Top 7 Ways to Fix Microsoft Edge Not Downloading Files

Since Windows doesn’t play well with third-party web browsers, most people would usually give up and switch to Microsoft Edge sooner or later. But if you think that settling for Microsoft Edge would be the end of your problems, you’d be wrong. Many users often complained about Edge being unresponsive or failing to download a file when it does respond.

While switching your default browser on Windows 11 may not be as easy as it once was, you can, however, take a few steps to resolve the downloading issue in Microsoft Edge. Let’s see how.

1. Restart Your PC

Restarting your PC is a basic troubleshooting method that you can try before moving to the other solutions on this list. This clears out minor bugs and closes background processes that might be interfering with downloads on Edge.

2. Check Antivirus Settings

Antivirus on your PC often blocks downloads from the internet to keep you away from any suspicious downloads. So, if you’re unable to download files on Edge, you can look at the settings on your antivirus program and disable any option that might be blocking downloads from the internet.

3. Change Download Path

If you’ve recently changed the downloads folder path in your Edge or if that path isn’t available anymore, then Edge might run into an error while looking for it. You can try switching the download path in Edge to something else to see if that works. Here’s how.

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Edge. Click on the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings from the resulting menu.

Step 2: Use the left pane to navigate to Downloads and click on the Change button next to Location.

Now choose a different path and try to download the file again to see if that resolves the issue.

4. Try Incognito Mode

If you’re still unable to download files on Edge despite your best efforts, then you can try downloading the file in an InPrivate window in Edge. If it works, maybe one of the extensions running on Edge is blocking your downloads. Thus, you can try disabling them momentarily to see if you’re able to download files again.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge and use the three-dot menu icon in the top right to navigate to Extensions.

Step 2: Now, toggle off all the extensions installed on Edge.

Restart Edge to see if you’re able to download files normally.

5. Run SFC Scan

Sometimes corrupted or missing system files on your PC can cause apps on your PC to misbehave. In such cases, running an SFC (System File Checker) scan can help find and replace such system files. Read on to learn how.

Step 1: Right-click on the Start menu icon and choose Windows Terminal (admin) option from the resulting menu.

Step 2: In the console, type the command mentioned below and press Enter.

SFC /scannow

Wait for the process to complete, and then restart your PC to see if the issue is resolved.

6. Repair Microsoft Edge

Repairing an app on Windows is an effective way of fixing issues that are affecting its functioning. Plus, it’s completely safe as you won’t be losing any data while doing so.

Read on to learn how to repair Microsoft Edge on Windows 11.

Step 1: Press Windows key + I to launch the Settings app. Switch to the Apps tab and go to Apps and features.

Step 2: Scroll down to locate the Microsoft Edge. Click on the three-dot menu next to it and select Modify.

Step 3: Lastly, click on the Repair button to initiate the restoration process.

Since this process involves downloading Microsoft Edge again, you need to be connected to the internet for this to work. Windows should automatically launch Edge once the process is finished. Go ahead and see if downloads are working now.

7. Reset Microsoft Edge

If nothing works, you’ll have to consider resetting Microsoft Edge as a last resort. Doing so will delete any data associated with the app. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Launch Microsoft Edge. Use the three-dot menu icon in the top right to open Settings.

Step 2: Navigate to the Reset settings tab and click on Reset settings to their default values.

Step 3: Choose Reset when prompted.

This should reset the app and should fix any issues with downloads.

Uninterrupted Downloads

So that was it. Once you go through the above solutions, you should be in the clear. If the problem persists, then I’d suggest you take some time to switch to a better yet familiar browser alternative on Windows.