How-To

How to Fix Microsoft Edge Not Responding

By Brian Burgess

Published August 25, 2023

When the Microsoft Edge browser freezes up, it disrupts your workflow. If Microsoft Edge isn’t responding, follow the steps in this guide to fix it.

Microsoft is continuously adding improvements to the Microsoft Edge browser. It usually works well, but you might run into a situation where you need to fix Microsoft Edge when it freezes up on the desktop.

Edge becomes unresponsive due to having too many open tabs, corrupt extensions, or needing the latest bug fixes. When one tab freezes up, it’s frustrating, but when it’s the entire browser, it becomes impossible to use.

If you’re having an issue with Microsoft Edge not responding on your PC, we’ll show you the steps you can take to get it working.

Close and Relaunch Microsoft Edge

One of the most straightforward fixes to try is closing Edge and relaunching it. If the browser is unresponsive to the point where clicking the X doesn’t work, you can use Task Manager.

To relaunch Microsoft Edge:

1. Right-click the taskbar, select Task Manager, or press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open it directly.
2. Select the Processes tab.
3. Right-click Microsoft Edge and select End Task from the menu.
4. Relaunch Edge and see if it’s working correctly.

Repair Microsoft Edge

If Edge opens but continuously freezes up while browsing, you can use Windows to repair the app.

To repair Microsoft Edge:

1. Press the Windows key + I to open Settings.
2. Select Apps from the left column and choose Installed apps on the right.
3. Type Microsoft Edge in the search field, click the three-dot menu button next to Edge, and select Modify.
4. Click the Repair button when the Edge prompt appears.
5. A progress bar will appear during the repair process, and Edge will relaunch when it’s complete.

Close Unresponsive Tabs

Having too many tabs open can cause Edge to freeze up. Unresponsive sites can cause the problem, too. Check and close tabs in Edge that you no longer need to access, and close tabs with a site that isn’t working.

Try to close web apps like Google Docs and Office.com or multimedia sites like Spotify or YouTube first. Also, you can disable background apps that you aren’t using to free up system resources.

Disable Browser Extensions in Microsoft Edge

A corrupt or malfunctioning browser extension could be causing Edge to be unresponsive. If you’re using several extensions, they could be conflicting with each other. Disabling or uninstalling them can fix the problem.

To disable extensions in Edge:

1. Click the Extensions icon (puzzle piece) at the top of the browser. You can access the icon from the Settings menu if you don’t see the icon.
2. Select the Manage Extensions option from the menu.
3. In the Installed extensions section, toggle the extensions on or off one at a time to determine which one is causing the problem. If you notice Edge is becoming unresponsive after installing a specific extension, disable that one first.
4. Once you find the culprit, you can uninstall it by clicking the Remove button.

Update the Browser

Like Windows and other apps on your system, ensuring your browser is up to date is essential for bug fixes, features, and performance.

To update Edge, click the three-dot menu button and select Help and feedback > About Microsoft Edge, and it will download the latest version if one is available. Relaunch the browser to complete the process.

Clear Cache and Browsing History

If you have a problem with Edge continuously freezing up and becoming unresponsive, it’s a good idea to clear your Edge cache and browsing history.

To quickly access these settings, type edge://settings/privacy into the address bar and press Enter, then select Choose what to clear in the Clear browsing data section. Make sure to select any browser history, cached images and files, cookies, and download history before you clear it.

Choose a time range for how far back you want to clear the data and click the Clear now button.

Fixing Microsoft Edge Issues

It’s annoying when you’re trying to get things done, and the Edge browser crashes or becomes unresponsive on your Windows PC. But the above options will allow you to get it working again.

More features are being added to Edge all the time. If you want to improve your online browsing privacy and security, check out how to use the Microsoft Edge VPN.

If you need to do online web collaborations, you might want to find out about using the Edge Workspaces feature. And if you need to do complex math equations, you can use the Edge Math Solver tool.