Easy Ways to Adjust Your Privacy and Security Settings in Microsoft Edge

You can easily take control of your privacy and security settings in Microsoft Edge. When privacy and security are top priorities, worrying about Microsoft collecting data on your browsing habits, targeted ads, companies tracking your activities, phishing, malware, and physical location detection comes naturally. However, you can adjust your Microsoft Edge privacy settings to ensure private and secure browsing, managing all these concerns.

Microsoft Edge settings, such as tracking prevention, cookies & site permissions, InPrivate browsing, search & services data, enhanced security mode, and clearing browsing data automatically, keep you safe and your privacy intact. 

This article guides you through adjusting these settings to stop sites from tracking you, manage your location access to prevent sites from knowing your precise location, ensure your history is not saved, control data sharing, and block personalized ads on your browser. Moreover, this post includes some highly effective tips to level up your Microsoft Edge privacy and security. Let’s get started right away. 

How to Adjust Microsoft Edge Privacy Settings

To adjust your Microsoft Edge privacy and security settings, you can access these settings by clicking the three-dot menu on the top right of your browser window, navigating to Settings, and then clicking Privacy, search, and services. 

Alternatively, you can type edge://settings/privacy in the browser address bar and press Enter to access the settings. Here, you are going to find all the necessary options, such as tracking prevention, clear browsing data, privacy settings, security settings, cookies, site permissions, and search and connected experiences management. 

You can continue reading this article to learn more about these Microsoft Edge privacy and security settings. 

What Should You Do to Improve Privacy when Using Edge: Privacy and Security Settings to Change Right Now

While all modern browsers, including Microsoft Edge, consider user privacy and security as top priorities, security vulnerabilities are not uncommon. Microsoft regularly releases updates to patch these loopholes. However, recent security issues with Microsoft Edge, such as the CVE-2024-1234 vulnerability, which allowed attackers to bypass security measures and control the affected computer, user activity tracking, etc., cannot be ignored. 

CVE-2024-1234 is a specific identifier for a security vulnerability discovered in Microsoft Edge. This issue is significant because it means malicious hackers could potentially exploit this loophole to gain unauthorized access to your computer, compromising your personal data and online activities. Hence, changing a few privacy and security settings on Microsoft Edge is essential.

Below are all the Microsoft Edge privacy settings you may need to adjust and how to change them. 

Turn on tracking prevention

We were searching for the best office printers a few days back, and many printer ads started popping up every time we used the browser next. Has that ever happened to you, that you search for something, and related ads start to pop up from nowhere? Then, like us, you can enable tracking prevention on Microsoft Edge. 

Tracking prevention in Microsoft Edge privacy settings prevents sites that use trackers from collecting information about your browsing history, thereby preventing targeted advertising. 

Moreover, some sites even sell the tracker data to third parties without your permission, hampering your privacy. Hence, enabling tracking prevention is a smart idea to block harmful trackers on Microsoft Edge. Here is how to block trackers in Edge by enabling tracking prevention settings. 

• First, type edge://settings/privacy in your browser address bar and press Enter to access the privacy and security settings.
• Next, click Tracking Prevention.
• In this step, toggle on Enable tracking prevention.

• You now have three options on your screen: Basic, Balanced, and Strict tracking prevention. While Balanced is selected by default, you can choose the tracking prevention level based on your requirements.

Basic: Allows most trackers but blocks the most harmful ones, such as those used for fingerprinting or cryptomining to create a unique profile of you. 

Balanced: Blocks trackers from the websites you have not visited and harmful trackers. This may result in less personalized content and ads. 

Strict: Blocks trackers from all sites; this may prevent some sites from working normally. 

Quick Tip: Use Basic prevention when your priorities are convenience and personalized ads/content to protect from known malicious trackers. Use Balanced to ensure both privacy and functionality for everyday browsing. Use Strict when privacy is your top concern, such as when performing sensitive tasks (for example, online financial transactions), or when you do not mind compromising some of the site functionality. Note that enabling Strict mode might cause some websites not to function properly; for instance, some videos may not play or logins may fail. You can also add exceptions to allow trackers on selected sites.

Note: In addition to third-party tracking, you can also stop Microsoft from collecting your browsing data by disabling the option to send optional diagnostic data to improve Microsoft products in the browser’s privacy settings. 

Also know: Free Ad Blocker Extensions for Microsoft Edge to Use

Enable Microsoft Defender SmartScreen

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen is a built-in Microsoft Edge feature that protects you from phishing attacks, malware, and malicious websites or downloads by checking URLs and files against online lists and reputation data. It warns you of suspicious content, such as unknown applications or bad websites, to ensure your safety. 

Moreover, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen analyzes web pages, verifies file reputation, and checks downloaded files for harmful code to add a protective layer against threats. 

In fact, a Microsoft report reveals that Defender SmartScreen resulted in a 2.8x reduction in identity theft. 

Hence, you can also enable this feature to improve your privacy and security. Here is how to turn on Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. 

• First, open Microsoft Edge settings by entering edge://settings/privacy in the address bar.
• Next, navigate to the Security settings.
• In this step, toggle on Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. As an added step for your security, you can also enable the option to block potentially unwanted applications.

