Office apps forced into Edge browser

Microsoft appears to be pre-installing the Office web apps into their Edge browser.

The web based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outook are way beyond mere web pages.  They are programs in their own right known as Progressive Web Apps or PWA.

As reported by WindowsLatest, these Office PWA’s are being installed without permission into the Edge browser and Windows itself.

They don’t do any harm just sitting there, but people understandably prefer to decide what’s installed for themselves – not some self-serving ‘help’.

The Office PWA’s are also being dropped, unwanted, onto the Start Menu. Office dropped onto Windows computers, in a new way

Remove the Office web apps

There are two ways to uninstall these Office web apps.

In Edge go to Settings | Apps or just edge://apps in the browser box.  Then click the X on the right side of each installed app.

In Windows, they also appear at Control Panel | Programs. Look for the the little ‘dot’ icons for Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. Click Uninstall to remove each one.

That won’t uninstall Office / Microsoft 365 programs.  They are listed separately as ‘Microsoft Office …’ not individual programs.

If you need the Office web apps later, they can be downloaded and installed whenever you need them.

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