The latest Chromium based Edge browser comes with lot of useful features. Microsoft also planned to integrate the Bing AI chat bot within Edge sidebar soon. You can easily manage all login passwords with in-built Edge password manager. However, there are no default options to lock Edge browser with password. If you want to lock the browser from unnecessary access, here is a browser extension that can help you with that.
Locking Edge with Password
There are many reasons you want to lock Edge with password.
- You do not want someone to view your browsing history.
- Block the browser access to all other users on your computer.
- Prevent accidentally opening webpages by your kids. Remember, Edge also provides a Kids mode for this purpose.
As you may know, it is possible to install Chrome extension on your Edge browser. So, you have wide range of extensions both from Edge Add-ons site as well as from Chrome Web Store for locking Edge browser.
Lock Edge with Add-on
- Open Edge and click on the three dots menu showing “Settings and more”. Or press “Alt + F” in Windows PC to expand Edge menu items.
- Select “Extensions” menu from the list.
- You will see a puzzle icon appears next to the address bar with a dropdown and select “Open Microsoft Edge Add-ons” option.
- This will open Edge Add-ons store and search for “browser lock” extension.
- Find Browser Lock and click the “Get” button.
- Confirm the installation by selecting “Add extension” button.
- The extension will be installed in Edge and you will see a notification from the extensions icon as shown in the below screenshot.
- Simultaneously, you will also see a pop-up asking to enter a password for unlocking Edge browser. Enter your password and click “OK” button.
- You will see a success showing “Password Saved !” and click “OK” to close the pop-up.
Unlocking Edge with Password
After setting up password, close all Edge tabs and windows. Relaunch the browser and you will see the Browser Lock extension prompt you for the password to unlock.
If you enter correct password, you will see a “Enjoy !” message and click “OK” to proceed with your browsing.
The extension will not allow you to proceed further if you enter incorrect password.
Resetting the Lock Password
If the set password is known to someone else, you can easily reset it anytime.
- Click on the extension icon next to address bar.
- Now, click three dots showing against Browser Lock extension.
- Select “Extension options” menu to go to password reset page.
- Enter your old and new passwords to reset the unlock password for Edge.
Forgot Unlock Password
Now that you have setup the password, what happens if you forgot the lock password? By default, Edge will disable all the extensions in InPrivate mode. So, right-click on the Edge icon on taskbar and select “New InPrivate window” option. You will be still prompted with a password to unlock. Click the “Cancel” button and you will see the extension show the password is incorrect. Again, click “OK” to close the pop-up and proceed with your InPrivate browsing.
Now, type edge://extensions/ in the address bar and press enter. This will automatically open the Edge extensions settings page in a normal browsing mode. Find Browser Lock extension and click the “Remove” link showing below it.
Confirm the action by again selecting “Remove” button to delete the Browser Lock extension from Edge. You can again install and set a new password (which you can remember) as explained above.
Disable InPrivate Mode Access and Force Password
If you want to use the lock password for InPrivate mode also, click “Details” link showing below the Browser Lock extension when you are in edge://extensions/ page. It will open the extension’s settings page and check “Allow in InPrivate” box. This is not recommended as there will be no easy way to unlock the browser if you forgot the password. If you are not able to access Edge, try repairing Edge from Windows Settings app to reset the app.
Other Chrome Web Store Extensions for Locking Edge
As mentioned, you can also try Chrome extensions in Edge for this purpose.
- Go to edge://extensions/ page and click the Chrome Web Store link showing at bottom of the page.
- Confirm the action to allow extensions from other stores. When you are in Chrome Web Store, search for “browser lock” to find and install Browser Lock Chrome extension on Edge. Though this extension has a same name as Edge add-on, it is from a different developer.
- It works similar to Browser Lock Edge add-on and allows to set password for unlocking Edge. You can also reset the password and allow in InPrivate mode as explained above.
Final Words
Since Browser Lock extension is officially available in Edge add-on store, you can consider it as safe to use. However, do not allow it in InPrivate mode to make sure you are not locking out yourself. If you do not like this add-on, you can try the Chrome extension with the same name.
