How to Disable Website Pinning in Windows 8 Home Edition

Sometimes Microsoft adds things to the new version of Windows that are contrary to the habits users have developed. Website pinning was a new feature in Windows 7 and has been carried over to Windows 8. Luckily, Microsoft usually provides ways to get around things or disable new features.

Warning: This guide requires editing the Windows Registry. Please take all the caution required and make sure you understand the risks involved. If you're comfortable with using the command line, jump to the end of this article for the command line method of disabling website pinning.


Disabling Website Pinning With the Registry Editor

Move the mouse all the way into the lower left hand corner of the screen, right click, and select Run.

Type regedit and click OK.

Expand the registry tree to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft

Add a new registry key called Internet Explorer by right clicking on Microsoft, selecting New, clicking Key and naming the new key Internet Explorer.

The new registry key should look like the following.

Add another registry key by right clicking on Internet Explorer, selecting New, clicking Key and naming the new key Main.

Now that the new keys have been created we're ready to add a new value.

Add a new value to the ...\Internet Explorer\Main key by right clicking on Main, selecting New, clicking DWORD (32-bit) Value, and naming it DisableAddSiteMode

The new value should look like this.

Right click on the newly created DisableAddSiteMode value and select Modify...

Change the Value data to 1, and clickOK.

The registry should now look something like the following.

Restart Windows 8.

After Windows restarts you should be able to drag web addresses from the address bar in Internet Explorer to the desktop or a folder and Windows will create an Internet shortcut instead of a pinned site.


Using the Command Prompt to Disable Website Pinning

The registry keys and value can also be added by by using the reg add command at the command prompt. Depending on your level of experience you may find this method easier, but it's also easier to mess up. Nevertheless, here it is.

Move the mouse all the way into the lower left hand corner of the screen, right click, and select Command Prompt (Admin).

Type reg add “hkcu\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main” /v DisableAddSiteMode /t REG_DWORD /d 0x1 at the command prompt and press enter.

After a reboot website pinning should be disabled.