Recently, the Microsoft Edge browser started creating a desktop shortcut every time it is updated. Generally, almost all applications you install or update in Windows do the same, either automatically or with permission.
Now, if you don’t like shortcuts on your desktop because you want to keep it clean and organized, you can simply delete the shortcut and don’t have to worry about it for a while. However, considering how frequently the Edge browser is updated, you might see a new Edge desktop shortcut every time you reboot the computer. For example, the Microsoft Edge stable version has been updated four times in the last week.
The issue seems to be consistent among all Microsoft Edge channels like Dev and Beta. i.e., if you have installed Edge Dev or Edge Beta, they, too, create desktop shortcuts every time they are updated. As you can tell, that’s a lot of shortcuts on your desktop.
This can be quite frustrating for those who prefer to keep their desktop clean and organized. Additionally, having multiple shortcuts for the same browser on the desktop can be confusing and make it harder to find the one you need.
Thankfully, you can stop the Microsoft Edge browser from creating desktop shortcuts automatically with just a simple registry hack. Let me show you how.
Stop Microsoft Edge from creating desktop shortcut
To block or stop the Microsoft Edge browser from creating a new desktop shortcut every time it is updated, you have to make a minor modification to the registry editor. It is pretty simple to do. Let me show you how:
Here’s how to stop Edge from creating desktop shortcuts:
- Click the Start icon.
- Search for “regedit” and open Registry Editor.
- Go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft”
- Right-click on the “Microsoft” folder.
- Select “New -> Key” to create a new folder under “Microsoft.”
- Use “EdgeUpdate” as the new folder name.
- Right-click on the EdgeUpdate folder.
- Select “New -> DWORD Value” to create a new DWORD value.
- Use “CreateDesktopShortcutDefault” as the value name.
- Right-click on the value.
- Select “Modify.”
- Type “0” in the “Value Data” field.
- Click on the “Ok” button.
- Close the Registry Editor window.
- Reboot the computer.
Steps with more details:
First, open the Windows Registry Editor on your computer. To do that, press the taskbar Start icon, search for “regedit.exe,” and click on the top result. This action will load the registry editor.
Once the registry editor has been loaded, go to the LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE -> Policies -> Microsoft folder. To make things simpler, paste the path below in the registry editor’s address bar and press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft
Once you are in the Microsoft folder under “LOCAL_MACHINE,” right-click on the “Microsoft” folder and select the “New -> Key” option from the context menu.
The above action will create an empty folder under the “Microsoft” folder. Use “EdgeUpdate” as the folder name. As the name implies, this key controls the behavior of Edge updates.
After creating the “EdgeUpdate” folder, right-click on it and click on the “New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value” from the context menu. This will create a new empty DWORD value on the right panel of the registry editor. Name it “CreateDesktopShortcutDefault” (without quotes).
By default, the value you create is disabled. In this case, that is what we want. Just to make sure, right-click on the value and select the “Modify” option. Next, see if the “Value Data” field is set to “0.” If not, set it to “0” and click on the “Ok” button.
Finally, close the Registry Editor window and reboot the computer.
After restarting the computer, the Microsoft Edge browser will stop creating a new desktop shortcut with each update. The modifications we just made are global in nature. That means it applies to all Edge channels. So, if you have multiple Microsoft Edge channels installed, they will not create a desktop shortcut when updated in the background.
If you ever want to reverse the change, either delete the “CreateDesktopShortcutDefault” value or change its “Value Data” to “1.”
Conclusion
If you find yourself frustrated with the new behavior of Microsoft Edge randomly creating desktop shortcuts, the above registry hack will help you fix the problem. As always, though the entire process is pretty simple and straightforward, be careful while modifying the registry.
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That is all. It is that simple to block Edge from creating new desktop shortcuts randomly.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.
