How to Stop Microsoft Edge from Creating Desktop Shortcuts

How to Stop Edge from Creating Desktop Shortcuts

Step 1Open the Registry Editor

Registry Editor changes take effect immediately and there is no undo button. A wrong edit in the wrong place can cause instability, so work slowly and change only the entries described here.

1. Click Start and type Registry Editor.
2. Select Open under the Registry Editor result.
3. Click Yes if User Account Control asks whether to allow the app to make changes. Registry Editor opens, with a folder tree on the left and values on the right.
4. Optional but sensible: choose File › Export, pick All under Export range, name the file and click Save. This gives you a backup you can restore if something goes wrong.

Step 2Navigate to the Correct Folder

Now go to the key shown below. You can click through the folders in the left pane, expanding each one with the small arrow beside it. Or you can paste the path into the address bar just under the menu bar and press Enter.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate

Check whether the Microsoft folder contains a subfolder named EdgeUpdate. On many PCs it does not exist yet, which is normal. If it is missing, create it:

1. Right-click the Microsoft folder in the left pane.
2. Select New › Key. A new folder appears with its name highlighted for editing.
3. Type EdgeUpdate and press Enter.
4. Click the new EdgeUpdate folder to select it. The right pane should be empty or show only a (Default) entry.

Step 3Create a New Value ⚠️ Requires Admin Access

Next, create the new registry entry inside the EdgeUpdate key.

1. Make sure EdgeUpdate is selected in the left pane.
2. Right-click any blank space in the right-hand pane.
3. Hover over New and select DWORD (32-bit) Value. A new entry appears with its name highlighted, ready for typing.

Choose the 32-bit DWORD even if you run a 64-bit version of Windows. That is the value type this setting uses.

With the new entry’s name still highlighted, type the name shown below and press Enter. The name must match exactly, including capital letters. If you click away before naming it, right-click the entry, choose Rename and type it then.

RemoveDesktopShortcutDefault

Step 4Set the Value

1. Double-click RemoveDesktopShortcutDefault. An Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value box opens.
2. Enter 1 in the Value data field. Leave Base set to Hexadecimal. For a value of 1 it makes no difference.
3. Click OK. The right pane should now list RemoveDesktopShortcutDefault as type REG_DWORD with data 0x00000001 (1).

A value of 1 stops Edge from creating desktop shortcuts.

A value of 0 lets Edge keep creating them automatically. To undo this change later, set the value back to 0. You can also right-click RemoveDesktopShortcutDefault and choose Delete.

Step 5Restart Your Computer

Close Registry Editor and restart your computer so the setting is picked up. After the restart, Edge should no longer create desktop shortcuts.

To check, look at your desktop after the restart. If an Edge icon was already there, delete it. Then look again after the next Edge update, which can take days or weeks to arrive. No new Edge shortcut should appear. If one does, reopen Registry Editor and confirm that the key name, the value name and the value of 1 all match exactly what is described above.

Summary

A related issue: what if your Windows desktop icons have a brown box over them? Brown boxes on desktop icons are a separate problem from Edge shortcuts, and the fix is different.