Windows 11 test build speeds up Edge launches, with wider app support planned
Microsoft's latest Windows 11 Release Preview build sends new Edge launches to an already-running instance, a first step toward faster app starts across Windows.
The change appears in the latest build of the Release Preview channel, the final stage of Windows testing before a wider rollout. According to the build's release notes, when a user selects a link or opens Edge from the taskbar or Start menu while Edge is already running in the background, Windows now routes the request directly to the running instance instead of first starting an extra, temporary process. Windows Latest, which spotted the change, reported that the shortened path makes the launch considerably faster.
Only the first start of the browser goes through the longer, cold-launch sequence. TechRadar reported that closing Edge does not return it to a cold state, because the relevant processes stay running in the background, so reopening the app still benefits from the faster path.
Microsoft described the Edge behaviour as a step toward a "broader Windows capability that any app can adopt to speed up its own launches," according to the release notes. The company has not said when the capability might be offered to third-party developers, and those developers would then need to implement it in their own software before users saw any gain.
The feature builds on earlier work to preload certain Windows 11 apps, including Edge itself and File Explorer, and on the Low Latency Profile, which Microsoft has pitched as a speed improvement for the operating system's menus and for apps.
The Edge change lands as Microsoft faces sustained criticism over Windows 11 performance. TechRadar noted that File Explorer's sluggishness has been a complaint since the operating system's launch, and argued that the company only turned its attention to such issues this year, after users grew increasingly frustrated that AI features were being pushed while performance problems persisted.
Microsoft has not said which apps will follow Edge in receiving accelerated launches, or whether the capability will reach third-party software in the current release cycle.