Block tracking of users' web-browsing activity (Microsoft Edge Group Policy)

What it does

Lets you decide whether to block websites from tracking users' web-browsing activity. If you disable this policy or don't configure it, users set their own level of tracking prevention. Policy options mapping: * TrackingPreventionOff (0) = Off (no tracking prevention) * TrackingPreventionBasic (1) = Basic (blocks harmful trackers, content and ads will be personalized) * TrackingPreventionBalanced (2) = Balanced (blocks harmful trackers and trackers from sites user has not visited; content and ads will be less personalized) * TrackingPreventionStrict (3) = Strict (blocks harmful trackers and majority of trackers from all sites; content and ads will have minimal personalization. Some parts of sites might not work) Use the preceding information when configuring this policy.

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Block tracking of users' web-browsing activity	Drop-down list	`TrackingPrevention`	Off (no tracking prevention)`0` Basic (blocks harmful trackers, content and ads will be personalized)`1` Balanced (blocks harmful trackers and trackers from sites user has not visited; content and ads will be less personalized)`2` Strict (blocks harmful trackers and majority of trackers from all sites; content and ads will have minimal personalization. Some parts of sites might not work)`3`

Configure and deploy

Choose a state and the option values; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge]
"TrackingPrevention"=dword:00000000

PowerShell

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Block tracking of users' web-browsing activity
# Name: TrackingPrevention
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge' -Name 'TrackingPrevention' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 0

The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.
The generated payload is incomplete because one or more ADMX element values were not supplied: TrackingPrevention

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_msedge/TrackingPrevention

Intune remediation scripts

Detection

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function Test-RegistryValueExists {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}

function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    $valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
        return $false
    }

    $actual = $valueObject.$Name
    switch ($Kind) {
        'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
        'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
        'MultiString' {
            $actualArray = @($actual)
            $expectedArray = @($Expected)
            if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
                if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        'Binary' {
            $actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
            $expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
            if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
                if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
    }
}

# Policy: Block tracking of users' web-browsing activity
# Name: TrackingPrevention
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge' -Name 'TrackingPrevention' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 0
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\TrackingPrevention') | Out-Null
}

if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output 'Compliant'
    exit 0
}

$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1

Remediation

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Block tracking of users' web-browsing activity
# Name: TrackingPrevention
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge' -Name 'TrackingPrevention' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 0

History 37 retained releases

150.0.4078.8016 Jul 2026
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

36 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name: TrackingPrevention
Namespace: Microsoft.Policies.Edge
Template file: msedge.admx
Release: Microsoft Edge 155.0.4283.62 · file set 0a733b0040dbbf02…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Both" displayName="$(string.TrackingPrevention)" explainText="$(string.TrackingPrevention_Explain)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" name="TrackingPrevention" presentation="$(presentation.TrackingPrevention)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78" />
      <elements>
        <enum id="TrackingPrevention" valueName="TrackingPrevention">
          <item displayName="$(string.TrackingPrevention_TrackingPreventionOff)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="0" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.TrackingPrevention_TrackingPreventionBasic)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="1" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.TrackingPrevention_TrackingPreventionBalanced)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="2" />
            </value>
          </item>
          <item displayName="$(string.TrackingPrevention_TrackingPreventionStrict)">
            <value>
              <decimal value="3" />
            </value>
          </item>
        </enum>
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="TrackingPrevention" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions"><dropdownList refId="TrackingPrevention">Block tracking of users' web-browsing activity</dropdownList></presentation>

Supported platforms and category

Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge)" name="microsoft_edge" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge)" name="microsoft_edge" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge">Microsoft Edge</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V78">Microsoft Edge version 78, Windows 7 or later</string></strings>