To manage the default cookie behavior for Microsoft Edge, create a configuration policy in the Microsoft 365 admin center, add DefaultCookiesSetting, choose the desired value, and assign the policy to the intended Microsoft Entra group. The setting applies globally: it allows cookies from all sites, blocks them from all sites, or keeps them only for the session. For exceptions by website, use Edge’s separate site-specific cookie policies.
Choose the right cookie policy value
DefaultCookiesSetting is a global, all-or-nothing control. Microsoft’s policy documentation explains that it lets an administrator allow all websites to create cookies or prevent all websites from doing so. It is not a control for blocking only third-party cookies or for creating a list of exceptions. See Microsoft’s DefaultCookiesSetting policy documentation.
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| Value in the policy | Integer | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| AllowCookies | 1 | Allows all sites to create cookies. |
| BlockCookies | 2 | Prevents all sites from creating cookies. |
| SessionOnly | 4 | Keeps cookies for the session, except cookies listed in SaveCookiesOnExit. |
If no policy is configured, Edge’s documented default is AllowCookies, and users can change the setting in Edge Settings. Once managed by policy, the setting is mandatory and users cannot change it in the browser.
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Microsoft’s Edge management service guidance requires Edge version 115.0.1901.7 or later and the Microsoft Edge Administrator role. The service supports Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, but Microsoft says it is unavailable to GCC plan customers. Confirm that your organization can use the service before creating the policy; the current prerequisites and workflow are in Microsoft’s configuration policies setup guide.
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Choose who should receive the setting before you proceed. You can assign it to one or more Microsoft Entra groups or to all users. The setup flow warns that a tenant-wide all-users assignment cannot be changed after policy creation, so use that scope only when it is intentional.
Create the policy in Microsoft 365 admin center
- Open Edge settings: Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and go to Settings > Microsoft Edge. Open Configuration policies, then select Create policy.
- Complete Basics: Enter a policy name and, if useful, a description. Select the platforms and choose a Cloud or Intune policy type. Microsoft’s setup guidance says an Intune license is required to create an Intune policy in this flow, and Intune policy creation here is Windows-only. Choose a Cloud policy when the configuration needs to apply across platforms.
- Add the cookie setting: In Settings, select Add setting, find the cookie configuration setting
DefaultCookiesSetting, and choose AllowCookies (1), BlockCookies (2), or SessionOnly (4). Select the platforms to which the setting should apply. - Assign the audience: In Assignments, select the Microsoft Entra group or groups that should receive the policy, or add all users if that is the intended scope.
- Review and create: Check the selected value, platforms, and assignment scope, then review and create the policy.
Allow or block cookies for selected sites instead
Use DefaultCookiesSetting only when one global behavior is appropriate. For site-specific rules, Microsoft documents separate policies:
CookiesAllowedForUrlsallows cookies for specified URL patterns. See Microsoft’s CookiesAllowedForUrls policy documentation.CookiesBlockedForUrlsblocks cookies for specified URL patterns. See Microsoft’s CookiesBlockedForUrls policy documentation.CookiesSessionOnlyForUrlskeeps cookies for specified URL patterns only for the session. See Microsoft’s CookiesSessionOnlyForUrls policy documentation.
Check the URL-pattern guidance for these policies and avoid conflicting patterns across the allow, block, and session-only lists.
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Edge management service policies are assigned to Microsoft Entra user groups. Multiple policies can apply to a user: non-conflicting settings can merge, while conflicting Cloud policy settings are resolved by policy priority, where 0 is the highest priority. Intune configuration policies do not have automatic priority resolution.
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A conflicting existing Group Policy Object (GPO) or Mobile Device Management (MDM) policy overrides an Edge management service policy by default. Therefore, creating a Cloud policy does not by itself guarantee that it will be the effective setting on a device. Microsoft explains policy assignment and precedence in its Edge management service guide.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Verify the effective setting in Edge
- Sign in to the Edge profile associated with a user in the policy’s assigned group.
- Open
edge://policyin the address bar. - Inspect the effective policy list for
DefaultCookiesSettingand confirm the value and the profile receiving it. Also look for conflicting policy sources if the expected value is absent or different. - Restart Edge if needed. Cloud policy settings take effect after an Edge restart; Microsoft notes that policies are checked on sign-in and periodically. The documented schedule includes checks every 90 minutes for users with assigned policies and every 24 hours when no applicable group policy is found.
Microsoft recommends edge://policy for checking applied settings and notes that a restart may be necessary. See Configure Microsoft Edge for Windows with policy settings.
Quick Recap
Troubleshoot a policy that does not take effect
- The setting is missing: Confirm the signed-in Edge profile belongs to an assigned group, then check
edge://policyagain after the browser has restarted. - The effective value differs: Check for a higher-priority conflicting Cloud policy, or a GPO or MDM policy that overrides the Edge management service setting by default.
- Only some sites need different treatment: Replace the expectation of a global exception with the appropriate URL-specific allow, block, or session-only policy, and review the URL patterns for conflicts.
- The admin-center workflow is unavailable: Check the Edge version, administrator role, plan eligibility, and policy type requirements before troubleshooting the setting itself.
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