Microsoft Edge is my browser of choice on mobile and desktop. The software giant’s latest chrome browser offers unique functionality such as cross-platform usability, Edge Collections and is compatible with all Chrome extensions. There’s a lot to like about Windows 10’s default web browser. But if the browser keeps crashing you frequently, all your joy may be wasted.
This is a known issue among Windows 10 users. And there are multiple factors at play here. Sometimes Microsoft Edge stops responding or keeps crashing occasionally. This can be a real pain since you may have dozens of tabs open to research or watch the latest TV shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
In this post, we are going to talk about all the major reasons causing Microsoft Edge to crash on Windows 10 and how to fix the problem. Lets start.
1. Restart Your Computer
Sometimes, a simple restart of the computer can fix the critical problems of the machine and the Windows 10 operating system. You can click the Start button and select Restart to restart the computer.
Now go ahead and start browsing to see if the Edge crashing issue has been fixed.
2. Change Google Search Engine
Many users reported that Edge browser crashes constantly when they set Google as the default search engine of Edge browser. As a workaround, you can change the default search engine to Bing, Yahoo or DuckDuckGo from Edge Settings.
Open the Edge browser and go to Settings. Go to Privacy, Search & Services > Address bar & Search.
You will see the Search engine used in the address bar option. Click on it and choose a non-Google search engine.
3. Turn off Search Suggestions
What if you want to keep Google as the default search engine? All in all, it is the best search engine on the market with superior recommendations, artificial intelligence and more. In this case, you can temporarily turn off search suggestions from Edge Settings.
Open the Edge browser and go to Settings. Go to Privacy, Search & Services > Address bar & Search. When you turn off search suggestions from the menu, you can switch back to Google as the default search engine.
4. Clear Cache and Cookies
A corrupt cache can ruin your day. Clearing the cache is almost always safe, so there’s no reason not to try it.
If your Microsoft Edge has overloaded browsing data, it can cause the browser to slow down or become unresponsive.
When Microsoft Edge becomes unresponsive on Windows 10, you can clear your browser’s browsing history, cache, and cookies.
Stage 1: Open Microsoft Edge and tap the three-dot menu above.
Step 2: Go to Settings > Privacy, Search & Services.
Stage 3: Go to Clear browsing data > Choose What to Clear.
Step 4: Select Cookies and Cache and hit Clear data at the bottom.
Then restart the Microsoft Edge browser and check if the issues with Edge crashing have been fixed.
5. Close the Edge Properly
Sometimes Edge stops responding because tabs you close over time don’t actually close the process. These edge processes add and consume a lot of RAM. The behavior ultimately causes Microsoft Edge to crash, freeze, or not open at all.
To turn off Edge completely in Windows 10, follow the steps below.
Stage 1: Press the Windows key and open the start menu.
Step 2: Type Task Manager and press enter to open the program.
Stage 3: Right-click the top-level Microsoft Edge process (with a number next to it) and select End Task.
This will close all running Edge processes, free up RAM and allow you to restart Edge. You should also keep an eye on other processes running in the background. Turn off irrelevant ones and this will free up more RAM space on your Windows 10 device.
6. Disable Edge Extensions
As you know, Microsoft Edge is built on Google’s Chromium engine. As a result, it works perfectly with all Google Chrome extensions. Using extensions, more features can be added to the core Edge interface and functionality.
However, some may not be actively maintained, be out of date, or develop incompatibilities with new Edge builds.
If you have dozens of Edge extensions installed, it can be difficult to figure out which one is causing the problem. Therefore, the easiest solution is to disable all extensions and then enable only the ones you need each time.
Stage 1: Tap the three-dot menu on the Edge home screen.
Step 2: Go to the Extensions menu and select Uninstall to delete the extensions.
7. Update Windows
Microsoft Edge crashing is also a critical issue for Microsoft. The browser is an integral part of the operating system. The software giant usually fixes such problems quickly with minor Windows patches. In Windows 10, you can open the Settings app and navigate to Windows updates. If there are updates available, download and install them.
Start Using Microsoft Edge Again
You can easily fix Microsoft Edge crashing behavior on Windows 10 using the above-mentioned tricks. I turned off search suggestions from the Edge Settings menu and that fixed the issue for me. Let us know about the trick that worked for you in the comments section below.
Next: Firefox is another strong contender that can rival the default Windows 10 browser. Read the comparison post from the link below to find a better choice for you.
