Did you encounter the 0x80704006 error while starting Microsoft Edge in Windows 10? Several users complained about receiving this error after installing the recent cumulative updates. Well, this bug might occur if you are still on the legacy Edge version or unnecessarily stored cache.
Moreover, using bad ports listed in the Fetch Standard specification may also cause this error inside the Edge browser. To correct this, switch to the Chromium-based Edge (if haven’t already) and use only the standard ports only. Besides this, we have also covered a few additional ways to get rid of this issue in Windows 10.
How to Fix Microsoft Edge Error 0x80704006
To solve the error 0x80704006 while working on Edge browser, try the below solutions –
1] Install the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge
If you haven’t yet migrated to the new chromium-based version of Edge, do the same. After installing the new Edge, make sure to configure the Website using a standard port on the server-side. Microsoft suggests not using the ports that are listed in the Fetch Standard specification under bad ports or port blocking.
Note: The new, Chromium-based Microsoft Edge will also fail to connect to websites on non-standard ports by default. This is the expected behavior. However, you can allow sites on the affected non-standard port by using the parameter –explicitly-allowed-ports=####, where #### is the port you require. For example, when you need to access a website on port 6667, type c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe–explicitly-allowed-ports=6667
2] Clear Browsing History
Sometimes, if you haven’t cleared your browsing history for a long time, Microsoft Edge accumulates a huge cache. When the cache exceeds the allowed limit, Edge prevents reaching out to certain webpages. To fix this, you must clear the browsing history from time to time using the below steps –
- Click the Microsoft Edge icon to start the browser.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Delete keys combination to reach out to the “
ClearBrowserData” section. - On the pop-up screen, use the drop-down menu under
Time rangeand select “All time“. - Mark each one of the checkboxes here and hit the Clear Now button.
- Doing so will purge each one of the selected sections.
- Close Microsoft Edge and Restart Windows.
From the next PC start-up, check whether this solves the error 0x80704006 or the bug is still prevailing.
3] Repair or Reset Edge
If the error persists, there may lie some corruption inside the Edge browser that needs to be fixed. Repairing or Resetting Microsoft Edge proves to be useful in such scenarios. Here’s how to perform this task –
Repair Microsoft Edge
Step-1: Browse to the following path –
Settings (Win + I) > Apps > Apps & features
Step-2: Scroll down and click Microsoft Edge on the right pane.
Step-3: Click Advanced Options thereafter “Repair Edge”.
Reset Microsoft Edge
If resetting doesn’t help to solve the 0x80704006 error, try resetting the Microsoft Edge browser.
- Follow the same steps as elaborated above and choose “Reset” instead of “Repair“.
- Performing this task will automatically remove some data including browsing history, cookies, and settings. However, you still can access the favorites section.
Note: If you are on Windows 10 2004 or higher version, you may not access the Reset/Repair button. Instead, you will see the Modify button. After you click Modify, the system automatically resets the Edge web browser.
Or, you can run the below command on PowerShell (Administrator) window –
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose}
4] Reinstall Microsoft Edge
In case the error occurs even after applying the above fix, you must uninstall and reinstall Microsoft Edge on the computer. To do so, use these steps –
- First of all, browse to the following location –
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe
- Use Ctrl+A to select all sub-items and press the Delete key.
- Now, right-click on Win icon and select Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When PowerShell window comes into view, execute the below code –
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" –Verbose}
- Close Microsoft Edge and Restart Windows to incorporate the above changes.
5] Remove Edge extensions
In rare cases, Edge extensions may also result in the 0x80704006 error while attempting to open certain Sites. If that’s the case, we suggest deactivating each one of the extensions using the below steps –
- Launch Microsoft Edge.
- Type edge://extensions/ on the address bar and hit Enter.
- Now, turn off the toggle switch next to each extension under “
Installed Extensions” section. - Close Edge browser and Reboot the computer.
Sign back into the computer, open Microsoft Edge, and try enabling existing extensions one after another. Doing this way, you may get the culprit extension. Once you find the corrupt one, contact its developer for an updated version. If not, make sure to keep this extension disabled unless you get the upgraded version.
6] Start Using Another Web-browser
Although this is off-topic, you may switch to some other web-browsers like Chrome, Brave, Firefox, etc. As soon as you get an Edge update, download and install it on your computer.
