How to Completely Disable ‘Drop’ (File Sharing) in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge includes a built-in feature called “Drop,” designed to allow users to instantly share files, photos, and notes across all their desktop and mobile devices logged into the same Microsoft account. The feature essentially uses OneDrive as a silent backend to shuttle data back and forth. While this sounds convenient for personal use, it is a glaring data exfiltration risk in a corporate environment. Employees could use Drop to bypass standard corporate file-sharing restrictions, pushing confidential documents to their personal smartphones without triggering standard network Data Loss Prevention (DLP) alarms.

This guide explains how to completely disable the Drop file-sharing feature system-wide in Microsoft Edge using Group Policy.

Disable Drop via Group Policy

To enforce a strict block that prevents users from re-enabling the feature in the browser settings, we must deploy an administrative template. Note that this requires Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions.

1. Log into Windows 11 with an Administrator account.
2. Press the Windows Key + R to open the Run dialogue box.
3. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter to launch the Local Group Policy Editor.
4. In the left-hand navigation pane, navigate precisely to this path:

   Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge

5. In the right-hand pane, scroll down to locate the policy named Enable Drop feature in Microsoft Edge.
6. Double-click the policy to open its configuration window.
7. Select the radio button next to Disabled.
8. Click Apply, then click OK.

Verify the Lockdown

Group Policy changes require the browser to read the registry upon its next launch. Close all running instances of Microsoft Edge.

To verify the restriction is active, reopen Microsoft Edge and look at the toolbar in the top-right corner. The paper airplane icon (which typically launches the Drop sidebar) will be completely missing. Furthermore, if you navigate to Settings > Appearance and scroll down to the “Select which buttons to show on the toolbar” section, the “Drop” toggle will display a briefcase icon indicating it is managed by your organization and will be permanently locked in the Off position. File sharing via the browser’s native syncing engine is now completely neutralized.