Windows 10: How to investigate Microsoft Edge memory usage on Windows

Brink · Jan 13, 2021

Performance is essential to your success, which makes it core to ours. To help ensure the browser doesnât slow you down, we always keep performance in mind as we continue to improve Microsoft Edge. However, for the times that your browser isnât running as expected, we want to help you understand how Microsoft Edge is using the resources on your device and when Microsoft Edgeâs resource usage is unusually high so you can get back to what you want to get done.

How Microsoft Edge thinks about memory usage

The memory usage of a browser can be looked at in many ways and is dependent on several factors. Here, for Microsoft Edge, the memory metrics that we are most interested in are commit and private working set.

Commit is the total amount of private memory allocations made by a process. Each processâs commit is separate, or private to the process. These allocations may reside in random access memory (RAM), or in the page file on your hard drive. The page file is a reserved portion of your hard drive that is used as an extension of RAM for data that hasnât been used recently. When in RAM, the commit is either in the private working set, or on lists the OS uses to manage memory, like the modified, or standby list. Commit can be seen in either the Browser Task Manager or the Windows Task Manager.

Browser Task Manager â The âMemoryâ column shows the commit size for a process (Figure 1).

Windows Task Manager â The âCommit sizeâ column shows the commit size for a process. This column can be added to the Details tab (Figure 3).

Private working set is the amount of the private memory allocations made by the process that are currently in RAM and mapped into the process. This information can only be seen in the Windows Task Manager.

Windows Task Manager â The âMemoryâ column in the Processes or Details tab shows the private working set for the process (Figure 3).

Factors that impact memory usage

When investigating Microsoft Edgeâs memory usage, we typically want to use commit, as that is the metric under the browserâs control. The total commit size is determined by many factors, among the most prominent are the number of tabs, extensions and ads, web page content, screen resolution, and number of browser windows.

Number of tabs, ads, and extensions â Generally, each tab, ad, and extension is a separate process. The more tabs/ads open and extensions enabled, the more processes and the more memory required, as each processâs commit is separate, or private to the process.

Content â The memory usage for a tab, ad, or extension is dependent on content, with things like pictures, video, and audio using more, and often substantially more memory, than text.

Screen resolution and window size â The higher the screen resolution or the larger the window, the more content that is displayed, and allocations of memory required to display the content will increase. This will impact the GPU process the most and can impact the memory size of pictures and videos in the tabs as well.

Number of browser windows â Separate windows result in additional allocations of memory to display content because more are visible concurrently. This will impact the GPU process the most.

Commit

When we start to look at the commit size of different processes, itâs helpful to understand how the factors listed above impact the commit size for each process and how the size can vary. Below you will find values typically representing the upper end of each processesâ commit size, as determined by diagnostic data sent to Microsoft Edge, as well as factors that impact each processesâ commit size.

Browser process â This process manages the tabs and implements common infrastructure. The commit for this process typically wonât exceed 400 MB. More tabs will push this processâ commit to the higher values.

Renderer process â The commit for each of these processes typically wonât exceed 500 MB. Complex content that plays video or has large scrollable areas, such as social media news feeds, will have commit at the higher end of the range.

Subframe process â These are also renderer processes, but are not for the main content, and are most frequently used for things like ads. The commit for each of these processes typically wonât exceed 75 MB. However, complex ads that play video or do slide shows can sometimes consume more.

GPU process â The commit for this process typically wonât exceed 1.75 GB. More tabs, browser windows, and higher screen resolution will have commits at the higher values.

Utility process â The commit for each of these processes typically wonât exceed 30 MB.

Extension processes and plug-in processes â The commit for each of these processes typically wonât exceed 150 MB.

