Browsers and Mail Enable or Disable Tracking Prevention in Microsoft Edge

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable tracking prevention in Microsoft Edge for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Microsoft Edge includes built-in tracking prevention, to keep your browsing activity free from online trackers. The tracking prevention feature in Microsoft Edge protects users from online tracking by restricting the ability of trackers to access browser-based storage as well as the network.

Websites use trackers to collect data about your browsing behavior. Trackers collect data about how you interact with a site, such as the content you click on. They also enable functionality on some websites, such as comments sections, buttons to share articles to social media, and personalized ads.

Some trackers collect data about you across multiple sites. For example, a tracker could track when you go to your favorite shopping site and news site. This is why it can sometimes feel like an ad is following you around the web.

Microsoft Edge currently offers users three levels of tracking prevention:

• Basic - The least restrictive level of tracking prevention that is designed for users who enjoy personalized advertisements and who don't mind being tracked on the web. Basic only protects users against malicious trackers such as fingerprinters and cryptominers.
• Balanced (Default) - The default level of tracking prevention that is designed for users who want to see less personalized advertisements while minimizing the risk of compatibility issues as they browse the web. Balanced aims to block trackers from sites that users never engage with.
• Strict - The most restrictive level of tracking prevention that is designed for users who are okay trading website compatibility for maximum privacy.

The tracking prevention feature in Microsoft Edge is made up of three main components that work together to determine whether a specific resource from a website should be classified as a tracker and blocked. The components are as follows:

• Classification - The way Microsoft Edge determines whether a URL belongs to a tracker.
• Enforcement - The actions taken to protect Microsoft Edge users from URLs classified as trackers.
• Mitigations - The mechanisms provided to ensure user-specified favorite sites still work, while offering strong default protection.

References:





EXAMPLE: Tracking Prevention in Microsoft Edge






1 Open Microsoft Edge.

2 Click/tap on the Settings and more (3 dots) button, and click/tap on Settings. (see screenshot below)


3 Click/tap on Privacy, search, and services in the left pane, and click/tap on Tracking prevention in the right pane. (see screenshot below)

If you do not see a left pane, then either click/tap on the 3 bars menu button towards the top left OR widen the horizontal borders of the Microsoft Edge window until you do.

4 Do step 5 (on) or step 6 (off) below for what you want.











7 You can now close the Settings tab if you like.

You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option.

This option uses the TrackingPrevention policy for Microsoft Edge.

1 Do step 2 (enable basic), step 3 (enable balanced), step 4 (enable strict), step 5 (disable), or step 6 (default) below for what you want.

This will override and gray out Option One.

(Contents of REG file for reference)

This will override and gray out Option One.

(Contents of REG file for reference)

This will override and gray out Option One.

(Contents of REG file for reference)

This will override and gray out Option One.

(Contents of REG file for reference)

This is the default setting to allow using Option One.

(Contents of REG file for reference)

7 Save the REG file to your desktop.

8 Double click/tap on the downloaded REG file to merge it.

9 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

10 You can now delete the downloaded REG file if you like.


That's it,
Shawn Brink