Delete browsing data and cookies automatically

While saved browsing details, such as cookies (the information your browser stores to load sites faster the next time you visit them) and passwords, add to browsing speed and convenience, they can compromise your privacy, especially on a public computer, where the next user can access your data. 

Hence, you can turn on automatic cookie and data deletion when you close your browser. Here is how to clear browsing data, including history, cookies, cache, and passwords, automatically when you close Microsoft Edge. 

• Begin by opening the Microsoft Edge privacy settings by entering edge://settings/privacy in the address bar.
• Next, click Clear browsing data.

• In this step, click Choose what to clear every time you close the browser. If you wish to immediately clear out your browsing and download history, cached files, and cookies, click Choose what to clear.

• You can now select all the browsing history items, download history, cookies and other site data, cache images and files, and site permissions you wish to clear.

Note: If you do not want to clear cookies and other site data for a trusted site, you can add it to your don’t clear list. 

Turn on enhanced security mode

The enhanced security mode in Microsoft Edge protects you from threats by using your operating system’s protection to add a layer of security. For example, it uses Arbitrary Code Guard, a Windows feature that applies strict security settings to websites you visit infrequently, preventing the execution of malicious codes.

It also adapts to your browsing habits over time to help you browse the web securely and safeguard your browser from malware. Hence, here is how to enable enhanced security mode in Edge. 

• First, navigate to the settings menu by entering edge://settings/privacy in your browser’s address bar.
• Next, click on the Security settings.
• Click the Enhance your security on the web option.

• You can now choose from Balanced and Strict security modes.

Quick Tip: Choose Balanced mode to protect unknown websites with minimal disruption in your everyday browsing experience. Select Strict mode when you need maximum security for all sites (such as when browsing highly sensitive websites, suspect malware threats, or are on public WiFi), as it may disrupt the functionality of some websites. You can also set site preferences to turn enhanced security on or off for sites you choose. 

Enable automatic HTTPS

Automatic HTTPS encrypts data in the URL before sending it to the destination, so that no one can intercept it in the middle. Hence, below is how to enable automatic HTTPS in Edge. 

• First, copy and paste edge://flags/#edge-automatic-https in your browser’s address bar and press Enter.
• Next, change Automatic HTTPS to Enabled.
• Lastly, restart your browser.

Turn on Send “Do Not Track” requests

Sending a “Do Not Track” request informs websites that you do not wish to be tracked. While not all websites may respect this request, it helps stop sites from tracking on Edge. Hence, here is how to enable Send “Do Not Track” requests. 

• First, copy and paste edge://settings/privacy in your browser’s address bar and press Enter to access Microsoft Edge privacy settings.
• Next, click Privacy settings.
• Lastly, toggle on Send “Do Not Track” requests.

Block potentially unwanted apps

You can block shady or potentially unwanted software on Edge to keep your device protected from malware and other threats. Here is how. 

• First, click the three dots in the upper-right of your browser window and choose Settings from the on-screen menu.
• From the Microsoft Edge settings, choose Privacy, search, and services.
• In this step, click Security settings.
• Next, toggle on Block potentially unwanted apps to block downloads of low-reputation applications.

Disable save payment methods

While saving the payment methods in your browser is a convenient way to make online transactions, it may expose your sensitive information to hackers. Hence, here is how to turn off payment method saving in Edge. 

• First, access the Edge settings by entering edge://settings/privacy in the browser’s address bar.
• Next, choose Profiles from the settings menu.

• Choose the Payment info option.
• Next, toggle off Save and fill payment info. Also, disable Allow sites to check if you have payment methods saved for added privacy.

In addition to the above settings, a few simple tips can take your privacy and security in Edge to a whole new level. 

Also know: What is Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime and How to Download it for Windows 11

Helpful Tips to Enhance Privacy and Security in Microsoft Edge

You can follow these simple tips for enhancing your privacy and security when using Microsoft Edge. 

• Use In-Private mode for top-notch security. It disables all extensions and does not save your browsing history, cookies, or site data. To open an InPrivate Edge window, you can press Ctrl+Shift+N, right-click the Edge icon and select New InPrivate window, or click the three dots in the top right of the browser window and choose New InPrivate window.
• Ensure Microsoft Edge is always up to date on your device to fix security issues and protect yourself from the latest threats.
• Review and manage Edge extensions regularly, only install extensions from reliable sources, and remove those you do not use. To do so, click the three dots in the upper right of the Edge window, choose Extensions, and remove or disable any unwanted or suspicious extensions.
• Ensure all your accounts have strong and unique passwords that are tough to crack. You can use a password manager to generate and save your passwords securely.
• Use two-factor authentication, wherever possible, to add an extra layer of security to your online accounts.
• Enable “Use secure DNS” settings to ensure browser security. It encrypts DNS queries to protect from phishing and malware. To do so, enter edge://settings/privacy to open Microsoft Edge settings, click Security, and toggle on Use secure DNS.
• Install a good antivirus software to add additional protection from malware and phishing attacks.

That’s all for now. We hope this guide helps you enjoy a safe and secure browsing experience.