How to Enable or Disable “Add Profile” in Microsoft Edge

MS Edge profiles provide a powerful way to compartmentalize browsing activity. Each profile holds separate bookmarks, passwords, browsing history, and extensions, so users can easily switch between and among their Microsoft Edge profiles. While this is beneficial for individual users juggling personal and work accounts, it can be a security vulnerability in shared or managed environments. By default, users can freely add new profiles, but administrators in enterprise, educational, or kiosk settings may need to lock this feature down for security or IT compliance purposes.

In this guide, we walk you through how to enable or disable the “Add profile” option in Microsoft Edge.

Configuring Microsoft Edge profiles

Before proceeding, ensure the following requirements are met:

• Microsoft Edge must already be installed on the system.
• You must have administrative privileges on the device.
• Registry Editor can be used on all Windows 11 editions, including Home.

Method 1: Using Registry Editor

This method is ideal when Group Policy is unavailable or when quick script-based deployments are needed.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and click Enter.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
3. (Optional) If the Edge key does not exist, you would need to create it. To do this, right-click on an empty space and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Within the Edge key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named BrowserAddProfileEnabled.
5. Set its value:
   • 0: Disables the ability to add new profiles button
   • 1: Enables the ability to add new profiles (default behavior)
6. Close the Registry Editor and restart Microsoft Edge or reboot the computer to apply the changes.

Method 2: Using PowerShell

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1. Open PowerShell.
2. Execute these commands:

To disable the “Add profile” option

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" -Force

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" `

-Name "BrowserAddProfileEnabled

" -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force

To re-enable it

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" `

-Name "BrowserAddProfileEnabled

" -Value 1

Additional considerations when modifying MS Edge profiles

• Edge profiles vs. Microsoft accounts: Take note that disabling profile creation in Edge does not affect the ability to log into Windows with different user accounts. If you want to learn how to delete user profiles in Windows 11 and Windows 10, you can watch this video.
• Sign-in permissions: Users can still sign into existing Edge profiles unless other restrictions are explicitly applied.
• Kiosk mode: Automatically limits profile switching and creation to preserve a locked-down environment.
• Policy enforcement scope: This configuration disables the UI from adding new profiles across the browser, including the edge://settings/profiles page.

Improve security in your IT enterprise by configuring MS Edge profiles

Managing MS Edge profiles is essential for IT administrators who support shared or policy-restricted environments. Disabling the “Add profile” feature reduces complexity, minimizes the risk of threat actors exploiting vulnerabilities, and supports consistent user experiences across managed endpoints.