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Browser Troubleshooting

How to Enable or Disable Efficiency Mode (Energy saver) in Microsoft Edge

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Microsoft Edge renamed its browser Efficiency mode to Energy saver. In current Edge, open Settings and more (…) → Settings → System and performance → Performance, then switch Enable energy saver on or off. You can also enter edge://settings/system in the address bar.

Energy saver reduces power and resource use by limiting background activity and sleeping inactive tabs. Its effect varies by device and workload, and Microsoft warns that stronger savings can make video or other interactive sites less smooth. Microsoft’s performance-features documentation uses the current name and labels.

What happened to Edge “Efficiency mode”?

The browser feature described in older guides as Efficiency mode is now called Energy saver in Microsoft’s current Edge documentation and settings. The feature was not removed; search for Energy saver or Performance rather than expecting an “Efficiency mode” switch.

Energy saver is separate from ordinary Sleeping tabs. Sleeping tabs primarily pause inactive pages to reduce CPU and memory use. Energy saver is aimed at reducing power consumption and can apply stricter background-tab and activity limits.

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How to enable Energy saver

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Select Settings and more (…) in the upper-right corner.
  3. Select Settings.
  4. Open System and performance.
  5. If the page shows categories, select Performance.
  6. Turn on Enable energy saver.

For a shortcut, enter edge://settings/system in the address bar, press Enter, open Performance, and enable the toggle.

How to disable Energy saver

  1. Open Settings and more (…) → Settings.
  2. Select System and performance, then Performance if necessary.
  3. Set Enable energy saver to Off.

Disabling it is the broadest fix if video playback is stuttering, a browser game is slow, a live web app stops updating reliably, or tabs sleep sooner than your work allows. It does not guarantee that every high-CPU or memory problem will disappear.

Choose Balanced or Maximum

Turning Energy saver off is not your only option. Microsoft provides two modes:

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Balanced Everyday battery saving and normal browsing Moderate savings. Microsoft says ordinary browsing should have no or minor slowdown, although demanding activity can still be affected.
Maximum Staying away from power for a long time Stronger savings whenever the device is unplugged, with a greater chance of visible slowdowns such as less-smooth video.

In the same settings area, Use energy saver even when connected to power keeps the feature active while your computer is plugged in. Without that option, Energy saver is primarily intended to operate while the device is unplugged.

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When does Energy saver activate?

Microsoft documents these default behaviors, but device settings, browser policies, and future Edge releases can change them:

  • Windows: follows Windows Battery Saver mode by default.
  • macOS: turns on at 20% battery by default.
  • Linux: is off by default.

The documented feature is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can also be enabled on a desktop computer; it is not limited to laptops.

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Why are my tabs sleeping sooner than expected?

When automatic tab sleeping is enabled, Energy saver can override the normal sleeping-tab interval. With moderate savings, inactive background tabs may sleep after 30 minutes or less. When stronger savings are applied, the interval may be five minutes. These are documented windows, not a promise that every tab will sleep at exactly those times.

If you want to control the ordinary sleeping-tab timeout, turn Energy saver off first. You can then use Settings and more (…) → Settings → System and performance → Performance to keep Automatically put tabs to sleep enabled and adjust Put inactive tabs to sleep after a set time.

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A faded tab generally indicates that Sleeping tabs has released resources. Selecting it normally resumes the page. If you want sleeping tabs but dislike the appearance, use the Fade inactive tabs setting in Performance.

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Keep one website active without disabling Energy saver

Use an exception when only a particular site—such as a video-conferencing service, browser game, media player, web editor, live dashboard, chat tool, or trading interface—needs continuous activity.

  1. Open Settings and more (…) → Settings → System and performance → Performance.
  2. Find Always keep these sites active.
  3. Select Add site.
  4. Enter the site’s full URL and select Add.

Enter each relevant address separately; a service’s subdomain or related web app may require its own entry. Microsoft also lists activity that can keep a page awake automatically, including an active tab, audio playback, screen or window capture, webcam or microphone use, casting, DevTools inspection, internal company pages, and WebUSB use.

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How to decide whether to use it

  • Choose Balanced for most laptop users who want battery savings with a modest effect on responsiveness.
  • Choose Maximum when preserving battery is more important than smooth video or real-time interaction.
  • Turn Energy saver off for demanding games, media, conferencing, dashboards, or other workloads that are visibly affected.
  • Add a site exception before disabling the feature globally if only one or two sites misbehave.

Energy saver can reduce power use and leave resources available for other applications, but the benefit depends on your hardware, open applications, and browsing habits.

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Edge Energy saver versus Windows Task Manager Efficiency mode

The green double-leaf Efficiency mode shown in Windows 11 Task Manager is a different feature. Edge Energy saver is configured inside Edge and controls browser power-saving behavior. Windows Task Manager Efficiency mode limits resources for an individual Windows process or process group when Windows detects high CPU use.

To change the Windows setting:

  1. Open Start, search for Task Manager, and open it.
  2. Select Processes.
  3. Find the process, then right-click it (or select and hold it).
  4. Select Efficiency mode to turn it off, and confirm if prompted.

Windows may not allow the switch for most process groups, although an individual process inside an expanded group may be manageable. Turning off Edge Energy saver does not turn off this Windows feature, and changing Task Manager does not change Edge’s setting. Microsoft explains both features and their distinction here.

If the setting is missing or appears ineffective

  • Open edge://settings/system directly and search the page for energy saver or performance.
  • Look for the current label Energy saver, not the older “Efficiency mode” wording.
  • Confirm that you are using the modern Chromium-based Microsoft Edge rather than legacy Edge.
  • On a work or school computer, an administrator may enforce Energy saver, its mode, or plugged-in behavior through policy.
  • If the issue is high CPU or memory use, open Settings and more (…) → More tools → Performance. Edge’s Performance detector can identify resource-heavy background tabs and let you sleep or close them individually.
  • Check Windows Task Manager separately when the problem may be a Windows process rather than Edge’s browser setting.

If the issue is overall Windows battery life, use Start → Settings → System → Power & battery. Windows’ Power mode and Energy saver controls affect the operating system and device, not just Edge. See Microsoft’s Windows 11 power-settings guide.

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