in Microsoft Edge

Before You Get Started

Edge policies are stored in a protected part of the registry, so a standard account cannot save them. Sign in as an administrator before you start.

• Microsoft Edge must be installed on your Windows computer.
• You need administrator rights on your PC to make these changes. (Admin Rights Required)
• These steps work on all editions of Windows 11 and Windows 10, including Windows Home.

Follow the steps carefully, because editing the wrong keys can cause system instability. If you want a safety net, open the Registry Editor first and use File › Export to save a backup copy of the registry before you change anything.

Method 1Use the Registry Editor to Hide the Add Profile Button

The Registry Editor is a database that holds core settings for Windows and your apps. Here you add one entry to Edge’s policy settings. Once it is in place, Edge removes the profile creation option from its interface. The steps below create the entry from scratch.

1. Open the Run box by pressing Windows Key + R on your keyboard at the same time. A small box appears in the bottom-left corner of the screen. You can also right-click the Windows Start button ⊞ and select Run from the menu.
2. Type regedit into the Open field of the Run box and press Enter. Windows asks whether you want to allow the app to make changes to your device. Click Yes. The Registry Editor window opens, with a folder tree on the left.
3. In the left sidebar, click the small arrows to expand the folders in this exact order: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then SOFTWARE, then Policies, then Microsoft, and finally click on Edge.
4. Check whether a folder named Edge exists inside the Microsoft folder. If it does not, create it. Right-click the Microsoft folder, hover over New, select Key, and type Edge as the name. The new folder appears in the tree. This is common on a PC that has never had Edge policies set.
5. Select the Edge folder. Right-click any empty space in the white pane on the right, hover over New, and click DWORD (32-bit) Value. A new entry appears in the right pane with its name highlighted for editing.
6. Type BrowserAddProfileEnabled as the name and press Enter. Spell it exactly like that, paying close attention to the capital letters. A wrong spelling creates a value that Edge ignores.
7. Double-click your new BrowserAddProfileEnabled item. A small window asks for the value data. Type 0 into the Value data box and click OK. Setting this value to 0 turns the feature off completely. The right pane should now show the value with that number next to it.
8. Close the Registry Editor window. Then close Microsoft Edge completely and open it again. If Edge still shows the old behavior, restart the 🔄 computer so the new rule takes effect.

To undo the change later, return to the same spot, double-click the value, and change the number to 1 instead. Restart Edge again afterward.

Method 2Use PowerShell for Quick Configuration

PowerShell (a task automation and configuration framework built into Windows) does the same job with commands instead of menus. It is faster if you are setting this up on more than one computer, because you can paste the same commands on each one.

1. Click the Windows Start button and type PowerShell into the search bar. Right-click Windows PowerShell in the results and choose Run as administrator. (Admin Rights Required) Click Yes on the security prompt. A blue PowerShell window opens.
2. Copy and paste the following commands into the PowerShell window, then press Enter:

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" -Force
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" -Name "BrowserAddProfileEnabled" -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force

The first command makes sure the Edge policy folder exists on your system. The second command creates the disabling rule and sets its value to zero.

3. Check the output. PowerShell should print a short readout confirming the property was created, and no red error text should appear. If you see a red error, make sure you opened PowerShell as administrator.
4. Close the PowerShell window, then close and reopen Microsoft Edge so it picks up the policy. A computer restart also works if the change does not show.

If you change your mind and want users to be able to add profiles again, open PowerShell as an administrator and run this command instead: Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" -Name "BrowserAddProfileEnabled" -Value 1 Then restart Edge.

Summary

Blocking the Add Profile option keeps a shared computer tidy and stops unwanted profile clutter in Edge. You now have two ways to do it: edit the Windows Registry Editor by hand, or run a command in PowerShell with administrator privileges. Both set the same policy, so use whichever suits you, and reverse it any time by changing the value back.