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Edge privacy and security

Edge includes several security features, including security indicators and malware protection. Because of its advanced security features, Edge offers a safe browsing experience. Edge also allows you to control what information you share online, keeping your personal information private.

Watch the video below to learn the basics of privacy and security in Edge.

Website security indicators

Whenever you navigate to an encrypted website, Edge will display an HTTPS security indicator to the left of the web address in the address bar. This indicator will appear if the site is using a secure connection. Always check for this icon when entering sensitive information, like your credit card number or birth date. A secure connection makes it almost impossible for someone to access your information.

If no indicator appears, this means the site is not using a secure connection. This is not important for many websites, like a news source or weather forecast, but you should avoid entering sensitive personal information on these pages.

Whenever you visit potentially unsafe websites that may contain malware or phishing scams, Edge will show you a warning page.

Edge offers a high level of protection from malicious websites, but you should still use your best judgement when browsing online. Review our Internet Safety tutorial to learn more about staying safe online.

Maintaining your privacy in Edge

Edge takes great care to keep your personal information private. It offers many ways to control your privacy, including modifying your privacy settings, deleting your history, and browsing in a private window.

Privacy settings

Edge allows you to control some of the information you share online, which you can modify in your privacy settings. We recommend not changing Edge's default selections, as they allow for the best balance of privacy and security while browsing. However, you can modify them if you want.

To modify your privacy settings:

1. Click the More button, then select Settings.
   
2. Scroll down and select View advanced settings.
   
3. From here, you can customize your privacy settings. For example, you can tell websites that you don't want your browsing habits tracked, block cookies, and more.
   

Deleting browsing history

Like all browsers, Edge keeps a record of every website you visit in your browsing history. You may want to remove some or all of your browsing history for the sake of privacy.

To remove specific sites from your history:

1. Click the Hub button, then select the History tab.
   
2. Right-click the site you want to remove, then click Delete.
   

To clear all browsing data:

Edge makes it easy to delete some or all of your history. For example, sometimes you might want to remove only your history from the past hour instead of removing your entire history. You might also want to remove all of your saved pages and cookies but keep your saved passwords.

1. Click the Hub button, then select the History tab.
   
2. Select Clear all history.
   
3. A new menu will appear. Choose the browsing data you'd like to delete. When you're ready, click Clear.
   
4. The selected browsing history will be cleared.

Private browsing

For added privacy, Edge also offers private browsing, which allows you to browse the web without recording your history or storing cookies. This is a great way to keep your browsing history secret when planning a party or buying a gift for someone who shares your computer.

To create a private window:

1. Click the More button, then select New InPrivate window.
   
2. A private browsing window will appear, which you'll use just like a regular Edge window. Note the blue InPrivate icon in the top-left corner, which confirms that you are in browsing privately.
   

Private browsing does not make Edge more secure—it only stops Edge from saving history and cookies for that session. Don't use a private window to view any websites you wouldn't feel safe viewing in a regular Edge window.

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