If you take a look at the group policy settings in Windows 11 or the separately available ADMX files, you will find settings for Microsoft Edge there. However, they do not affect the Chromium-based browser. For this version, you have to download and install the administrative templates separately.

The 56 settings under Administrative Templates > Windows Components are used to configure the old Edge app, although Microsoft replaced it with the Chromium version quite some time ago. The new Edge browser follows much shorter update cycles than the operating system; hence, Microsoft maintains and provides the responsible ADMX templates separately.

Download the ADMX templates

You can download them from the Microsoft Edge for Business page. Under each download button for the browser is a link labeled Download Windows 32 or 64-bit Policy.

All three links for the administrative templates point to the same CAB file

All three links for the administrative templates point to the same CAB file

You can choose between 32 and 64 bit for x86 as well as the version for devices with an ARM processor. All three policy files are identical; the platform distinction affects only the browser itself. You get a CAB file that you can open in File Explorer by double clicking. Then extract the ZIP archive it contains.

Contents of the group policy file for Microsoft Edge

Contents of the group policy file for Microsoft Edge

There are three ADMX files under the windows\admx path: msedge.admx, msedgeupdate.admx, and msedgewebview.admx. Only the first of these is used for the actual management of Microsoft Edge. The second one controls the auto updater, which you should completely disable via GPO if you want to get updates via WSUS.

Group policies can be used to disable automatic updates for Edge

Group policies can be used to disable automatic updates for Edge

The last of the three files is used to configure WebView2. This is a variant of the browser that can be embedded as a component in other applications. It thus replaces IE, which provided this function as an ActiveX object.

Installing administrative templates

If you want to install the administrative templates on a local workstation, copy the ADMX files from the ZIP archive to %systemroot%\Policydefinitions. In addition, copy the language files from the respective directories, for example, de-DE or en-US, into the corresponding folders under Policydefinitions. However, if you want to store the templates in a central store, then proceed as described in this guide.

Summary

Microsoft maintains the ADMX templates for Edge separately from those for the operating system. Therefore, they are not included with Windows, and you have to download and install them manually.

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The CAB file is identical for all three platforms. In addition to the template for the actual management of the browser, it contains the templates for the auto updater and for WebView2.

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