There are four ways to turn off Microsoft Edge backend running. 1. Disable background running in Edge settings: Go to "Settings" → "System" and turn off the "Run Microsoft Edge in the background" option. 2. Close Edge in Windows startup item: Through the "Start" tab of Task Manager, right-click Edge and select "Disable". 3. Modify the group policy or registry: Advanced users can create the BackgroundModeEnabled registry key and set it to 0, or use the official Group Policy template. It is recommended to back up the system before operation. 4. Use the Task Manager to manually end the process: temporary emergency plan, press Ctrl Shift Esc to open the Task Manager to end all Edge-related processes. Among these methods, closing the internal background operation is the most direct and effective, and disabling the startup items and modifying the system settings further controls the behavior of Edge.

You may have noticed that even if Microsoft Edge browser is closed, it still runs in Task Manager, taking up memory and CPU resources. This is actually the "background run" function enabled by the browser by default. The purpose is to speed up the next startup and keep the extension or download tasks running. If you want to completely shut down its background operation, the method is actually not complicated.

1. Disable background operation in Edge settings

The most direct way is to turn off this function through Edge's own settings.

• Open Edge browser
• Click the three dots in the upper right corner → Settings
• Select System on the left
• Find the option "Run Microsoft Edge in the background" and turn off the switch

After this setting, Edge should not continue to run in the background when you close the browser window. But be aware that in some cases, such as if there is an extension that needs to be run continuously, or if it is being downloaded, this option may be automatically re-enabled.

2. Close Edge in Windows startup item

Sometimes you think Edge is turned off, but it runs automatically when the system starts, which can also cause it to "lurk" in the background all the time.

• Press Ctrl Shift Esc to open the task manager directly
• Switch to the Startup tab
• Find the "Microsoft Edge" item
• Right-click to select "Disable"

This prevents Edge from running automatically with the system startup, and indirectly reduces the chances of it appearing in the background.

3. Modify Group Policy or Registration (Applicable to Advanced Users)

If you are an enterprise user or are familiar with system settings, you can completely disable the Edge background operation through Group Policy or registry.

For registry operations:

• Press Win R to enter regedit and press Enter
• Positioned to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
• If there is no Edge item, you can create it manually
• Create a new DWORD value, name it BackgroundModeEnabled , set to 0

If you do not have relevant permissions or are afraid of errors, it is recommended to use the Group Policy template provided by Microsoft for configuration.

Note: There are risks in modifying the registry. It is recommended to back up the registry or create a system restore point before operation.

4. Use Task Manager to manually end the process (temporary emergency)

If you just want to clean up the Edge background occupancy occasionally, you can use the Task Manager to end the relevant process manually.

• Press Ctrl Shift Esc to open Task Manager
• Find all entries related to "Microsoft Edge" under the "Process" tab
• Right-click one by one → “End Task”

This method is suitable for temporary problem solving, but not a long-term solution, because the process will resume after opening Edge again.

Basically these are the methods. You can choose one or several combinations according to your usage habits. Among them, turning off the background operation option inside Edge is the most direct and effective way, while disabling the startup item and modifying the system settings are good ways to further control.

The above is the detailed content of How to stop Microsoft Edge from running in the background. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!