Microsoft Edge High Memory Usage
Assuming you see the computer or browsing getting slow while using the Edge browser, it’s a good idea first to investigate. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), and sort it by memory usage.
If it is something other than Edge consuming process and memory, you need to check on that application.If it is the Edge browser, let’s take a look into more details.
Use Edge Browser Task Manager to check Tab Memory Usage
Did you know the browser also offers a built-in task manager? It helps you know how much memory each open tab is consuming. That’s important because a particular website may be taking many resources, which could slow the experience.
When on Edge browser, press Shift+Esc, to bring up the browser’s task manager. It will reveal all the tasks, including the Browser, GPU process, Network Service, Audio, video services, and memory usage of each tab and the extensions. That said, the Microsoft Edge Team has its own recommendation on how much memory each of these processes inside the Browser can take. Here is the list of the maximum each of these processes should take:
Browser process: 400 MB. This can be pushed up as you open more tabs.Renderer process: 500 MB. Playing video, social news feeds, and more.Subframe process: 75 MB. This can extend if there are complex ads, especially those playing videos.GPU Process: 1.75GBUtility process: 30 MBExtension process and plug-in processes: 15-0 MB
Windows reserves an amount of memory that can come in handy when it’s needed. It is also called as Commit charge and is based on the amount of Page Size. When Edge launches, it asks for committed memory space, and Windows offers it through Page Size or Virtual Memory. This is all dynamic, so even if a program asks for 3 GB and utilizes only 500 MB, the rest is still free.
Factors that impact Edge memory usage
A lot of factors impact memory usage. It includes:
Number of tabs,AdvertisementsBrowser extensionsThe contentScreen resolutionWindow sizeNumber or browser windows.
How to reduce the memory usage in Edge?
If you see any open tab or extensions taking a lot of memory compared to others, close it, or uninstall the extension. Once you close, and the resources usage drops, then the problem is with whatever was open in that tab. Make sure to compare to the value we just shared above. A second method to figure out if any background process or inactive tab in Microsoft Edge is consuming is to look through the Private work set. Consider this as a subpart of the Edge Process, and according to Microsoft, more than 80% of a commit in the private working set, and that is not the active tab, would be considered excessive. The keyword is the Active Tab, which also means there is a tab that is taking too much memory in the background is problematic. To figure out which is taking most of the committed memory, we will use the Resource Manager and the Browser’s task manager.
Type Resource Monitor in the Start menu, and click to launch once it is in the list, Sort by name so you can see the msedge.exe process and the commit size. Next, on the Edge browser, use Sift+Esc to open the browser’s task manager. Right-click on the columns, and select PID, Commit Size, Memory (Private working set), Name, Status, User Name, and CPU Note the PID, which takes a lot of resources, and then switch to Windows Task Manager. If the process’s private working set is greater than 80% of your commit, then close it. Also, you will need to report it to Microsoft.
Other things you can try if Edge shows high memory or CPU usage
Open edge://settings/system and turn off Use hardware acceleration when availableOpen edge://settings/startHomeNTP and turn off Preload the new tab page for a faster experience settingClear Edge browser cache regularlyRemove unwanted browser extensions, addons, and themesReset Microsoft Edge browserUse the Modify/Reinstall button in Settings.Open Settings > Apps > Apps and features and search for Edge. Press Modify. This will reinstall Edge, and you will see a new icon placed on the desktop.If nothing helps, download and fresh-install Microsoft Edge.
To summarize – A browser can become resource-hungry and slow down a computer, but the browser might not be at fault. It could be an open tab, an extension running in the background, or a website which advertisement which slows down the computer. The only way to figure it out is to check if it is taking resource and close it. At times processes like GPU, Audio-video service, network service might be at fault. In that case, restarting the browser might help. That said, if you need to keep the website open, I would suggest you close other tabs and work with them. You can also use another browser, check if the issue persists, and get the work done. I hope the post helped you figure out why your Microsoft Edge caused high memory usage. Read next: Microsoft Edge won’t open on Windows 11/10.
