When I sign in, it shows me in Canada

Question

When I sign in, it shows me in Canada

Robert Frank 0

I've changed my location in my settings, closed and reopened Edge and it still shows my location in Canada although I've never been there with this computer. What other steps can I use to get rid of that?

0 comments

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello Robert Frank,

Sorry about the trouble, I can see why it's frustrating to be placed in a country you've never used this PC in.

I'm not totally sure yet where you're seeing Canada, so a couple of quick questions would help me narrow it down:

Where does Canada show up: Bing, MSN or the new tab page, a specific website, or the sign-in page itself?
Are you using a VPN, proxy or a work/school network? Does it change on a different network, such as a phone hotspot?

In the meantime, it may be an IP-based estimate. Microsoft says its services can estimate a rough location from your IP address without asking for permission in Edge, so the wrong place can still appear even after you change settings: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/sharing-your-location-on-microsoft-edge

If it's only Bing or MSN, you could try these:

In Bing, search for something local, select Change next to the detected location, enter the correct place, then select Remember this location: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/how-bing-uses-your-location
On the MSN or new tab weather card, edit the location and set the correct city as your default.
In Edge, go to edge://settings/siteData, remove the msn and bing entries, then reload and allow location again when asked.

Let me know what you find and I'll take it from there.

Answer 2

If the location shown in Edge is wrong after changing settings, work through these checks in order:

Check Edge site permissions for location.
- Open edge://settings/privacy/sitePermissions/allPermissions/location
- Make sure the default behavior is Ask (default), not Block.
- If Microsoft sites such as Bing or MSN are listed under Block, remove them.
- If Bing or MSN are already allowed but still show the wrong place, remove those entries so Edge asks again the next time.
Turn on Windows location access.
- Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Location.
- Turn on Location services.
- Turn on Let apps access your location.
- Turn on Let desktop apps access your location. This matters because Edge is a desktop app.
Set the Windows default location.
- In Settings > Privacy & security > Location
- Under Default location, select Set default.
- Choose the correct place on the map or type the correct address, then select Save.
- This helps when Windows cannot detect a more exact location.
Check the Windows Geolocation Service.
- Press Win+R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
- Find Geolocation Service.
- If it is Stopped and Startup Type is Disabled, Edge may not be able to determine the correct location.
Reset location permission for the specific site.
- Open Bing or MSN in Edge.
- Select the lock/info icon in the address bar.
- Open Permissions for this site or Site settings.
- For Location, change it to Ask, then refresh and allow location again.
If the wrong location appears on MSN or the Edge new tab page, set it directly there.
- On MSN or the Edge new tab page, use Personalize or the weather/settings control to choose the correct location.
- MSN content and Edge new tab content can also be personalized based on the Microsoft account signed in to Edge.
If the issue is tied to signed-in personalization, test with InPrivate.
- Open an InPrivate window and check whether the location is still wrong.
- InPrivate can help determine whether the issue is coming from saved profile personalization.

Important detail: some services can estimate an imprecise location from the IP address even when precise location permission is not granted. That can cause a location such as another city or country to appear.