How to Enable or Disable Efficiency Mode in Microsoft Edge

Jul. 6, 2021



In April earlier this year, Microsoft announced the Performance mode for Edge to help optimize the browser’s performance while saving battery and hardware resources. The Redmond giant has since renamed the feature to “Efficiency mode” in recent updates. So if you want tospeed up your Windows PCwhile browsing the web, here’s how you can turn on the new Efficiency mode in Microsoft Edge.

Microsoft is currently testing Efficiency mode in Edge’s Canary channel. Hence, you may not immediately see the feature in the stable version of the browser. I have used Edge Canary version 93.0.939.0 for this demonstration on a laptop runningWindows 11. With that out of the way, here’s how to enable and use Efficiency Mode (formerly Performance Mode) in Edge.

Efficiency mode is a new feature that helps improve the performance in Edge. When you enable efficiency mode, thebrowser minimizes power usage to extend battery lifeby reducing the load on CPU and memory resources. Microsoft warns that video playback may be less smooth, and animations may slow down when you are using efficiency mode.

Moreover, with efficiency mode enabled, Microsoft will automatically putinactive tabs to sleep after 5 minutes, provided you haveenabled sleeping tabsin Edge. Notably, Edge will respect your previous sleeping tabs trigger time when it is not on Efficiency mode.

  1. Open Edge and access theSettings pageby clicking on the horizontal three dots menu at the top right corner.

  2. Next, switch to the “System and performance” tab from the left sidebar. Under the “Optimize Performance” section,turn on the “Efficiency mode”toggle to enable the feature.

You can choose to customize the Efficiency mode to configure when it kicks in. You have three options to choose from. Edge lets you keep efficiency mode always-on, active when your PC is unplugged, or when your system is unplugged and running out of battery.

To change the efficiency mode triggers, click on the dropdown menu below the toggle and pick the setting that suits your use case.

Now, jumping into the Settings each time you want to customize the Efficiency mode may feel like a chore. So, Microsoft has already included a solution for that. You can get a new Performance Tab in the toolbar to access the Efficiency mode settings. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Go toSettings -> Appearance. Scroll down to find the “Show performance button” and toggle it on.

  2. Now, you will see anew heartbeat iconin the toolbar. Click on the “Performance button” to quickly tweak the Efficiency mode settings.

If you tried Efficiency mode and found it to be too aggressive on your workflow, you can choose to disable it at any time. Just follow the steps below:

To disable efficiency mode in Edge, open Settings from the horizontal three dots menu at the top right. Then, navigate toSystem and performance -> Efficiency mode,and disable the toggle.

Try Efficiency Mode to Improve Performance in Edge

Try Efficiency Mode to Improve Performance in Edge

So, that’s how you can use Efficiency mode in Edge to improve the performance of the browser on Windows 10 or Windows 11. You should also check out our article onhow to use sleeping tabs in Microsoft Edgeto put inactive tabs to sleep for more performance improvements. For more such tips, check out our article on thebest Microsoft Edge tips and tricks.

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.

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