Sorry you don’t get Microsoft Edge out of your PC, at least according to the new ‘Uninstall’ document

Microsoft Edge’s Uninstall Document promotes the browser over Google Chrome without any actual removal instructions
It has a checklist of supposed advantages over Google Chrome
There is no official way to uninstall Microsoft Edge as the control panel only allows for a ‘repair’

It’s no surprise that Microsoft is making several attempts to change PC users away from other browsers in favor of its own edge setting once again – but its latest scheme can be a new low point.

As was discovered by Windows latest, a new ‘Uninstall document’ was released by Microsoft, allegedly explaining how to remove Microsoft Edge from your PC, but surprisingly it doesn’t. Instead, that edge compares to Google Chrome with a checklist (depicted below) of features that it claims are available on edge but not chrome (which is not entirely true) – essentially it does the opposite of what most People would expect a document to uninstall an app to do ..

It’s a shame that this comes after Microsoft’s well-received privacy updates for Chrome Incognito mode, which is a huge positive for its users. However, it is now affected by a low with this’ uninstall document that users do not like at all. Microsoft already aggressively pushes the edge via pop-ups and ads in Windows 11 that many users consider invasive and annoying. Meanwhile, Chrome remains the most popular browser despite Microsoft’s boasting Edge’s high uses in 2024, so it’s not a surprise that many might want to uninstall Edge.

It should not come as a big surprise as Microsoft has used several tactics to win users over to his browser – but this feels particularly uncomfortable.

(Image Credit: Microsoft)

Reminds me of cancellation of membership …

Trying to get rid of something, only instead of being bombarded with reasons for not Getting rid of it will feel terribly confidant to many people who have tried to cancel a subscription. Try to cancel your PlayStation Plus subscription, for example, and Sony will try to tempt you to join an offer on a 12-month premium subscription.

Amazon is also notorious for this – if you try to cancel Prime, click through several pages that convince you to stay – and it was actually defendant for this, mainly because its marketing tactic was considered misleading and coercion of FTC (US Federal Trade Commission).

So Microsoft is far from the only company trying to change the mind of its customers who want to ditch a product. However, no one denies that this step seems particularly strange – you would expect a document to give you instructions to uninstall a program to do just that, rather than the opposite by trying to get you to continue with using it. It also feels a little naughty using the word ‘uninstall’ if there is literally no way to officially uninstall the edge.

Personally, I think it essentially forces users to keep a program installed on their PCs instead push them further away from using it. To say one thing but to make another one could return to bite Microsoft …

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