Microsoft Says Edge is the First Windows Browser to Support Accelerated App Launches

Microsoft said today that its Edge browser is the first web browser to support accelerated app launches on Windows. This is made possible by a new Windows capability that streamlines the launch of apps with already-running instances, like many modern Windows apps.

This new Windows accelerated app launch capability for Microsoft Edge requires the installation of the optional October 2026 security update that Microsoft released yesterday for Windows 11, versions 25H2, 26H2, 26H1. Because Microsoft Edge is now registered for accelerated app launches, when the app is already running in the background, launching it from the Start Menu or the taskbar will skip an intermediary Windows process that checks if Edge is already running.

Now, with accelerated app launches on Windows, when an Edge process starts, it sends a registration request to Windows. Windows checks and accepts the request. Later, when Edge is launched again, Windows can use the accelerated-launch registration to notify the already running Edge process directly.

“Now, with accelerated app launches on Windows, when an Edge process starts, it sends a registration request to Windows. Windows checks and accepts the request. Later, when Edge is launched again, Windows can use the accelerated-launch registration to notify the already running Edge process directly,” the Edge team explained today.

Thanks to this new accelerated app launch capability on Windows 11, Microsoft Edge should launch up to 15% faster on average when the app is already running in the background. The company also mentioned up to 33% faster launches “under heavy multitasking.”

The Edge team said today that it’s already working on the Windows team to use leverage this accelerated app launches capability to make Edge open PDFs even faster. All developers can also register their Windows apps for accelerated app launches, and Microsoft also wants this new capability to benefit all Chromium-based web browsers.