What is Microsoft Edge on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Microsoft's Chromium-based web browser and its helper processes.
Microsoft Edge is built on Chromium, the same engine as Chrome, so it works the same way: a main browser process plus helpers for each site or extension (Renderer), graphics (GPU) and other services. Edge's built-in Browser task manager (Shift-Esc, or More tools > Browser task manager) shows which tab or extension each helper belongs to.
- Category
- Third-party
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Safe to quit:
- Yes
Shown in Activity Monitor as Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Edge Helper, Microsoft Edge Helper (Renderer), Microsoft Edge Helper (GPU), Microsoft Edge Helper (Alerts)
Why is Microsoft Edge using so much CPU or memory?
- Many tabs, especially with video or heavy web apps
- Extensions running scripts
- Sync and updates in the background
What to do
- 1Open Edge's Browser task manager to find the heavy tab or extension
- 2Turn on sleeping tabs or efficiency mode in Edge Settings
- 3Disable extensions you don't use
- 4Quit and reopen Edge
Safe to quit? Yes.
Safe to quit the browser; quitting a single Renderer helper only closes the tabs it was running.
Related processes
- Google ChromeGoogle's web browser. Its tabs and extensions run in separate 'Google Chrome Helper' processes.
- chrome_crashpad_handlerCrash reporter for Chrome and many Chromium/Electron apps; waits quietly in case of crashes.
- Microsoft AutoUpdateKeeps Microsoft apps like Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams and Edge up to date.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library