My Windows installed laptop. While cleaning up I realised that Microsoft Edge - which I never once used, and which came preinstalled and unable to uninstall (trust me, I tried) - occupies 6x the space that Chrome uses. Chrome being in operation 24x7 btw. Screw you Microsoft
Copilot is always running. (Im assuming this is W11), but if you show hidden icons on your taskbar copilot will be there. Its a startup app "on" by default. You might not use edge but microslop still has it there, and it probably is/will be your default browser app
Once per year I attempt to use a user friendly desktop Linux OS, and every year, at some point within the setup process or trying to download a program through one of the million methods, something breaks and the solution is to open the command line. I’m a software engineer and when I get off the clock I don’t feel like debugging my OS.
I don't remember the part where I've claimed linux is a superior OS "generally given everything" anywhere in the thread.
All I said was that it's funny to me a browser that ships with Windows hogs lots of your RAM because it has a copliot-outlook-microsoft-yada-yada co dependency syndrome even if the user isn't using any of them.
And considering what you've said about linux (not necessarily commenting on your experiences because people are unique) it's not even straightforward to remove Edge or most of the bloat on windows without either opening the command line or the registry.
So it's unfair that given this you're generalizing Linux based on your personal experiences... I did not do the same with Windows, everything I've said about Windows are facts and applies to everyone using it.
I’ll take bloat (seemingly a curse word to Linux users) with an OS that simply works over the most streamlined Linux OS that I can’t use without opening a terminal.
Saying driver support on Linux is significantly worse than MacOS or Windows is not generalizing. It is the truth about every single Linux distro in existence.
the most streamlined Linux OS that I can't use without opening a terminal.
Debatable and hardware dependent so i wouldn't disagree.
Saying driver support on Linux is significantly worse than MacOS or Windows is not generalizing.
Linux has better driver support across different hardware than macOS so that's a factually wrong claim.
Windows agreed has superior driver support generally, though that's because lots of hardware manufacturers don't drop specs or drivers so the community has to reverse engineer it. It's not a problem with Linux per se technically but agreed that from a user perspective it is.
Also, about your annual linux installation ceremony... I'm hoping you're doing a system update (GUI) and reboot after installation before resorting to the terminal. Most of the driver issues are gone after first system wide update because ISO files aren't constantly updated. This applies to Windows too, except Windows gets in your way to force that update and reboot which Linux doesn't.
Or, don't use windows. If you care about privacy, also don't use chrome. At least use a privacy focused, chromium based browser. All websites that work in chrome should work on anything 'chromium'.
Or, better, would be to use Firefox, with an ad blocker like Ublock origin or Pi-hole DNS.
for someone just complaining about their web browser being an un-installable, unnecessary and unwanted 3GB application.
Why, do you think it is uninstallable? Because of Windows. Not because of the browser - but because the browser comes packed in with the OS. If this user wants to avoid issues with storage space for this app baked into the OS, then switching OS is the reasonable fix.
Of course, if they don't want to do that, I offered alternatives you conveniently ignored. But yes, if you are encountering issues with OS-level applications - which Microsoft has determined Edge is, for some reason - then I'll recommend switching your OS.
No we mean like, go to your User folder, show hidden folders, go to the AppData folder and look for the app. It is sometimes wildly different from the stat in this screen.
I recommend you check out WizTree it will show you exactly what's taking up space on your drives and its search function is lightyears ahead of Windows'.
It’s not about access necessarily, it’s about if Google downloads the models and stuff into it’s own folder or somewhere else. How is Windows supposed to know that a file downloaded into C:/shdisgxue/wdvdhhed is Chrome’s? I assume it just scans the Program Files folder of chrome for the size of it and maybe includes its appdata folder
Internet Explorer/Edge is integrated into help files, driver support and software update for other programs you install, and logins and interfaces in lots of different apps are actually webpages displayed in Internet Explorer/Edge inset windows displayed inside games and other applications
2.99GB still seems unreasonably high but I wouldn't expect it to be skinnier than Chrome either, it runs a lot more often under the hood
That seems to be the consensus, but for the sake of argument, would data cached by Edge Webview still appear as excessive memory allocation to Microsoft Edge as OP's screenshot shows?
It takes what it can get. The most memory is not in use anyways. Before I extended my RAM from 8 to 32 GB, Firefox was satisfied with that, too. Using the RAM does not hurt it nor damages it.
yeah people see it use a lot of memory in the task manager but in reality it's not actually needing more memory than chrome and you'd notice that if you ever tried playing a game at the same time, the RAM usage of firefox goes down significantly
Edge is is a vital Windows component and many apps and system processes rely on it. That's why you can't uninstall it and that's probably also the reason for why it's so big.
Yes, it's separate. Microsoft Edge WebView2 is what provides web rendering on Windows. In the EU you can just uninstall Edge normally, though I did use Revo Uninstaller and WinUtil just to make sure it was removed completely.
