Enable or Disable Performance Mode in Microsoft Edge

Here is how to enable or disable Performance mode in Microsoft Edge. In recent updates, Microsoft Edge received several new features to improve performance, speed, responsiveness, and reduce the overall resource footprint on your computer. Microsoft continues working on this aspect of its browser, and the company recently introduced a new Performance mode.

There is not that much information about how Performance mode works in Microsoft Edge. Within the browser, you can find a simple and somewhat vague explanation that says, "Performance mode helps you optimize speed, responsiveness, memory, CPU, and battery usage." Just like with any other built-in speed optimization options in modern browsers, the actual performance boost will depend on your PC configuration and other factors. While you shouldn't expect this feature to dramatically improve the performance of your PC or Edge, you can still get some noticeable browsing improvements.

Finally, before you turn on the Performance mode in Microsoft Edge, be aware that this feature is a work-in-progress at its early development stage. You might face some bugs.

At the moment of this writing, the Performance mode feature in Microsoft Edge is only available in the Canary channel with version 91.0.856.0 or newer. Head to the official website to get it.

Also, it is under controlled feature roll-out, so it may or may not be available for you right now.  This means you first need to add it to the Settings tab in Edge. However, If you already have it in Settings, you can omit the below steps and directly go to the next chapter.

Add the Performance Mode option to Edge settings

1. Close the browser.
2. On your desktop, right-click the Microsoft Edge Canary shortcut and select Properties from the context menu.
3. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field and add the following argument after msedge.exe: --enable-features=msPerformanceModeToggle.
4. Click OK to save changes.

Here is an example how the Target field should look like: "C:\Users\Your User Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge SxS\Application\msedge.exe" --enable-features=msPerformanceModeToggle. Do note that there is no need to place a period at the end of the path.

This will add the appropriate option to Settings of the Edge browser next time you start it. Here's how to enable it.

How to Enable Performance Mode in Microsoft Edge

1. Start the Microsoft Edge app using the modified shortcut.
2. Open its main menu (Alt + F) and select Settings.
3. Go to the System tab on the left.
4. Find the Optimize Performance section and the Performance Mode entry, and select Always On from the drop-down menu.

You are done.  Now you have the Performance mode enabled. To get the best results possible, we recommend using the Performance Mode combined with other features, such as Sleeping Tabs and Startup Boost. There are dedicated articles about how to turn on Sleeping Tabs in Microsoft Edge and how to enable Startup Boost in Microsoft Edge.

Do note that turning on the Performance mode in Microsoft Edge affects the Sleeping Tabs feature. With the Performance mode enabled, the browser will set the Sleeping Tabs timeout to 5 minutes and block the ability to change this parameter. If you want to set the Sleeping Tabs timeout, you need to disable the Performance Mode first.

Here's how to turn off Performance Mode if you have issues or don't like the way the feature works.

Disable Performance Mode in Microsoft Edge

1. Press the Alt + F shortcut and select Settings from the menu.
2. Go to System and find the Optimize Performance section.
3. Next to the Performance Mode entry, select Always off from the drop-down menu.
4. Microsoft Edge will disable Performance mode.

That's it.