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Manage Location Permission Edge

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Manage location settings

Location service

  1. Go to Start  > Settings > Privacy & security > Location.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • If you’re an administrator on the device, you can use the Location services setting to control whether the location service can be used on this device. If you’re not an admin on this device, you will not see this setting.
    • To control location for just your user account, switch the Let apps access your locationsetting On or Off. If “Location services is off” appears on the settings page, you won’t be able to turn on the Let apps access your location setting for an individual user account.

Location history

Some Windows apps and services that use location info also use your location history. When the location setting is on, locations looked up by apps or services will be stored on the device for a limited time (24 hours), then deleted. Apps that have access to this info will be labeled Uses location history on the Location settings page.

To clear location history, either restart your device, or go to Start  > Settings > Privacy & security >Location and under Location history, select Clear. Clearing the location history only clears the history on the device. Apps that accessed the history before it was cleared may have stored it elsewhere. Refer to your apps’ privacy policies for more info.

To clear location history that’s been stored in the cloud and is associated with your Microsoft account, go to account.microsoft.com, and make sure you’re signed in to your account. Select Clear location activity, and then select Clear.

Default location

You can set a default location for your device that Windows, apps, and services can use when a more exact location can’t be detected using GPS or other methods.

To change the default location for your device, which Windows, apps, and services can use when a more exact location can’t be detected

  1. Go to Start  > Settings > Privacy & security > Location.
  2. Under Default location, select Set default.
  3. The Windows Maps app will open. Follow the instructions to set or change your default location.

Allow location override

Instead of using your device’s GPS or Wi-Fi signals for location, you can allow location override, which will let apps use the location of a remote device. For example, when using Remote Desktop, you can find local printers around your client device instead of near the server that’s hosting the virtual machine you’ve connected to.

For the Allow location override setting to work, the Location services setting for both the local and remote devices needs to be turned on. Additionally, the app being used to manage the remote connection should have been allowed access to use location.

To allow apps on this device to use the location of another device

On the device making the connection:

  1. Go to Start  > Settings > Privacy & security > Location.
  2. Make sure the Location services setting has been turned On.
  3. Make sure the app used for remote connections has been granted access to your location.

On the device being connected to:

  1. Go to Start  > Settings > Privacy & security > Location.
  2. Make sure the Location services setting has been turned On.
  3. Turn the Allow location override setting On.

Location for websites in Microsoft Edge

When location is turned on for Microsoft Edge, you still have control over which websites can access your device location. Microsoft Edge will ask for your permission the first time you visit a website that requests your location information. You can turn off location permission for a website in Microsoft Edge settings. Learn more about location and privacy in Microsoft Edge

How Edge build the location services database

If Location services in turned on and your device has GPS capability, Microsoft will record the location of mobile cell towers and Wi-Fi access points to help us provide location services,. Our database might include the MAC addresses of your wireless router or other neighboring Wi-Fi network devices. We don’t associate MAC addresses with you personally or with the devices connected to your network.

To prevent Microsoft from using the MAC addresses of your Wi-Fi access points in our location services database, go to Opt out of location services.

How Edge helps keep you informed: the location icon

When one or more apps are currently using your device location through the Windows location service, you’ll see the location icon in the notification area of your taskbar. Hover over the icon to see the name of the app or apps using location.

You can also see which apps are currently using your precise location or have recently accessed your precise location on your Windows device by going to Start  > Settings > Privacy & security >Location and under Let apps access your location you’ll see the date and time when location was last used.

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