Published 2026-05-06 by TechNet New England
The "New Outlook" for Windows is not a traditional desktop application. It runs inside Microsoft Edge WebView2, which means it depends on Edge's cached data, cookies, extensions, and rendering engine to function. When Edge data becomes corrupted, New Outlook can break in ways that have nothing to do with your email account, Microsoft 365 configuration, or network connection. Symptoms include New Outlook showing a blank white screen, spinning indefinitely on load, freezing after sign-in, failing to render the inbox, or crashing silently. You may also see errors in the background referencing WebView2 or Edge components. If classic Outlook or Outlook on the web (outlook.office.com) works fine but the New Outlook app does not, the problem is almost certainly Edge. ## Why This Happens New Outlook uses Edge WebView2 as its rendering engine. WebView2 shares some data paths with the full Edge browser. When any of the following occur, New Outlook can stop loading: Corrupted Edge user profile data (cookies, cache, local storage, IndexedDB). Failed or incomplete Edge updates that leave the WebView2 runtime in a bad state. Conflicting Edge extensions or policies (especially in managed environments with Group Policy or Intune). Stale authentication tokens cached in Edge's credential store. Edge policies pushed by MDM or Group Policy that restrict WebView2 behavior. ## Quick Fix: Clear Edge Data Manually Before running the full reset script, try this: 1. Close New Outlook completely. 2. Open Edge and press **Ctrl + Shift + Delete**. 3. Set time range to **All time**. 4. Check **Cached images and files**, **Cookies and other site data**, and **Hosted app data**. 5. Click **Clear now**. 6. Close Edge. 7. Reopen New Outlook. If this fixes it, you are done. If not, continue with the full reset below. ## Full Reset: PowerShell Script When clearing browser data is not enough, a full Edge user data reset is needed. This script handles the complete process: kills Edge processes, backs up existing data, wipes the Edge user profile, optionally clears policies, and runs the Edge repair installer. Save this as `Reset-Edge.ps1` and run it as Administrator. ```powershell <# .SYNOPSIS Full Microsoft Edge reset .DESCRIPTION Backs up and wipes Edge user data, optionally clears policies, and triggers the built-in repair installer. .PARAMETER NoBackup Skip the user data backup (faster, no recovery option). .PARAMETER ClearPolicies Also remove Edge group policies from registry. WARNING: only use if you know GPO/Intune is not actively managing Edge. Policies will re-apply anyway if managed. .PARAMETER UserProfile Target a specific user profile (when running as admin/SYSTEM). Defaults to the current user. .PARAMETER NoRepair Skip the Edge installer repair step. #> [CmdletBinding()] param( [switch]$NoBackup, [switch]$ClearPolicies, [string]$UserProfile = $env:USERNAME, [switch]$NoRepair ) $LogPath = "C:\Logs" if (-not (Test-Path $LogPath)) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $LogPath -Force | Out-Null } $LogFile = Join-Path $LogPath "EdgeReset_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd_HHmmss').log" Start-Transcript -Path $LogFile -Force | Out-Null Write-Host "============================================" Write-Host " Microsoft Edge Full Reset" Write-Host " Target user: $UserProfile" Write-Host "============================================" # Resolve user data path $UserDataPath = "C:\Users\$UserProfile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data" if (-not (Test-Path $UserDataPath)) { Write-Warning "Edge User Data folder not found at $UserDataPath" Stop-Transcript | Out-Null exit 1 } # Step 1: Kill Edge processes Write-Host "[1/5] Stopping Edge processes..." $processes = @('msedge', 'msedgewebview2', 'MicrosoftEdgeUpdate', 'identity_helper') foreach ($proc in $processes) { Get-Process -Name $proc -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ForEach-Object { Write-Host " Killing $($_.Name) (PID $($_.Id))" Stop-Process -Id $_.Id -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } } Start-Sleep -Seconds 2 # Step 2: Backup if (-not $NoBackup) { Write-Host "[2/5] Backing up User Data..." $BackupRoot = "C:\Logs\EdgeBackups" if (-not (Test-Path $BackupRoot)) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $BackupRoot -Force | Out-Null } $BackupPath = Join-Path $BackupRoot "$UserProfile\_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd_HHmmss')" try { Copy-Item -Path $UserDataPath -Destination $BackupPath -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop Write-Host " Backup saved: $BackupPath" } catch { Write-Warning " Backup partially failed: $_" } } else { Write-Host "[2/5] Skipping backup (-NoBackup specified)" } # Step 3: Wipe User Data Write-Host "[3/5] Wiping User Data folder..." try { Remove-Item -Path $UserDataPath -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop Write-Host " User Data removed." } catch { Write-Warning " Some files locked. Retrying after delay..." Start-Sleep -Seconds 3 Remove-Item -Path $UserDataPath -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue } # Step 4: Clear policies (optional) if ($ClearPolicies) { Write-Host "[4/5] Clearing Edge policies from registry..." $policyKeys = @( 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge', 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate', 'HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge', 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Edge' ) foreach ($key in $policyKeys) { if (Test-Path $key) { Remove-Item -Path $key -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue Write-Host " Removed: $key" } } } else { Write-Host "[4/5] Skipping policy reset (use -ClearPolicies to enable)" } # Step 5: Repair via