Turn on or off Edge Startup Boost using GPO

In this post, I’ll show you how to turn on or off Edge Startup Boost using GPO. The startup boost feature in the Edge browser is enabled by default but can be disabled for Active Directory (AD) users through group policy settings.

According to Microsoft, Startup boost helps Edge start up quicker. It keeps the browser running in the background with minimal resources, so Microsoft Edge will start quickly when opened after a device reboot, or after you reopen it. The startup boost can be toggled on and off by going to edge://settings/system.

In a domain environment, users often adjust browser settings to suit their preferences. To standardize Edge browser settings across your organization, using Group Policy is the recommended approach. For devices managed through an MDM solution like Intune, you can leverage the settings catalog to configure features such as startup boost for the Edge browser.

Prerequisites

• Creating a new GPO requires you to log in as an administrator on your Active Directory server.
• Ensure the MMC and the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in are available on your Active Directory server.
• Before implementing the GPO on an entire domain or organizational unit level, I suggest testing it on a small subset of users or devices. After successful testing, you can consider linking the GPO to the OU containing users or computers.

Enable or Disable Startup Boost in Edge using Group Policy

Before proceeding, note that if Edge policy settings are not visible in the Group Policy Editor, you may need to import the latest ADMX templates for Edge. These templates add updated rules and settings for Microsoft Edge to the Policy Definition folder on individual computers.

Step 1: Create a GPO

Let’s start by creating a new GPO to enable or disable Startup Boost in the Edge browser for Windows devices. On your Active Directory server, open the Group Policy Management console.

In the Group Policy Management console, expand the domain, right-click Group Policy Objects and select New. Enter the policy name and click OK. Next, right-click this newly created GPO and select Edit.

In the Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge > Performance. Right-click Enable startup boost setting and select Edit.

The Enable startup boost group policy setting offers three options:

1. Not Configured: This is a default selection for this policy setting. When this option is selected, the user can configure its behavior in edge://settings/system.
2. Enabled: Select this option to turn on startup boost for Edge.
3. Disabled: Select this option to turn off startup boost for Edge.

Once you have made the selection, click Apply and OK. Close the GP editor.

Step 2: Link the Group Policy to an OU

The next step is to link this GPO to an OU if you haven’t already. In the Group Policy management editor, right-click the OU and choose link an existing GPO. From the list of GPO’s select the Edge Startup boost GPO and click OK.

You can also link the above GPO to the domain, but doing so will apply the policy settings applicable to every computer in the domain, so it is not advised. The best approach is to pick a test OU consisting of Windows devices, link the GPO, and test the policy settings first. Expand this policy to other OU’s once you have determined that it works.

Step 3: Update Group Policy

The startup boost settings are applied on the remote Windows devices once they communicate with Active Directory. You can manually update the group policies on remote computers to accelerate the process. On a test client machine, you can manually perform the group policy update by running the gpupdate /force command.

Step 4: End-User Experience

This section explains how to confirm whether the GPO settings have been successfully applied to the Edge browser, ensuring that your GPO configuration is functioning correctly.

If you have enabled the startup boost feature via GPO, open the Edge browser and navigate to edge://settings/system. Here you should see that the start-up boost option is enabled and user cannot disable it as it is greyed out.

If you have turned off the startup boost feature for devices via GPO, open the Edge browser and navigate to edge://settings/system. Here you should see that the start-up boost option is disabled permanently and user cannot enable it as it is greyed out.