Many individuals desire that protects their privacy from all of the different trackers that are concealed on many of the websites out there. Microsoft Edge,the Chromium-based browser included with current versions of Windows, includes its own set of security features, including its own VPN.
Here’s how to change your browser’s settings, check what trackers are kept on your computer, and delete any cookies.
To adjust your protection level, go to:
- Go to Settings by clicking the three dots in the top-right corner of your browser window. From the left-hand menu, choose Privacy, Search, and Services.
- Make sure Tracking Prevention is turned on, then choose your desired level.
CHANGE YOUR TRACKING OPTIONS
Edge offers three simple tracking options, but you can also go deeper to discover which trackers are blocked and establish exceptions for specific websites.
- Look for the Blocked trackers link directly beneath the three tracking avoidance choices on the Privacy, search, and services page. To see all of the trackers Edge has blacklisted, click on it.
- You can specify any sites where you wish tracking prevention turned off by clicking the Exceptions link beneath the Blocked tracker’s link.
When you’re on a website, click the lock symbol on the left side of the top address field to discover how effective your tracking prevention is. You can check the associated cookies and site permissions, enable or disable pop-ups, change the tracking permissions for that site, and see which trackers have been blocked using the drop-down box.
CLEAN UP YOUR COOKIES
When you close Edge, it can remove various types of data, including browsing history, passwords, and cookies.
- Scroll down to Clear browsing data in Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
- Every time you close the browser, click the arrow next to Choose what to clear.
- When you exit Edge, toggle on any of the data categories you’d like to be cleared. By clicking the Add button after selecting Cookies and other site data, you can pick any sites whose cookies you want to keep.
You can also delete cookies manually.
Look for Clear browsing data immediately on the Privacy, search, and services page, then click the button labeled Choose what to clear. A smaller window with many options will appear.
Choose the type of data you wish to get rid of.
You can also remove data from the previous hour, the previous 24 hours, the previous seven days, the previous four weeks, or all time.
If you’ve been using old websites in Internet Explorer mode, there’s also a link to erase your data. You should also be aware that wiping your data will erase it from all of your synced devices. (However, you can clear it just on that computer by logging out of your Microsoft account.)
Now click Clear.
Other privacy features include the ability to send “Do Not Track” requests, which can be found on the Privacy, search, and services page. (However, the utility of such a request is debatable.)
You’ll find a lot of features you can switch on or off if you scroll down to the Security section of that page. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, for example, can help protect you from fraudulent websites and, if you enable it, will prohibit the download of potentially dangerous apps. There’s also a mechanism that prevents you from mistakenly visiting a dangerous website due to a typo.
Although Edge does not come with built-in ad blocking, you can install ad-blocking plugins. Because the browser is now based on Chromium, many Chrome extensions (as well as Microsoft Store extensions) will operate with this current version of Edge, which is a significant benefit.