Edge installer if (-not $NoRepair) { Write-Host "[5/5] Running Edge repair..." $edgePaths = @( "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft\Edge\Application", "$env:ProgramFiles\Microsoft\Edge\Application" ) $setupExe = $null foreach ($base in $edgePaths) { if (Test-Path $base) { $setupExe = Get-ChildItem -Path $base -Recurse -Filter 'setup.exe' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.FullName -match '\\Installer\\' } | Select-Object -First 1 if ($setupExe) { break } } } if ($setupExe) { Write-Host " Running: $($setupExe.FullName)" Start-Process -FilePath $setupExe.FullName ` -ArgumentList '--msedge', '--system-level', '--verbose-logging', '--force-configure-user-settings' ` -Wait -NoNewWindow Write-Host " Repair complete." } else { Write-Warning " Edge setup.exe not found. Skipping repair." } } else { Write-Host "[5/5] Skipping repair (-NoRepair specified)" } Write-Host "============================================" Write-Host " Edge reset complete." Write-Host " Log: $LogFile" if (-not $NoBackup) { Write-Host " Backup: $BackupPath" } Write-Host "============================================" Stop-Transcript | Out-Null ``` ## How to Use the Script ### Basic usage (recommended for most cases) Open PowerShell as Administrator and run: ```powershell .\Reset-Edge.ps1 ``` This will: 1. Kill all Edge and WebView2 processes. 2. Back up the Edge user data to C:\Logs\EdgeBackups. 3. Delete the Edge User Data folder. 4. Run the Edge repair installer. Edge will recreate its profile on the next launch with clean data. ### Skip the backup (faster, no recovery) ```powershell .\Reset-Edge.ps1 -NoBackup ``` ### Also clear Group Policy and Intune Edge policies ```powershell .\Reset-Edge.ps1 -ClearPolicies ``` Only use this if you are certain that policies are not being actively managed. If Edge is managed by Intune or Group Policy, the policies will re-apply at the next sync anyway. ### Target a specific user (when running as SYSTEM or admin) ```powershell .\Reset-Edge.ps1 -UserProfile "jsmith" ``` ### Skip the repair step ```powershell .\Reset-Edge.ps1 -NoRepair ``` ## What the Script Does Step by Step **Step 1: Kill Edge processes.** All Edge, WebView2, Edge Update, and Identity Helper processes are terminated. This is necessary because Edge locks its user data files while running. If you try to delete the data while Edge is open, you get "file in use" errors. **Step 2: Back up.** The entire Edge User Data folder is copied to C:\Logs\EdgeBackups with a timestamp. This includes bookmarks, saved passwords, extensions, history, cookies, and all profile data. If something goes wrong or the user needs old data, you can restore from this backup. The backup is skipped if you use -NoBackup. **Step 3: Wipe.** The Edge User Data folder at C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data is deleted. This is where corrupted data lives. Edge recreates this folder with clean defaults on its next launch. **Step 4: Clear policies (optional).** Edge policies stored in the registry under HKLM and HKCU Policies\Microsoft\Edge are removed. This is only needed when a policy is causing the issue (for example, a misconfigured extension policy blocking WebView2). In managed environments (Intune, GPO), these policies will re-apply on the next policy sync, so this step is temporary. **Step 5: Repair.** The script finds the Edge setup.exe inside the Edge Application folder and runs it with repair flags. This ensures the Edge binary and WebView2 runtime are in a good state after the data wipe. ## After the Reset 1. Open Edge. It will launch with a clean profile. You will need to sign in again. 2. Open New Outlook. It should load normally now. 3. If New Outlook prompts you to sign in, enter your Microsoft 365 credentials. 4. Bookmarks, saved passwords, and extensions from Edge will need to be restored from sync (if you use Edge sync) or from the backup folder. ## What About Edge Sync? If the user had Edge sync enabled (signed into Edge with a Microsoft account), their bookmarks, passwords, and settings will sync back automatically after signing into Edge again. The reset does not affect the sync data stored in the cloud. If Edge sync was not enabled, the backup at C:\Logs\EdgeBackups contains the old profile data. You can manually extract bookmarks and other data from the backup if needed. ## When to Use This Use this script when: New Outlook shows a blank screen or fails to load. New Outlook spins forever on the loading screen. New Outlook crashes immediately after opening. Edge itself is behaving erratically (crashes, blank pages, failed authentication). WebView2-based applications (New Outlook, Teams 2.0, Widgets) are not working. Standard cache clearing (Ctrl + Shift + Delete) did not fix the issue. ## When Not to Use This If the issue is with classic Outlook (the traditional desktop app), this script will not help. Classic Outlook does not use Edge WebView2. If the issue is a Microsoft 365 account problem (wrong password, MFA issue, license problem), resetting Edge will not fix it. Check the account at portal.office.com first. If the issue is network-related (proxy, firewall, DNS), resetting Edge data will not resolve connectivity problems. ## For IT Administrators This script is safe to deploy through RMM tools (NinjaOne, ConnectWise, Datto RMM, etc.) as a remediation script. Run it as SYSTEM with the -UserProfile parameter to target specific users. The log file at C:\Logs provides an audit trail of what was done. For environments where New Outlook issues are widespread after an Edge update, this can be deployed across multiple machines to resolve the issue quickly. --- *Running into issues with New Outlook, Edge, or Microsoft 365 applications? [Contact TechNet New England](/contact) for help.*