Microsoft has never missed an opportunity to force Windows users to switch to the pre-installed Edge browser. However, in almost every previous iteration of Windows, the browser lacked key functionalities which every other competitor was offering. And hence, switching to Edge did not seem to be an appealing prospect.

That being said, Edge has definitely caught up with all the other major browsers by providing users the ease of convenience with Sleep Tab, Tab Groups, Edge Collections, and much more. Moreover, since the browser is now based on the Chromium platform, all Chrome extensions work on Edge too.

But despite being late to the party, it seems Microsoft wasn’t able to straighten out the performance issues of Edge as many users reported a slow and laggy experience with it. A sluggish experience might definitely push you towards the alternate browsers, however, before you go through the hassle. Tweaking some settings on the Edge just might bring back that smooth experience.

Hence, without any further ado, let’s dive straight into the fixes to speed up your browser.

Method 1: Disable Edge on Start-Up and Restart Edge

Since Edge starts in the background as soon as you sign in, there’s a possibility it is one of the reasons for degraded performance. However, you can simply turn off the Edge’s launch at Windows startup and restart it by ending all processes via Task Manager to experience an immediate performance difference.

To disable Edge launch at startup, first head to the Start Menu and type Task Manager to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Task Manager’ tile.

After that, from the Task Manager window, click on the ‘Startup’ tab to continue,

Next, locate and click to select the ‘Edge’ option from the list. Then, click on the ‘Disable’ button present on the bottom right corner of the window to disable the launch on startup.

Now, head back to the ‘Processes’ tab on the Task Manager. Next, locate and click on the ‘Microsoft Edge’ option from the list and then click on the ‘End Task’ button present on the bottom right corner of the window to end all processes of the Edge.

Once you are done with the process, restart your computer and open the Edge browser, you should see an instant performance boost.

Method 2: Disable Preload New Tab Feature on Edge

Edge’s home tab is pretty resource-heavy, it loads Microsoft New, the bing wallpaper, your favorites, and much more. Edge by default preloads everything in order to provide a better user experience. However, it can also be one of the culprits behind the sluggish performance of your browser.

To turn off the preload pages feature on Edge, first, head to the Start Menu and either click on the ‘Edge’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section or search for it by typing Edge in the Start Menu.

Then, click on the kebab menu icon (three vertical dots) to reveal the context menu on your screen. After that, locate and click on the ‘Settings’ option from the list. This will open the browser settings in a separate tab.

Now, click on the ‘Start, home, and new tabs’ option present on the left sidebar on the ‘Settings’ tab to continue.

After that, from the right section of the screen locate the ‘Preload the new tab page for a faster experience’ option present under the ‘New tab’ section and click on the following toggle switch to bring it to the ‘Off’ position.

Now, close all edge tabs and restart the browser. You should feel a difference in performance if the issue was caused by this feature.

Method 3: Tweak Tracking Prevention Settings

Microsoft Edge offers various tracking prevention modes, if you have set the tracking prevention settings too strict, it can make some websites take longer to load and also cause some websites to not even load properly.

To tweak the prevention settings, from the Edge window, click on the ellipsis icon (three horizontal dots) present in the top right corner to reveal the overflow menu. Then, from the overflow menu, locate and click on the ‘Settings’ option to open the browser settings in a new tab.

Then, locate and click on the ‘Privacy, search, and services’ tab present on the left sidebar on the settings page.

Now, from the right section of the window, locate the ‘Tracking prevention’ section and click on the ‘Balanced’ tile if not already selected.

Then, locate the ‘Always use “Strict” tracking prevention when browsing InPrivate’ option and click on the following toggle to bring it to the ‘Off’ position.

Now, restart the Edge browser on your computer, and you should be able to experience a noticeable difference in terms of performance.

Method 4: Remove Unused Extensions

Over the period of time, you tend to add a ton of extensions to your browser. However, not many get updated periodically and might develop incompatibility after being outdated which in turn will lead to slower app loading times.

To remove unwanted extensions, from the Edge home page, click on the kebab menu icon (three vertical dots) present on the top right corner of the window to reveal the overflow menu. Then, from the menu, locate and click on the ‘Extensions’ option. This will display an overlay prompt on your screen

From the prompt, click on the ‘Manage extensions’ option to continue. This will open the extensions page in a separate tab.

Now, under the ‘Installed extensions’ section, locate the extensions that you do not use frequently, and click on the ‘Remove’ button present on the tile to delete the extension. This will bring up a prompt on your screen.

Now, from the prompt displayed on your screen, click on the ‘Remove’ button to uninstall the extension.

Method 5: Check for Updates Manually

Edge typically updates itself, however, there can arise a situation where you might have disabled the Edge to update over a metered connection accidentally. Though this happens rarely, however, it is definitely worth checking.

To check for updates manually, head to the Start Menu. Then, either click on the ‘Edge’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section or by typing Edge in the Start Menu to search for it.

After that, from the Edge home screen, click on the ellipsis icon (three horizontal dots) present on the top right corner of the window to reveal the context menu. Then, locate and hover over the ‘Help and feedback’ option on the menu and then click on the ‘About Edge’ option from the list to proceed.

Now, on the next page, Edge will automatically check for updates, and if there is one available, it will automatically begin the installation.

In case the update is available but Edge is not downloading it, make sure you click the toggle switch following the ‘Download Updates over metered connections’ and bring it to the ‘Off’ position in order to download the available updates.

Method 6: Delete Cookies and Site Data

Though deleting cookies and site data is not recommended as this logs you out of all accounts and also deletes your preference on websites. However, if there is a ton of cookies and site data piling up in your Edge, removing them might just help.

To remove site data and cookies, from the Edge home screen, click on the ellipsis icon present on the top right corner of the window to reveal the overflow menu. Then, locate and click on the ‘Settings’ option from the list to continue. This will open the Settings page in a separate tab.

Then, on the settings tab, locate and click on the ‘Cookies and site permissions’ tab present on the left sidebar.

After that, from the right section of the screen, click on the ‘Manage and delete cookies and site data’ option present under the ‘Cookies and data stored’ section to proceed.

Now, on the next screen, click on the ‘See all cookies and site data’ option present under the ‘Cookies and site data’ section.

Finally, on the next screen, click on the ‘Remove all’ button to delete all site data and cookies from Edge.

Once deleted, close the browser and then again open it from the Start Menu. You should immediately experience the difference in performance if piled-up site data and cookies were causing the issue.