Does it seem like Microsoft edge is running slowly, or not behaving the same way that it was before?
While you may have already attempted to restart your computer, or even made some adjustments to the Edge installation, one option to consider involves a performance setting located in the browser’s settings menu.
Our article below will show you how to turn off hardware acceleration in Microsoft Edge so that you can see if that fixes the issue you have been experiencing.
How to Disable Hardware Acceleration in Edge
- Open Edge.
- Click the three dots at the top right.
- Choose Settings.
- Select System and performance.
- Disable Use hardware acceleration when available.
- Click Restart.
Our guide continues below with additional information on how to turn off hardware acceleration in Microsoft edge, including pictures of these steps.
Microsoft Edge is a pretty lightweight browser and can compete with other popular options like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome when it comes to performance.
Like these other browsers, it can also take advantage of your system’s resources to improve the browsing experience.
This is accomplished through a setting called hardware acceleration.
While this setting can typically make your experience better, it can occasionally result in some stuttering or weird behavior.
When this occurs you can follow our steps below and learn how to disable hardware acceleration in Microsoft Edge.
How to Stop Microsoft Edge from Using Hardware Acceleration (Guide with Pictures)
The steps in this article were performed on a Windows 11 laptop, using the most current version of Microsoft Edge that was available when this guide was written.
Step 1: Open the Microsoft Edge Web browser on your computer.
Step 2: Click the Settings and more button that looks like three dots at the top-right corner of the window.
Step 3: Choose the Settings option from the dropdown menu.
Step 4: Select the System and performance tab on the left side of the window.
Step 5: Disable the Use hardware acceleration when available option by clicking the toggle to the right of it.
Step 6: Click the Restart button that appears to launch the browser again without the hardware acceleration option.
Now that you know how to disable hardware acceleration in Microsoft edge you will be able to toggle this setting on or off whenever you are experiencing issues related to the browser’s performance.
More Information About Microsoft Edge Hardware Acceleration
There are some other options on this menu that you can adjust which can affect the way the browser behaves.
The Startup boost option enables Edge to launch more quickly by working in the background to make sure the browser is ready to launch after you turn on your computer.
You can elect to have Microsoft edge run background extensions in the background so that they can continue to refresh and display the newest information when you choose to start Edge up again.
There is also an Optimize Performance section where you can adjust various settings ot make the device more efficient and save system resources so that you can use them in other applications.
Matt has been writing about Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products since the days of Windows XP. He spends much of his time writing for sites like WindowBrain.com