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I've installed something that kindly added thesearch.net as a default homepage and search to all of my browsers on Windows 10.

I've managed to remove it from all of my browsers except one: Microsoft Edge.

Somehow, it's managed to hijack the start page - completely ignoring what is set in the options within the app. I've ran a number of anti-malware tools along with searching through the registry for the string of the domain. It is not coming up anywhere.

I've tried resetting Edge to its default settings using with Powershell using a guide at How-To Geek but even that doesn't stop this taking over the Edge start screen.

All I want to do is either restore the Edge start screen or be able to choose a different page. Any help is appreciated.

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  • How are you launching Edge? Look at the properties of the icon or what you are using. See if thesearch.net is in there
    – bvaughn
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 14:23
  • I might be missing something obvious - how can you check the properties of a Modern icon?
    – John Reid
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 14:40
  • @JohnReid - Are you willing to use third-party software, in order to remove Microsoft Edge from your system, so it can be installed again? I do have an alternative solution if that isn't acceptable.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 15:14
  • @John Reid, this is how to get to modern tile properties: eightforums.com/tutorials/…
    – Jack White
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 17:04
  • @JackWhite That tutorial doesn't apply to Modern apps: "This tutorial does not apply to modern app tiles from the Store on your Start or Apps screen."
    – John Reid
    Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 9:49

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Okay, I seem to have fixed this and here are the instructions:

The first step was to remove the Edge icon from the Windows taskbar and close any running instances.

Open up the registry and delete the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppContainer\Storage\microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe
This is the registry key that the Edge app uses (I found using Process Explorer) - so it will remove any Edge-specific settings.

Next, delete the Package folder (Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe in my build) from the %AppData%\..\Local\Packages\. (I couldn't delete this on my first try so I accessed it from a different user account and deleted it that way.)

Now that every reference to Edge is removed, the only task left is to reinstall it: Open up PowerShell in Adminstrator mode and run the following command: 

Get-AppxPackage -allusers *microsoftedge* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

The whole process of removing and reinstalling seemed to finally fix the start-page hijack.

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  • 1
    And the correct PowerShell command to reinstall Edge would be: Get-AppxPackage -allusers *microsoftedge* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
    – w32sh
    Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 11:13
  • You're right @w32sh, thanks for making that correction. Too much copy 'n' paste from my notes.
    – John Reid
    Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 14:49

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