Option to Block Opening External Apps is Unavailable in Edge for Android

Hi FrustratedToBeHere,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

In recent versions of Microsoft Edge for Android, the option to block opening links in external apps is no longer exposed in Settings, and the related flag shows as “Unavailable”. This is expected behavior on Android, as link‑handling controls are now primarily managed by the Android operating system rather than by the browser itself.

Because of this, Edge on Android may still hand off certain links (for example, YouTube or Maps) to other installed apps, and this behavior can’t currently be overridden from within Edge.

You can reduce or stop links from opening in external apps by adjusting Android system settings, here are some possible options that you can try:

Option 1: Disable app link handling

• Open Android Settings
• Go to Apps
• Select the target app (for example, YouTube)
• Tap Open by default
• Turn off Open supported links

Option 2: Clear default app actions

• Open Android Settings
• Go to Apps > Default apps
• Review apps that open links automatically
• Clear their default link associations

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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