Prevent Edge desktop shortcut on new profiles

I'm working on a new template image using Windows 10 1803 for my company. I noticed the Edge browser is putting a desktop shortcut on new profiles.

The shortcut is not present in the default profile (c:\users\Default\Desktop) or the All Users profile (C:\Users\Public\Desktop).

I allow a shortcut for edge to be pinned to the start menu and taskbar. I don't need or want any icons (at all! ...curse you, Recycle Bin) on our default desktop. Where is this shortcut coming from, and how can I stop it?

3 Answers

It appears the behavior is intentional. You can disable it by modifying the registry as explained below.

During my early testing of the Windows 10 1803 upgrade, I have noticed that Microsoft is now creating an Edge shortcut on the desktop.

This shortcut is not in the default profile but you can disable the functionality by running the following command:

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer /v "DisableEdgeDesktopShortcutCreation" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

Jose Espitia

You can use PowerShell also:

$registrypath = "HKLM:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer"
$name = "DisableEdgeDesktopShortcutCreation"
$value = "1"
New-ItemProperty -Path $registryPath -Name $name -Value $value -PropertyType DWORD -Force | Out-Null

I just dropped the shortcut into a new folder, and dropped the whole folder into recycle bin. That removed it for good without adjusting a REG.