High‑silicon electrical steel (mass fraction of silicon ≥3.0%) as a key variety of thin‑gauge cold‑rolled strip, is susceptible to edge wave defects during the final pass rolling of 20‑high rolling mill due to its high strength and hardness characteristics in cold rolling, which seriously impairs product quality and production efficiency. Based on the cold rolling deformation characteristics of high‑silicon electrical steel, this paper analyzes the generation mechanism of edge wave defects in depth, systematically investigates the influence laws of key factors such as work roll parameters, tensile stress and pass reduction rate on defects, acquires data support through quantitative experiments, and puts forward targeted control schemes. The industrial verification results show that the optimized process can reduce the edge wave defect rate of thin‑gauge high‑silicon electrical steel strip by more than 85%, providing technical support for the stable production of thin‑gauge high‑silicon electrical steel products.