How to Fix Microsoft Edge not Closing Problem

Microsoft Edge is definitely a faster web browser. But, Recently a terrible problem is affecting users’ experience with it. Even i have also encountered that problem. Sometimes, You may see that Edge is not closing even after clicking on the close button again and again. It is really a horrible situation. This problem arises even when you are browsing fine. I mean, Everything may work fine except this closing issue. Sometimes, You click on close button and you may be asked “Are you sure you want to leave this page?”. Then, You may click on Leave this page repeatedly. But it is not closing or leaving the page. So, It is very possible that you have been looking for good solutions to get rid of this problem.

Why Microsoft Edge is not Closing Problem:

Actually, It is an old problem. But, In past, There were a few peoples who faced it. After anniversary update of windows 10, This issue have disturbing more users. This update have brought extension support for edge. So, Third party extension can be a reason behind it. Some websites have too many javascripts, iframes and uncleaned codes. When you visit these sites from edge or any other browsers like chrome, You may face browser performance issues. According to my experience, When i opened several tabs and visit js or iframe heavy sites, I faced edge not closing problem. When it is from google chrome, I faced AW Snap or kill pages problem. So, It can be another reason. Anyway, Here are the possible things that may cause edge not closing problem.

• Opening multiple tabs.
• Visiting javascript or iframe heavy websites.
• Third-party extensions.
• Any third-party services of your PC.
• Windows system file corruption.
• Edge package data may be corrupted.

Close Edge When Close Button Become Unresponsive:

Before going for solution, We have to know how to deal with edge not closing situations. This problem can appear in two ways.

1. Edge is working fine except the close button.
2. Browser is totally freezed. Everything is unresponsive including the close button.

So, When you face the first issue, You have to follow first method. If that doesn’t work, You will need to follow second one which is applicable for both situations.

• First of all, Close all tabs one by one. Then close Microsoft edge. According to my experience, It works fine.
• Right click on Taskbar and choose Task Manager. Make sure, Task manager is in few details view mode. Now, End the Microsoft Edge process from there.

Close Edge by Reducing Iframe:

If you want to any advanced way to close edge when its close button or leave page button become unresponsive, This trick can help you.

• Make sure, You are on the problematic web page.
• Press F12 from keyboard. Or just open options menu and choose F12 Developer Tools.

Click to View in Full Size

• Now, Find the iframes and click on it. Now, Press Delete from keyboard. You also can right click on it and choose Delete Element.

How to Fix Edge Browser not Closing Problem:

If you face this problem temporarily, That’s OK. But, If it comes again and again, It will be a real disturbing situation. So, Here are the few methods that can help you to get rid of this problem.

Method 1: Clear Browsing Data, Cache and Cookies

For any web browsers’ problem, We suggest everyone to clear their browsing data, cache and cookies from that web browsers. If corrupted browser data is the culprit, It will fix the problem. So, Here are the instructions to do it in Edge –

• Click on Three Dots button from the top right corner to open Options Menu.
• Now, Click on Settings and then click on Choose What to Clear.
• At this time, Mark everything and click on Clear. You may leave passwords from cleaning.
• Then, Try to Edge or Force close it from task manager according to the way i mentioned above.
• Open edge again and see if fixes the problem.

Method 2: Disable Extensions

Before doing it, You have to know if any of your extensions is really culprit. If you face this not closing problem repeatedly, You can try to browse from private mode. You should be sure one or more extensions are the culprit when you see edge is working fine in private mode. Here are the instructions –

• First of all, Open Options menu by clicking on three dots (…) and choose New InPrivate Window. It will open a new window which will let you browse privately.

• If you find private browsing was OK with no problem, Then again go to Options menu and click on Extensions.
• Now, Click on any of your extensions and turn it off. Do this for all extensions.
• Now, Try to close browser or force close it.
• Open edge again and see if it works.

Method 3: Reset Microsoft Edge to Fix not Closing Issue

Resetting this browser can help you a lot. It will restore all settings, options to default state and clear all of your local data. Peoples found it helpful. So, It may work for you too. Here are the steps to do it –

• Navigate to the following folder and delete everything from there.

C:\Users\<users>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_xxxxxx\

There may be anything instead of xxxxxx.

• Now, Open start menu and find Windows Powershell. Right click on it and choose Run as administrator.
• In powershell, Type the following command and wait for a minute to finish the process.

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose}

• Now, Open microsoft edge and check if it fixes not closing problem.

Method 4: Fix Corrupted System Files

Running SFC command is a good option to repair any corrupted system files of windows. As, Microsoft edge is a builtin app, Corrupted windows files can cause problem to it. So, Repairing them can be a good idea. After doing it, You can open this browser. If you are lucky, You won’t face “edge not closing problem” anymore. Read: How to Repair Corrupted System Files.

I hope this article will help you to resolve the problem. You may know any better solution. Then, You are welcome to share it with us which will help other users.