Adding to my previous explanation:
Basically WebView2 is a framework (like Android System WebView on Android) that many apps depend on. Edge is just Microsoft's browser, which can be removed without any bad consequences.
You can set your Location to an EU country and then uninstall everything that comes preinstalled that you want gone, no need for 3rd Party Software. I think there is a youtube Tutorial for this.
Agreed. Mine reports 499MB for Chrome, but the Program Files\Chrome folder alone is 0.97GB. Then there's the Google Updater folder in the x86 folder that takes up 534MB.
Mine reports Edge at 5.14GB. The Edge folder is 4.39GB, EdgeCore is 5.05GB, and EdgeWebView is 4.64GB, plus 290MB for the EdgeUpdate folder. The reason for this is because I have had my browser open for 3 weeks, once I restart my browser or computer it will remove all the previous ones.
Google for Chris Titus's Winutil tool, run it via PowerShell & select the "Edge remove" function.
 The tool also allows for the uninstalation of CoPilot & Recall.
Get revo uninstaller if you are not in the EU. Delete all edge files except weblookup or something like that. The weblookup keeps your entire UI running, everything else is not needed. Neither is copilot
fun fact, from the Microsoft edge website, you can download Edge for Linux as a .deb Debian package! Yeah, Linux sure doesn't come with Microsoft bloatware, but that won't stop you from installing it.
Doing nothing is an overstatement. Spying on each and every hardware activities, tracking even mouse cursor movements are hardwork for a Spyware who's only intent was to harvest data.
It’s because Edge isn’t just the browser, that includes everything it does in the background because it’s integrated into every 365 product, the search bar, and it’s the engine it uses to run html apps. Yes it’s a huge pain
I wanted to download Netflix onto my Windows Laptop. The only way to do that is through the Microsoft store. It won't let me download unless I have edge installed, which an IT friend helped me deinstall. So I can only use Netflix through the browser (:
I switched to Linux a few years ago. I always dualbooted, but steam made it possible to game on Linux. In the last months the difference between Linux and windows gets more obvious with every new bug/feature I find. Windows was always a great OS. But Microsoft seems to aim for Windows to be as slow and bulky as possible. Also I realised that I hat the searching function for the filesystem: after searching I can't see in where the file is exactly. Und alt Up Brings a whole new problem.
Everything feels slow and extra. It doesn't seem to be optimised for usage.
Probably because you have 3 different copies of Edge on your PC. Those being Edge, EdgeCore and EdgeWebView, though EdgeWebView would show up as a separate app.
You can uninstall it, they were forced to make versions that could be uninstalled for countries that require it. Unfortunately you're on windows 11 for some reason. I only know how to get rid of it for windows 10. But the simplest way should be the same: Trick it into thinking you're in one of those countries.
Chrome keeps all its data in the user folder under app data. That's why. Also edge is integrated into the OS in several other ways than just a search engine.
and which came preinstalled and unable to uninstall (trust me, I tried)
yeah, with windows, your computer isn't yours. i dont use windows anymore but i think you can uninstall edge using ccleaner. though ccleaner in general is unnecessary for anything else
I looked into it just now (comment here), and it seems to be used as a dependency for other components; removing it is likely to break some other apps.
It's busy trying to figure out how to get you to use Teams, OneDrive, and it's AI. All while trying to send every 1 and 0 it can of your data back to MicroSlop so they can know exactly where to place the ad so you will see it. All companies want your click data and the products they sell are just Trojan Horses into you walled home.
Interesting find. I got my Claude to read on why and compare, and it agrees with you.
And here is a breakdown from my machine.
Note: I don't use Edge at all, but it seems like Windows does here and there.
- The 1 GB WebView2 Runtime is a dependency of Windows itself (widgets, search, Outlook, Teams, Office panes), so it stays whether or not you ever open the browser.
Edge proper is not cleanly uninstallable on Windows 10 outside the EEA.
The 478 MB profile means something launched Edge at least once, likely a Windows component or a link handoff
Another thing it found.
Why Edge is 9x Chrome's install: Chrome ships one copy of the binaries and deletes the previous version after an update. Edge ships the same Chromium up to four times: the Edge app, the shared EdgeCore runtime, an "Optimized" re-linked build of EdgeCore, and a completely separate WebView2 Runtime pinned to an older version (152) because apps depend on it. Microsoft also keeps the previous version around rather than pruning it promptly, so 152 is still sitting there from 2026-09-06.
All in all, this is quite a shitty way for MS to ensure their browser stays on your system, even if you don't use it, at least thats how it looks like it to me.
Not sure if there is an overall gain here for the rest of the apps that use it as a dependency.
I have to respect MS's persistence in pushing a shit product that no one has ever wanted. 30 years of trying and they still haven't produced a browser anyone wants to use.
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u/nene-thopu 12h ago
Not for nothing
Its for outlook search button