How do I fix Microsoft Edge’s high CPU usage on Windows 11?

Microsoft Edge The default web browser on the latest windows 11, Acting Slow after update or slow down the PC performance. Or sometimes you may experience windows 11 being very slow and checking on task manager Microsoft Edge CPU usage 100%. A number of users reported Microsoft edge high CPU usage problems on windows 11. There are multiple reasons why CPU usage is so high when using Microsoft edge, you may have too many tabs open in the edge browser or You are running an outdated build of Edge which contains bugs. The browser packed with cache or cookies or even one problematic extension can cause high CPU usage in Edge.

Microsoft Edge causing CPU usage to 100%

Microsoft Edge High CPU usage problem on windows 11 can cause due to a variety of reasons, It could be because of Suspicious extensions installed, malware on your PC,
or the Edge browser files may be corrupt. Again An over-accumulation of browsing data in the form of cookies, browser cache, and history files can slow down a browser and that causes Microsoft Edge High CPU or Memory usage problems on windows 11.

If you are also experiencing a similar problem, Here are a few Efficient Ways to Stop High CPU Usage in Microsoft Edge running on windows 11.

Update Microsoft Edge

The latest Microsoft edge is based on the chromium search engine, and similar to Google Chrome, Microsoft regularly updates the Edge browser with the latest bug fixes and feature improvements. This is the very first step you need to do whenever the browser starts acting on windows 11.

• First, open the edge browser on your computer, and then click the Menu button in the top-right corner of the screen.
• This will reveal the main Edge menu, Hover over the “Help and Feedback” menu item then click on Click “About Microsoft Edge”
• This will check for available edge updates, If it finds that there is a newer version of Edge available, it will download and install the update
• Or you can type edge://settings/help in the address bar and press enter key to check and update the edge browser automatically.

Check activity on Edge Task Manager

If the Edge browser only causing a High CPU or memory usage problem on windows 11 then open Microsoft edge task manager to monitor which process consumes system resources.

• You can open Microsoft edge Task Manager by hitting Shift+Esc to view the running Edge browser processes and their details.
• Edge task manager provides complete details about the application and processes running on your system, as well as the general status of your machine.
• Here also you can terminate troublesome running processes to check if this helps reduce edge high usage problems.
• To terminate any process from the Task Manager,  click on the process to select it and click ‘End Process’ to terminate the process

Clear the Edge browser cache

Most of the time over-accumulation of browsing data that includes cookies, browser cache, and history files not only slows down the edge browser but also leads to Microsoft Edge 100% CPU usage on windows 11. In this case, clearing all the data and starting fresh is the best way to go.

The fast and quickest way to Clear browsing data on Microsoft edge is,

• Simply Open the Microsoft Edge browser, and press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to launch the Clear browsing data box.
• Or om edge address bar you can type edge://settings/clearBrowserData and press enter key to open the clear browsing data box,
• Here select the time rang between the last 24hr to all times, Next tick the checkboxes for Browsing history, Cookies, and other site data, Cached images and files,
• And finally, click on Clear now at the bottom.

Pro tip – When the data is cleared, type edge://restart in the URL bar then press Enter to restart the Microsoft Edge browser and check if the problem is resolved.

Disable unnecessary extensions

Install or enable Browser extensions add additional functions but sometimes you may experience system resource usage, such as 100% CPU, memory, or disk usage because of Suspicious extensions installed on the Microsoft Edge browser. Let’s disable all extensions and look for any changes there. If high CPU usage is gone, Enable the extensions one after one to find out which one is causing the high CPU usage in Edge and memory leaks.

• Open the Edge menu and click on the Extensions icon in the Toolbar and click on Manage extensions.
• Or you can type edge://extensions/ on the edge address bar and press enter key to display all installed extensions list,
• Here you can disable or Click on the Remove button under the individual extensions.
• Again, click Remove in the confirmation prompt.

Disable Hardware Acceleration

The Hardware acceleration feature on edge allows assigning workloads to both the GPU and the CPU. But sometimes this feature of hardware acceleration harms performance more than it helps. Let’s Disable the Hardware Acceleration option on Microsoft edge and check if this helps.

• Open chrome browser settings and navigate the system and performance,
• Or you can launch edge browser, paste the following path in the address bar, and press enter key edge://settings/system
• Here disable or toggle off the option to use hardware acceleration when available.

In addition, disabling the startup boost option helps them fix high CPU usage in Edge.

Enable Sleeping Tabs on Edge

If you have too many tabs open in the Edge browser that consumes system resources which not only slow down the browser performance but also cause high system resource CPU usage problem on windows 11.

We recommend closing unused tabs if you are not using them, or enabling the sleeping tabs feature on edge. This is a special feature on Microsoft edge that puts unused tabs to sleep and reduces their impact on your system resources.

• Open the Edge browser and click on the three-dot button on the top right corner to open its context menu then select settings
• Navigate the system and performance, and Scroll down to the Optimize Performance section.
• And finally, Enable the Save resources with sleeping tabs feature by clicking on the toggle

Next look for Put inactive tabs to sleep after the specified amount of time option and Select the time interval after which you want to put Edge to sleep using the drop-down box.

In addition, enable the Fade sleeping tabs option to improve memory and CPU performance.

Now onwards Edge will put all the open yet unused tabs to sleep and use fewer system resources that resolve the high PCU usage problem on windows which is caused by Microsoft edge.

Scan for virus malware infection

The presence of a malicious infection might be another possible reason for windows 11 high CPU usage. We recommend perform a full system scan for virus malware infection with the latest updated antivirus or antimalware program.

Repair Microsoft Edge

All the above methods fail to fix Microsoft Edge high CPU usage problem on windows 11. you cant uninstall and reinstall edge but there is an option to repair the Microsoft Edge browser that can restore missing/corrupt files, without deleting your browsing data and fix different problems with the browser.

• Press Windows key + X and select settings app on windows 11,
• Navigate to Apps then the installed app, and scroll down to locate Microsoft edge.
• Click on the three dots next to the edge browser and select the Modify option.
• Click on Yes if UAC will pop up for permission and then click on the Repair button.

• The setup will re-download Edge and then install it. Click on the Close button after the repair is complete.

If an older/buggy version was causing edge slow or High CPU usage on windows 11, repairing Edge will fix it.

Also read

• Microsoft edge slow after Windows 10 update? Try these solutions
• Microsoft Edge not working after the windows 11 update
• How to Speed Up Microsoft Edge browser on windows 10 / 11(Updated)
• What Are Corrupted system Files and How to Fix Them windows 11
• Can’t Adjust Brightness On Windows 11 (7 solutions to fix it)