This tutorial shows how to disable Show Favorites bar option in Microsoft Edge on Windows 11/10 computer using Registry Editor or Group Policy Editor.. There are multiple ways like using the hotkey, right-click menu, etc., to open or show the Favorites bar in Microsoft Edge. But those who want to hide it permanently or disable it can use any of the two built-in options of Windows 11/10 OS. We have added both the options in this tutorial with detailed instructions.
Do note that even after you have disabled the Favorites bar, you can continue to access the favorites or bookmarks stored in it, add new bookmarks, add a favorites folder, delete a favorite, and more. The only thing is the options to show Favorites bar won’t work. Those options will be greyed out. You can keep this change for as long as you want. Later, you can also enable the Favorites bar at any time you want using the same options.
How to disable Show Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge
To disable showing the Favorites bar in the Microsoft Edge browser on a Windows 11/10 computer, you can use the following built-in options:
- Windows Registry Editor
- Local Group Policy Editor.
Before you use any of these options, we suggest you create a system restore point. If something goes wrong, you can easily restore your computer.
1] Disable the Favorites bar in Microsoft Edge using Windows Registry Editor
The steps are as follows:
- Open the Registry Editor
- Go to the Microsoft key
- Create an Edge key
- Create a FavoritesBarEnabled value
- Restart Microsoft Edge.
In the first step, open the Registry Editor window. To do this, type regedit in the Windows Search box and use the Enter key.
After this, go to the Microsoft key by following this path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoft
In the Microsoft key, you have to create a Registry key. Once the new key is generated, rename that key to Edge.
Now select the Edge key. Right-click on the right-hand area, select New and use the DWORD (32-bit) Value option. When you have created this DWORD value, name it FavoritesBarEnabled.
At last, restart the Microsoft Edge browser. Now Favorites bar will be disabled completely and won’t be open using any option.
To enable the Favorites bar again in the Edge browser, you can use the steps mentioned above, and delete the Edge Registry key. Restart Microsoft Edge and you can show the Favorites bar once again.
Related: How to prevent changes to Favorites on Microsoft Edge on Windows 11/10.
2] Disable showing Favorites bar in Edge browser using Local Group Policy Editor
In order to use this solution, you have to integrate Microsoft Edge with Local Group Policy Editor by downloading its Group Policy templates and adding Microsoft Edge templates to Group Policy Editor. Though Microsoft Edge settings are already there in Group Policy Editor, some settings are not present. Therefore, you need to add Microsoft Edge templates manually. When you have done that, you can follow these steps:
- Open Local Group Policy Editor window
- Select the Microsoft Edge folder
- Access the Enable favorites bar setting
- Select Disabled for that setting
- Press the OK button.
Let’s check these steps in detail.
Type gpedit in the Search box and hit the Enter key. It will open the Local Group Policy Editor window.
Select the Microsoft Edge folder using the path mentioned below:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Classic Administrative Templates (ADM) > Microsoft Edge
On the right-hand part, you will see a huge list of settings. In that list, find the Enable favorites bar setting. Once you have found it, double-click on it to access that setting. This setting will open in a new window.
Click on the Disabled option for this setting and then use the OK button.
Close Microsoft Edge (if opened already) and launch it again. Now Favorites bar will not open in your Edge browser.
When you want to show or enable the Favorites bar in Microsoft Edge, you can use the steps listed above to access the Enable favorites bar setting. After accessing that setting, select the Not Configured option for it, and use the OK button.
Hope it helps.
How do I make the favorites bar go away?
If you want to hide the Favorites bar in the Microsoft Edge browser, then the quickest way to do that is using the Ctrl+Shift+B hotkey. On the other hand, if you want to disable the Favorites bar in the Edge browser, then you can either use Windows Registry Editor or Local Group Policy Editor options. Both of these options are covered separately in this post. You can also enable the Favorites bar using the same options when you want to use it again.
How do I disable Microsoft Edge Toolbar?
If you don’t want to see certain buttons (such as the Extensions button, Favorites button, Collections button, etc.) on the Microsoft Edge toolbar, then you can easily turn off such options. On the other hand, if you want to vanish or hide the Edge toolbar from showing, then you need to turn off all the options available for the Edge toolbar. For doing this, open the Settings page, and access the Appearance setting. There, access the Select which buttons to show on the toolbar section and use the toggle for the given options.