How to Enable or Disable Enhanced Security Mode in Edge
- 8 steps
- Needs administrator rights
- Includes a restart or sign-out
Enhanced Security Mode in Microsoft Edge is a built-in safety setting. It applies stricter protections to sites you visit, which makes it harder for malicious code to reach your system. You can turn the mode on or off in Edge itself. You can also control whether people on your computer are allowed to bypass the security rules for unverified sites. This guide covers the bypass control.
Companies often lock this setting down with the EnhanceSecurityModeAllowUserBypass policy so that nobody can change it. If you manage a single PC, you can set the same policy yourself in the Registry Editor. It works on Windows 11 Home, Pro, Enterprise and Education, because it doesn’t need Group Policy.
To control whether users can bypass Enhanced Security Mode in Edge, open Registry Editor (regedit) as an administrator and go to 🗝️HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
Enable or disable Enhanced Security Mode bypass using the Windows Registry editor
The bypass control lives in one value in the Windows Registry, under the Microsoft Edge policy key. You change the EnhanceSecurityModeAllowUserBypass value to turn the bypass off. You delete it to go back to the default. This works well when you want to manage browser security on your computer without using Edge’s own settings page.
- Press the Windows key, type
regedit, and press Enter. - Click Yes if User Account Control asks whether to allow the app to make changes. Registry Editor opens.
- In the left sidebar, go to the path below. You can also paste it into the address bar at the top of Registry Editor.
ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftEdge
If the last key in that path is missing, the policy has never been set on this PC. Right-click the parent key, choose New Key, and give the new key the missing name. Then select it so its contents show in the right pane.
- Look in the right pane for EnhanceSecurityModeAllowUserBypass (type REG_DWORD). Don’t confuse this key with any other Edge key, such as an Explorer key. You only need the key from the path above.
- If the value is there, double-click it. The Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window opens.
- If the value is missing, right-click a blank area of the right pane and choose New DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type EnhanceSecurityModeAllowUserBypass as the name and press Enter. Then double-click the new value to open it.
- Type 0 in the Value data box. This blocks users from bypassing the security restriction.
- Click OK. The right pane should now show the value with data 0x00000000 (0).
To go back to the default behavior and let users bypass Enhanced Security Mode, delete the value. Right-click EnhanceSecurityModeAllowUserBypass in the right pane, choose Delete, and click Yes to confirm. Deleting the value returns Edge to its default, because with no policy set the choice is left to the user.
Conclusion:
- You turned the bypass for Enhanced Security Mode in Microsoft Edge on or off using the Windows Registry Editor.
- You now know how to create the EnhanceSecurityModeAllowUserBypass value, set it to 0 to block bypassing, and delete it to restore the default.
- Enhanced Security Mode makes browsing safer, but there are times when you may need to bypass it, for example for a trusted internal site that Edge can’t verify.
- If you have feedback or tips of your own, share them in the comments.
Frequently asked questions
How to switch off protected mode in edge?
Edge has no setting called protected mode. Its closest match is Enhanced Security Mode. Click the three-dot menu, choose Settings, then open Privacy, search, and services and select Security. Switch Enhanced Security Mode to off. Turning it off lowers protection, so only do this for sites you trust.
How to remove edge security?
You can't remove Edge's built-in security features, and you shouldn't try. You can turn off the stricter setting called Enhanced Security Mode instead. Open Settings from the three-dot menu, go to Privacy, search, and services, select Security, and switch Enhanced Security Mode to off.
How to disable protected mode in edge?
Edge doesn't use a setting named protected mode. Disable Enhanced Security Mode instead. Open the three-dot menu, choose Settings, select Privacy, search, and services, then click Security. Switch Enhanced Security Mode to off. Edge will stop applying the stricter protections to the sites you visit.
How to open ms edge with disabled web security?
Edge has no supported way to start with web security turned off. Hidden command-line flags can force it, but they strip protections from every site you open, so avoid them. To turn down Edge's protection without that risk, turn off Enhanced Security Mode in Edge's Security settings instead.
How to turn off enhanced security?
Open Edge's Settings from the three-dot menu. Select Privacy, search, and services, then click Security. Under Enhanced Security Mode, switch the toggle to off. Leaving it off removes the extra protection for the sites you visit, so switch it back on when you finish.
How to turn on protected mode edge?
Edge doesn't have protected mode, but you can turn on Enhanced Security Mode for stronger protection. Open Settings from the three-dot menu, select Privacy, search, and services, then click Security. Switch Enhanced Security Mode to on, then choose whether it applies to all sites or only some.
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About the Author
Richard
Tech Writer, IT Professional
Richard is a writer at Geek Rewind who turns complex IT tasks into clear, step-by-step guides. He draws on years of hands-on experience in system administration and enterprise IT operations, focusing on Windows, Linux and WordPress: the problems people actually run into, and the fixes that work. His server and WordPress guides come from systems he runs himself. Richard builds and maintains the platform behind Geek Rewind, from its Ubuntu servers and Nginx configuration to its custom WordPress plugins. Many new tutorials start with readers' questions, and he's always glad to answer them in the comments.
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