How to Add or Remove Home Button on Toolbar in Microsoft Edge?

The Home button in a browser is an icon found on the toolbar of the Microsoft Edge. This button will redirect the user back to a predetermined homepage. Depending on the user’s system usage, they may want to add or remove this button. By default, the Home button will be disabled. Users can add the Home button from one of the methods in this article. In the below methods, we have also included steps through which users can remove the Home button. It also included steps that will disable the Home button settings from standard users.

The Microsoft Edge setting method is the default way that can be configured by every user on the computer. However, the Group Policy Editor and the Registry Editor method will force the selected option to the browser. The users will be unable to configure it anymore from the browser’s settings.

Method 1: Configuring Home Button through the Browser Settings

The most common and default method will by using the browser’s settings. In the Appearance section of the settings, you can find the Show Home button option. By configuring this option, you can add or remove the Home button accordingly. You can also set a function for the Home button after enabling it. It can be set to a new tab or to a specific URL. You can navigate to this by following the below steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser by double-clicking on the shortcut or searching it through the Windows search feature.

   

2. Now click on the Settings and more (Alt+F) at the top right corner. Now select the Settings from the list of the context menu.

   

3. Select the Appearance option in the left pane. Now you can add or remove the Home button by changing the toggle option for the Show home button. You can look at the toolbar at the top, it changes instantly when you change the toggle option.

   

4. If you add the Home button, then you can select the New tab page or URL option. The new tab will open a new tab when the Home button is clicked. The URL option will move you to that specific URL after clicking the Home button.

Method 2: Configuring Home Button through the Registry Editor

The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores all the settings for the operating system and applications. It also saves all the settings that the user makes in the Microsoft Edge. It is an alternative method to the Local Group Policy Editor method. If you already used the Group Policy method, then this will be automatically updated for the same setting. If you are using this directly, then you need to create the missing key and value for that specific setting. Follow the below steps and see how this works:

1. Press the Windows and R keys together to open a Run dialog box. Now type “regedit” and press the Enter key to open the Registry Editor. If prompted by the UAC (User Account Control), then click on the Yes button.

   

2. If you want to create a Registry backup before making any new changes. Then, click on the File menu in the menu bar and choose the Export option. Now name the backup file and select the location where you want to save it. Click on the Save button.

   

3. In the Registry Editor window, go to the following location as shown:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge

4. If the Edge key is missing, you can create it by right-clicking on the Microsoft key and choosing the New > Key option. Now name the key as “Edge“.

   

5. Select the Edge key, right-click on the right pane and choose the New > DWORD (32-bit) Value option. Name the value as “ShowHomeButton“.

   

6. Double-click on the ShowHomeButton value and it will open a small dialog box. Now if you want to remove the Home button, set the value data to 0. If you want to add the Home button to the toolbar, then set the value data to 1.

   

7. If the settings are not applied instantly to the browser, you need to restart your system to apply the changes.
8. You can always revert it back to default by deleting the value from the Registry Editor.

Method 3: Configuring Home Button through the Local Group Policy Editor

The Local Group Policy Editor has all the settings already available. The user just needs to open a specific setting and configure it accordingly. However, the policy settings for the new Microsoft Edge chromium may not be available on your system. You will need to download the latest policy files for the Microsoft Edge chromium.

Note: The Group Policy Editor isn’t available in the Windows 10 Home edition. If you are using that operating system, then skip this method.

1. Open your browser and navigate to the Microsoft site. Now select the version details of your Microsoft Edge and click on the GET POLICY FILES button.

   

2. Extract the downloaded zip file by using the WinRAR as shown.

   

3. Open the extracted folder and go to the “MicrosoftEdgePolicyTemplates\windows\admx” path. Copy the “msedge.admx” and “msedge.adml” files and paste them into “C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions” folder.

   

   Note: The language file ADML will be found in the folder. Copy it from one folder to another.

4. Press the Windows and R keys together on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box. Now type “gpedit.msc” and press the Enter key to open the Local Group Policy Editor window.

   

5. Go to the following path in the Local Group Policy Editor window as shown:

   Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Edge\Startup, home page and new tab page\

   

6. Double-click on the setting named “Show Home button on toolbar” and it will open in another window. If you want to add the Home button, change the toggle option to Enabled. If you want to remove the Home button, change the toggle option to Disabled.

   

7. Lastly, you can click on the Apply/Ok button to save the changes.
8. You can always revert this back to default by changing the toggle option to Not Configured in step 6.