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To stop Edge tabs from looking dimmed, open Settings and more (…) > Settings > System and performance > Performance and turn Fade inactive tabs off. That changes only their appearance: Sleeping Tabs can remain on. To stop Edge automatically putting inactive tabs to sleep, turn off Automatically put tabs to sleep (called Save resources with sleeping tabs in some versions) in the same section.
Fading and Sleeping Tabs are separate controls
A faded tab is Edge’s visual indication that it has put an inactive background tab to sleep. Sleeping pauses page activity and releases some resources; it does not mean the tab was closed or damaged. Select a sleeping tab to wake it and return to its content. Microsoft describes the feature and its controls in its guide to Edge performance features.
| Feature | What it changes | Setting to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Faded appearance | Whether sleeping tabs look dimmed | Fade inactive tabs |
| Sleeping Tabs | Whether Edge automatically pauses inactive background tabs | Automatically put tabs to sleep or Save resources with sleeping tabs |
If you want resource savings but dislike the dimmed appearance, turn off fading and leave Sleeping Tabs enabled.
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Turn the faded appearance off or on
- In Edge, select Settings and more (…) > Settings.
- Open System and performance, then find the Performance section.
- Set Fade inactive tabs to Off to remove the visual effect, or On to show it again.
This switch does not turn Sleeping Tabs off. Microsoft’s current support instructions place it under System and performance; older guides may use labels such as System, Optimize performance, or Fade sleeping tabs.
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Turn Sleeping Tabs off or back on
- Go to Settings and more (…) > Settings > System and performance.
- Under Performance, find Automatically put tabs to sleep or Save resources with sleeping tabs.
- Turn the setting off to stop this feature from automatically sleeping tabs, or on to restore it.
A tab already asleep should normally wake when you select it; you do not need to close and reopen Edge just to wake it. Turning Sleeping Tabs off prevents the feature’s normal automatic sleeping behavior, but cannot guarantee that tabs will never be suspended, discarded, or reloaded for other reasons.
Change how long Edge waits before sleeping tabs
When Sleeping Tabs is on, use the inactivity-timeout control in Settings > System and performance > Performance. It may be labelled Put inactive tabs to sleep after a set time. Choose from the intervals shown in your Edge installation. Microsoft’s general explanation describes two hours as historical/default behavior, not a universal current default; available choices and labels can vary by version and active performance settings.
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Check Energy Saver if the timeout seems ignored
Microsoft documents that Energy Saver can apply shorter sleep intervals: approximately 30 minutes under moderate battery-saving measures and five minutes under more aggressive measures. These are Energy Saver behaviors, not general Sleeping Tabs defaults. If the timeout is unavailable or tabs sleep sooner than the selected interval, review Energy Saver settings before changing the timeout. Older Microsoft Q&A references to Efficiency mode and a five-minute timeout describe version-dependent behavior, not necessarily a control present in every current build (older timeout discussion).
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Keep a particular website active
If only one or two sites need to keep working in the background, use the exception list instead of disabling Sleeping Tabs for every tab. This can help with a messaging dashboard, web editor, monitoring page, or finance application, although an exception cannot guarantee uninterrupted operation under every browser or operating-system condition.
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- Open Settings > System and performance > Performance.
- Find Always keep these sites active and select Add site.
- Enter the full website URL and select Add.
Microsoft lists examples of activity that can prevent a page from sleeping, including being the active tab, playing audio, capturing a window or screen, using a camera or microphone, casting or mirroring, being inspected with DevTools, being an internal company or intranet site, or using WebUSB. These are documented examples, not an exhaustive permanent list; Edge uses heuristics that may change. See Microsoft’s Sleeping Tabs policy documentation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Understand why a tab may still reload
Sleeping and discarding are different. Sleeping pauses a page while allowing Edge to release some resources; waking it normally resumes the page. Discarding removes more of the page from memory, so returning to that tab may require a full reload. Low memory, extensions, crashes, browser updates, or operating-system behavior can also affect tabs, even when Sleeping Tabs is off. Microsoft’s Edge performance troubleshooting guidance covers resource problems and identifies the Browser Task Manager shortcut, Shift + Esc, for checking browser processes.
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If a tab reloads, first note whether it was merely asleep or fully reloaded, then consider whether the device was under memory pressure or the page relies on background activity. For a site that needs to remain active, try adding it to the exception list.
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If you cannot find or change the setting
- Look for alternate wording. Depending on the version, fading may appear as Fade inactive tabs or Fade sleeping tabs; sleeping may appear as Automatically put tabs to sleep or Save resources with sleeping tabs.
- Try the direct settings page. Microsoft’s troubleshooting guidance identifies
edge://settings/system/managePerformance; the broader system page isedge://settings/system. Older instructions may point to a different section name. - Check Energy Saver. It can affect the timeout or make its normal control unavailable.
- Check whether Edge is managed. A work or school administrator can enforce settings. In managed deployments, relevant policies include
SleepingTabsEnabled,SleepingTabsTimeout, andSleepingTabsBlockedForUrls. The Group Policy path is Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge > Sleeping tabs settings. A mandatory policy can override the user’s choice; a recommended policy may set a default that users can change. See Microsoft’s Edge policy reference. - Check version and platform. Update Edge and revisit the settings if the control is absent. Microsoft’s policy documentation lists the SleepingTabsEnabled policy as supported on Windows and macOS from Edge 88 onward, but not on Android or iOS. Desktop controls should not be assumed to exist in mobile Edge. Labels and placement may also vary across stable, beta, enterprise, and regional builds.
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