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What is Microsoft Edge WebView2, and do you need it?

How it works · October 18, 2026 · 7 min read

Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is the shared Windows component that lets apps show web pages inside their own windows. It is not the Edge browser, and apps that rely on it, including apps you make with Pake on Windows, need it installed. Windows 11 includes it already.

What the runtime is

The WebView2 control embeds HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a Windows app and renders that content with Microsoft Edge's engine. The WebView2 Runtime is the separate platform those apps run on. Microsoft describes it as modified Edge binaries tuned for apps, in the same role as the .NET runtime for a .NET app. After it is installed, it does not appear as a browser: there is no desktop shortcut and no Start menu entry.

In Programs and Features the entry is Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, under Control Panel, Programs, Programs and Features. In Task Manager the processes are named msedgewebview2.exe. Microsoft's end-user FAQ says each app that uses the runtime gets its own set of those processes.

The runtime does not install the Edge browser, does not require Edge, and does not change your default browser, as Microsoft's Microsoft 365 guidance states. A production app is not allowed to use the Edge Stable channel in place of the runtime. Uninstalling Edge does not make WebView2 stop working.

How a WebView2 app actually runs

WebView2 uses the same process model as Edge. A group of runtime processes holds one browser process, one or more renderer processes, and helpers such as the GPU process and the audio service. The FAQ says you will normally see a manager, a GPU process, utility processes and renderers, with roughly one renderer for each web view in the app, much as a browser has one per tab.

Everything in that group is tied to a user data folder, which is where the web side of the app keeps what a browser would: cookies, permissions and cached resources. The host app chooses where that folder lives. That is why two things you may notice follow from the design. A sign-in survives restarts because the data folder persists. And uninstalling a host app does not always delete the folder, because Microsoft's documentation says an uninstaller protects user data and the app's own uninstall process has to clean it up.

For a Pake app this shows up in Manage your apps: on Windows, Remove keeps sign-ins unless you tick Also remove its sign-ins and other data, and removing an app through Settings, Apps keeps them as well.

Evergreen and Fixed Version

Microsoft documents two ways to put the runtime on a PC.

The installable Evergreen runtime is the entry in Programs and Features. It is preinstalled on all Windows 11 devices. On Windows 10, Microsoft says the vast majority of devices already have it and a small number do not. It updates on its own, and the runtime release notes describe a two-week release cadence in sync with Microsoft Edge. An Evergreen app cannot require a particular runtime version, because every Evergreen app on the PC shares the same runtime.

One detail matters for apps you leave open for days. A new runtime is downloaded in the background, but Microsoft says the client uses it when the app restarts, so an app that never quits keeps running on the previous version. Quitting and reopening a Pake app is enough to pick up the new one.

Fixed Version is a specific build packaged with a single app and used only by that app. It does not update by itself, does not use the registry entry described below, and Microsoft puts its binaries at over 250 MB. Removing Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime from Programs and Features does not touch a Fixed Version copy inside another app, and that private copy does not stand in for the shared runtime.

Which apps use it

Any Windows app can use it. Microsoft's downgrade documentation names Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and third-party enterprise software as examples, and the FAQ adds Widgets, Office and Weather. Microsoft 365 documentation says features such as Room Finder and Meeting Insights in Outlook rely on the runtime, and that those features are unavailable when it is missing. The same page says the runtime is not installed on devices running macOS.

Pake for Windows runs the apps you make on this runtime. The install requirements are Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or later, and the runtime for those apps. Pake for Mac does not need WebView2.

Check whether it is installed

The quickest check is Programs and Features, where the entry reads Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime. To read the version, Microsoft documents a registry value named pv for the Evergreen runtime. On 64-bit Windows these two commands read it, the first for a per-machine install and the second for a per-user install:

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Clients\{F3017226-FE2A-4295-8BDF-00C3A9A7E4C5}" /v pv
reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Clients\{F3017226-FE2A-4295-8BDF-00C3A9A7E4C5}" /v pv

Microsoft says at least one of the two must exist with a version greater than 0.0.0.0. If neither exists, or the value is empty or 0.0.0.0, the runtime is not installed. This is the same check a Windows installer is expected to make.

Leave the shared runtime installed

Microsoft's Microsoft 365 guidance recommends allowing the runtime to be installed, since the Office features that depend on it do not work without it. Microsoft's FAQ explains why a removed copy often returns: Windows 11 includes it, many apps install it again when they are installed or launched, and an organization can push it to a managed PC. Edge being installed does not fill the gap, and a Fixed Version copy inside another app stays with that app.

On memory and CPU, the same FAQ says extra usage is usually due to how WebView2 is being used, not WebView2 itself, and that a heavy page costs more. If one app is consistently heavy, look at that app's page or code, which for a Pake app means the website inside it.

Install it when it is missing

Windows 11 ships with the Evergreen runtime, so a PC that still has that copy does not need a separate download. When it is missing, including on some Windows 10 PCs, use Download Microsoft Edge WebView2.

The developer download page also offers an online bootstrapper of roughly 2 MB, which downloads the Evergreen build that matches the PC, and an offline standalone installer for x86, x64, and ARM64. One Evergreen install covers every Evergreen app on the machine. For scripted installs Microsoft documents MicrosoftEdgeWebview2Setup.exe /silent /install for the bootstrapper. Running it from an elevated prompt gives a per-machine install, and without elevation it gives a per-user one that a per-machine Edge updater later replaces.

What goes wrong in a Pake app

When the runtime is missing, Pake shows Apps made with Pake need the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime and a Get WebView2 link to Microsoft's download page. Install the Evergreen runtime from there, then open the app again. Reinstalling is also the sensible step if an app that worked before reports the runtime as missing, since the pages above document the Evergreen installers and no separate repair command.

If a site looks different on Windows than on a Mac, that is expected: the Windows app renders with Edge's engine and the Mac app with WebKit, as Tauri vs Electron explains. And if a site refuses sign-in in the app, see the sign-in guide, since the runtime itself is rarely the cause.

FAQ

Does WebView2 need Microsoft Edge to be installed?

No. The runtime does not require Edge, and uninstalling Edge leaves WebView2 working.

Why do I see many msedgewebview2.exe processes?

Each app that uses WebView2 gets its own set, and a set normally holds a manager, a GPU process, utility processes and one or more renderers.

Can I uninstall it?

You can, but Microsoft notes it often returns, and the apps that need it stop working until it does. For a Pake app, leaving it installed is the simpler choice.