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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →To change Enhanced Security in Microsoft Edge, open Settings and more > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Security. There you can set the global mode to Off, Balanced, or Strict. To change it for a single site, use the Added security indicator beside the address bar. Balanced is Microsoft’s recommended mode, and Strict is the one most likely to break ordinary sites.
Turn Enhanced Security on or off for all sites
The global control is the same whether you want to enable the feature or disable it. The steps below describe the desktop Edge menus; labels can shift between Edge versions and managed rollouts.
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- Select Settings and more (the three-dot menu at the top right of the window).
- Select Settings, then Privacy, search, and services.
- Scroll to the Security section and find Enhance your security on the web.
- To turn the feature on, keep the setting enabled and choose Balanced or Strict.
- To turn the feature off, choose Off. Depending on how your version presents the control, this may appear as a switch for Enhance your security on the web instead of a mode list.
Microsoft Support notes that Enhanced Security may already be on in your installation because of ongoing development and testing. Do not assume a default; check the control on your own browser.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteChoose between Off, Balanced, and Strict
There are three states. The two active modes differ in how widely they apply protection and how likely they are to disturb normal browsing.
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| Mode | Where protection applies | Compatibility expectation | Microsoft’s guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off | Feature disabled | Standard browsing behavior | Use when you want no added hardening |
| Balanced | Unfamiliar or infrequently visited sites; frequently visited sites are left out | Most sites should work as expected | Recommended option |
| Strict | All visited sites by default | Parts of some websites may not work as expected | Not recommended for most users |
Both active modes are described as adapting over time as browsing habits change. Microsoft’s “Browse more safely with Microsoft Edge” page (last updated July 18, 2024) states: “Strict mode is not recommended for most users as it would require some level of configuration to complete daily tasks.”
The feature does its work by disabling just-in-time (JIT) JavaScript compilation and enabling additional operating-system protections for the browser, including Hardware-enforced Stack Protection and Arbitrary Code Guard (ACG). That is why it can affect how some pages run. It is separate from Edge’s tracking-prevention levels and SmartScreen, which are configured elsewhere.
Turn Enhanced Security off for one website
If one site breaks while you want to keep the global mode, create a per-site exception instead of changing the global setting.
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- Open the site in Edge.
- Select Added security beside the address bar to open the site information flyout.
- Select Enhance security for this site.
- Switch Use enhanced security for this site off. To turn protection back on for that site later, switch it on again.
When you switch it off, Edge automatically adds the site to its exception list. Microsoft Learn describes the same flyout flow for enterprise and consumer readers.
Manage site exceptions
Exceptions can be reviewed and edited in one place. Microsoft Support gives this path:
- Select Settings and more > Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Security.
- Select Site preferences for enhanced security.
- To remove the extra protection for a site, add it under Never use enhanced security for these sites.
- To apply protection to a site, add it under Always use enhanced security for these sites.
- Enter the full URL, select Add, and edit or remove entries from the same list when needed.
Microsoft Learn’s enterprise documentation uses a newer label, Manage enhanced security for sites, and refers to the exception list as Enhanced security exceptions under Settings > Privacy, search, and services. If your menu reads differently, look for the same list under the Security section; the function is the same even when the wording changes.
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When a site still misbehaves
- Switch Enhanced Security off for that site only, and reload the page before testing again.
- If the problem involves a WebAssembly-based site on a 32-bit system, Microsoft’s policy reference notes that WebAssembly is not supported in that configuration when the policy is enabled, and suggests an exception for a site a user must access.
- Reserve the Strict mode for situations where you accept possible breakage across all sites; for most readers, Balanced with a few site exceptions is the more practical setup.
Managed devices and policy
On a work or school device, an administrator may have set the mode or restricted whether you can change it. If the option is greyed out or missing, contact your administrator rather than assuming the setting is broken. Microsoft Learn says administrators can use policies, including domain lists that enforce or bypass Enhanced Security, and that the user-bypass behavior can also be controlled by policy.
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The EnhanceSecurityMode policy reference maps values as follows:
| Policy value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| StandardMode | Standard security state; Enhanced Security off |
| BalancedMode | Balanced |
| StrictMode | Strict |
| BasicMode | Deprecated; treated as Balanced starting in Edge 113; does not work in Edge 116 |
The policy is documented for Windows and macOS from Edge version 98. The same reference marks Android and iOS as unsupported for this policy, so the steps above should be read as desktop instructions.
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Users who want to turn Enhanced Security off can do it on their own profile, while managed devices may still show the setting as controlled by the organization.
Use the exception list before changing the global mode. A single broken site is nearly always solved by an exception, and that keeps the protection in place everywhere else.
The steps and labels above describe Edge at the time of writing (October 2026) and are drawn from Microsoft’s support and Learn documentation; check Edge’s current settings page if your menus differ.
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Once you know which mode you want, you can apply the global change in under a minute. Re-check the setting after major Edge updates, since rollouts and labels have changed over time.
Keep the choice you make recorded in your own notes if you manage several browsers, because each profile stores its own setting.
Quick Recap
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