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How to use Microsoft Edge efficiency mode

A photo of Microsoft Edge running on a Windows laptop
Microsoft

The Microsoft Edge browser has seen steady improvements since its introduction. It's fast, offers excellent synchronization, and can use a wide range of extensions. Microsoft has also focused on performance, not only of Edge itself but how Edge impacts a PC's overall performance.

One of the easiest ways to reduce Edge's performance penalty is to use efficiency mode, which reduces Edge's CPU use and puts background tabs to sleep after five minutes or less of activity if the sleeping tabs feature is enabled. Turning efficiency mode on and off is easy enough to do and can help keep your PC running smoothly.

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Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • Microsoft Edge

Turning efficiency mode on and off

Efficiency mode can be configured to be always on, on when a laptop is unplugged, on when a laptop is unplugged and low on battery life, or never on. Enabling and disabling efficiency mode takes just a few steps.

Step 1: Select the Three-dot menu button in Edge, and select Settings, or use the Edge browser shortcut, Alt + E.

Open Settings in Microsoft Edge.
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Step 2: Select System and performance.

Select System and performance in Microsoft Edge.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 3: Make your selection from the drop-down menu next to Turn on efficiency mode when, with options for Unplugged, low battery, Unplugged, Always, and Never.

The "unplugged, low battery" setting works differently on different platforms. On Windows, efficiency mode turns on when Windows Battery Saver mode turns on. On Mac OS, efficiency mode turns on when the battery hits 20%. On Linux, efficiency mode is off by default.

Enabling and disabling Microsoft Edge Efficiency Mode.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 4: You can also enable efficiency mode when you're gaming -- useful on any computer, not just games systems and gaming laptops. Just toggle on the option Improve your PC gaming experience with efficiency mode.

Turn on Microsoft Edge efficiency mode when gaming.
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Step 5: Note that in order for efficiency mode to work, you need to have sleeping tabs turned on. When efficiency mode is turned on, tabs are put to sleep after five minutes or less regardless of how much time is set for "Put inactive tabs to sleep after the specified amount of time." To retain that setting, efficiency mode must be disabled.

Turn on sleeping tabs in Microsoft Edge.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Enable the performance button

To make it easier to turn efficiency mode on and off, unhide the performance button on the toolbar.

Step 1: Select the Three-dot menu button and select Performance. That will enable the performance button, which will show up as a filled heart.

Enable performance button in Microsoft Edge.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 2: While the performance button is visible, select the Three-dot menu button in its window and then select Show performance button in toolbar.

Show perofrmance mode in Microsoft Edge.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 3: You can now just select the Performance button to change efficiency mode settings.

Use preformance button to change efficiency mode settings in Microsoft Edge.
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Not sure if you're happy with your browser? Our comparison of Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome should help you decide.

Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock is a Freelance Writer at Digital Trends covering primarily laptop and other computing technologies. He has…
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