Stop Microsoft Edge from downloading AI models on Windows 11

• Microsoft Edge can automatically download AI models to your PC without your consent, placing them in the “OptGuideOnDeviceModel” folder.
• A Registry tweak change can fully prevent the browser from downloading or restoring the local AI model.

On Windows 11, Microsoft Edge can automatically download AI models to your computer without asking for permission first. In this guide, I’ll show you how to stop it.

While recent reports have focused on Google Chrome silently downloading the 4GB Gemini Nano AI model in the background, this behavior is not new. In fact, I first published steps to mitigate the issue back in March 2026, long before the topic gained wider media attention.

The issue also goes beyond Chrome. Discussions about the “OptGuideOnDeviceModel” folder and the large “weights.bin” file have circulated in community forums for more than a year, with many users questioning why the browser suddenly consumes several additional gigabytes of storage. For devices with limited SSD capacity, a single AI model taking up roughly 4GB can feel excessive compared to the browser’s original installation footprint.

Since Microsoft Edge is built on the Chromium project maintained by Google, it can also download AI models locally for on-device AI features. However, you can use an official Registry policy to block the automatic download of these AI models entirely.

Related

Stop Chrome from silently downloading Gemini Nano AI model on Windows 11

In this guide, I’ll outline the steps to prevent Microsoft Edge from redownloading AI models locally on Windows 11.

Prevent Edge from downloading AI models on Windows 11

To prevent Microsoft Edge from downloading AI models on Windows 11 using the Registry, follow these steps:

1. Open Start on Windows 11.

2. Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

3. Open the following path:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft

4. Right-click the Microsoft key, select New, and choose Key.

   

5. Confirm the Edge name and press Enter.

6. Right-click the Edge (folder) key, select the New submenu, and choose the “DWORD (32-bit) Value” option.

7. Confirm the GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings name and press Enter.

8. Right-click the newly created key and select Modify.

9. Set the value to 1 to prevent Microsoft Edge from downloading and using locally available AI models on your device.

   

10. Click the OK button.

11. Restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, Microsoft Edge won’t try to download AI models on your computer, and any existing model (if already downloaded) will be deleted.