Microsoft's Edge browser gains faster startup times on Windows 11, with improvements up to 33% for multi-tasking users, and other Chromium browsers may benefit too.
Edge gains faster startup on Windows 11
Microsoft has made Edge the first browser to benefit from a new feature in Windows 11 that accelerates its startup time. The company estimates that most users will see a 15 percent improvement in how quickly Edge opens, with some users experiencing up to a 33 percent improvement when their PCs are handling multiple tasks.Feature benefits other Chromium-based browsers
The improved startup speed applies not only to Edge but also to other browsers based on the Chromium open-source project, such as Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera, and Brave. The gain is specifically for when Edge is already open or running in the background, such as through the Startup Boost feature.Edge signals its presence to Windows
Previously, when a user clicked on Edge in the taskbar or on a link, Windows had to launch an intermediate process to check if Edge was already running. This process could cause a slight delay, especially when multiple applications were open. Now, Edge signals its presence to Windows as soon as it starts, allowing the system to directly contact the already running instance.New feature deployed with Edge 150
The improved functionality is available with Edge version 150 on Windows 11 systems updated with the KB5127936 October 2026 update or a newer version. Microsoft plans to extend this feature to include opening PDF files in the future, though no specific timeline has been provided.Microsoft optimizes Edge performance
Microsoft has previously announced performance improvements for Edge, such as a 9 percent increase in speed on the Speedometer 3.0 benchmark with version 134. These improvements were attributed to changes in the Chromium rendering engine, though this latest update focuses on the interaction between the browser and Windows, not the display of web pages.Efforts benefit the broader Chromium ecosystem
Microsoft is not deeply integrating Edge into the operating system like it did with Internet Explorer. Instead, the company is sharing these performance gains with the Chromium open-source project, which means other browsers based on Chromium could benefit in the future, although no specific timeline has been set.Experimental interface for developers
The new functionality uses an experimental interface intended for "single instance" applications, which reuse an already open window instead of launching a new one. Developers must request an unlock token from Microsoft to access this feature, and it remains uncertain whether browsers using the Gecko rendering engine, like Firefox, will be able to adapt.
