How to Enable or Disable Startup Boost in Microsoft Edge

This tutorial shows you how to turn startup boost on or off in Microsoft Edge. You can do this for just your account or for everyone on your 11 computers.

What Is Startup Boost?

Microsoft Edge is a web browser based on Chromium. It came out on January 15, 2020. It works on Windows and macOS. The browser is fast, secure, and has great privacy features built in.

Why use startup boost? This feature helps Microsoft Edge start faster. Here’s how it works: startup boost keeps the browser running quietly in the background even when you close it. The browser uses very few resources while running in the background.

What happens when you use startup boost? Microsoft Edge starts much faster when you click it on the taskbar, desktop, or when you open a link from another app. This happens after your computer starts up or after you close the browser.

Startup boost does not use much computer power. It only keeps some Microsoft Edge processes ready. When your browser windows are already open, startup boost does not add any extra load.

Get help with startup boost – Microsoft Support

Startup boost

Option One

Turn Startup Boost On or Off in Microsoft Edge Settings

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Click the Settings and more button (three dots) at the top right. You can also press Alt+F. Then click Settings.
   

3. Click System and performance on the left side. Then click System on the right side.
   
   If you don’t see a left pane, click the three lines menu button at the top left. Or make the Microsoft Edge window wider until you see the left pane.
   

4. Turn Startup boost on (this is the default) or off. Pick what you want.
   

5. You can now close the Settings tab or Microsoft Edge.

Option Two

Turn Startup Boost On or Off for All Users Using the Registry

⚠️ Admin privileges required: You must be logged in as an administrator to use this option.

You can use the Windows Terminal app as an administrator and run a command. Or you can go directly to the Registry and edit the value yourself. This option uses the StartupBoostEnabled policy for Microsoft Edge.

Always Turn On Startup Boost for All Users

This setting will override Option One and gray it out.

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v StartupBoostEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Turn Off Startup Boost for All Users

This setting will override Option One and gray it out.

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v StartupBoostEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Allow Users to Choose (Default Setting)

This is the default. It lets users use Option One to turn startup boost on or off.

reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" /v StartupBoostEnabled /f

Summary

Startup boost is a useful feature in Microsoft Edge that makes the browser open faster. It keeps Microsoft Edge running quietly in the background, so it’s ready when you need it. You can easily turn this feature on or off in Microsoft Edge settings. If you’re an administrator, you can also control this setting for all users on your computer using the Windows Registry.