Microsoft Edge may be running on your Windows PC even if you're not using a browser

Microsoft Edge is the default browser in the latest versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft has integrated a feature into Edge called Launch Boost; this feature preloads some Edge components so that the browser starts immediately on startup.

The problem is: startup acceleration is not automatically disabled when the user switches to another browser. It can be enabled even on systems that don't use Edge at all, and Edge components can be loaded on system startup to make the browser launch faster.

Microsoft highlights the benefits of startup boost on its official FAQ site:

When you log in from the taskbar, desktop, or embed after the device boots or the browser closes Microsoft Edge launches faster when launched from a hyperlink in another application.

According to Microsoft, the feature causes the browser to run with a minimum number of processes when the browser is closed, and those processes have "limited impact on device resource usage."

Checking is easy. Just launch Windows Task Manager, or better yet Sysinternals' Process Explorer, and check to see if the msedge.exe process is loaded on your system after it boots. If you see processes listed, startup acceleration is enabled on your system.

Disable Startup Boost in Edge

Disabling Startup Boost in Edge itself is easy.

1. Load edge://settings/system in the browser's address bar.
2. You will find Startup boost under System.
3. Toggle this to set it to off (black dot and white background of the element).

Everything here belongs to it. Edge will not load its components the next time the system starts. You can reboot now to check this.

System administrators may encounter problems when trying to configure policies to disable boot acceleration on managed systems. Michael Niehaus mentioned this on his Out of Office Hours blog the other day.

The Group Policy Editor lists a policy - Allow Microsoft Edge to pre-launch when Windows starts, when the system is idle, and every time Microsoft Edge is closed - but the problem is that it doesn't disable startup acceleration. Niehaus said it was designed for older versions of the Microsoft Edge browser and is therefore incompatible with the new Edge's launch enhancements.

Administrators need to download the Chromium Edge ADMX file to manage startup acceleration of new Edge on managed systems. With these, administrators can find the "Enable startup acceleration" policy under Computer Configuration >Administrative Templates >Microsoft Edge >Performance. Switching the policy status to Disabled turns off boot acceleration on the system.

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