The best method to display the browser processes commit is via the Browser Task Manger as shown in Figure 1. This method gives us the most detail about which tab and extensions are currently in use and the context to make informed decisions about commit usage. If you want to see the commit size of each of your processes, follow the steps below:

Open Browser Task Manger

Right click on a browser window title bar and click âBrowser task managerâ, or press Shift-Esc after youâve clicked on your browser window

Look at the âMemoryâ column for each process

If the number in the âMemoryâ column is greater than one of the expected ranges listed above, please submit feedback through Microsoft Edge

Figure 1: Browser Task Manager

Private working set

The size of your private working set is dependent on many factors, including RAM size, other processes present on the system, which process is available for keyboard or mouse interactions, age of the process, and which background processes are playing audio/video. The private working set will never be larger than the process commit. The commit for a process will be distributed in four places, private working set, modified, standby, and the page file.

Typically, browser processes that have more than 80% of commit in the private working set, and that are not the active tab (i.e. the tab that is available for keyboard or mouse interactions), would be considered excessive, unless your device has a large amount of RAM (64 GB of RAM or more). Background tabs will have varying percentages of their commit in their private working set. How much is dependent on the system RAM size and the private working set of other processes on the system. Tabs that are in the background for extended periods (several hours or more) or are sleeping will have only a small percentage of their commit in private working set.

However, private working sets can remain high (> 50% of commit) for the lifetime of the process on systems that have substantial amounts of available memory (64 GB of RAM or more) in Standby and Free, as shown by the Windows Resource Monitor (Figure 2). You can open Windows Resource Monitor by typing âResource Monitorâ in the Windows search box in the bottom left-hand corner of your desktop.

Figure 2: Windows Resource Monitor

The best method to display the browser processes private working set is via the Windows Task Manger as shown in Figure 2. To display your private working set, follow the steps below:

Open Windows Task Manager (press Ctrl-Shift-Esc or type âTask Managerâ in the Windows search box in the bottom left-hand corner of your desktop.)

Click on the âDetailsâ Tab in Windows Task Manager

Ensure you have the necessary columns showing

Right click on the header that has âNameâ, âStatusâ, âUser Nameâ, âCPUâ, etc.

Click âSelect columnsâ

Make sure that you have check marks next to âPIDâ, âCommit sizeâ, and âMemory (private working set)â

Click OK

Open Browser Task Manager (right click on a browser window title bar and click âBrowser task managerâ, or press Shift-Esc after youâve clicked on your browser window)

For the process that you are interested in, look at the value in the âProcess IDâ column

Return to Windows Task Manager and under the âPIDâ column, find the value that matches the value in Browser Task Manager

Looking at that row, compare the values under the columns Memory (private working set) and âCommit sizeâ

If a processâs private working set is greater than 80% of your commit, please submit feedback through Microsoft

Note: Make sure that the process you are looking at is not the active tab, the tab that is available for keyboard or mouse interactions, and verify that your system doesnât have 64 GB or more of RAM

Figure 3: Windows Task Manager

Listening to your feedback

We recognize that people rely on their browser more than ever before, and we want browsing the web to be effortless. If you experience an issue with Microsoft Edge, please send us feedback through Microsoft Edge by pressing Alt+Shift+I after youâve clicked on your browser window or by going to Settings and moreâ¦ > Help and feedback > Send feedback.

In your feedback, please provide as much detail as possible. Please include information such as steps to reproduce the issue, the URL of the page you visited, diagnostic data, a screenshot, your email address, so if needed we can respond to your feedback and ask for additional information, and finally please include the phrase âEdgeMemoryBlogPostâ in your description, to help us sort our feedback. Providing this additional information will help us address your feedback.

â Allison Pastewka, Program Manager, Microsoft Edge
â Joe Laughlin, Principal Software Engineer, Microsoft Edge
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Source: How to investigate Microsoft Edge’s memory usage on Windows - Microsoft Edge Blog

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Brink · Jan 13, 2021

Improving Memory Usage in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10

Our goal on the Microsoft Edge team is to deliver the best performing browser possible on Windows and other platforms. When a browser uses too much memory, it can slow down the whole system; memory, in general, is a critical resource to keeping any device running smoothly.

With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, Microsoft Edge has leveraged the Windows segment heap memory improvements now available for Win32 applications to manage memory more efficiently. Early internal testing results of devices on the May 2020 Update are showing a memory usage reduction of up to 27% when browsing with Microsoft Edge. Individual device performance will vary based upon configuration and usage, but the lower memory usage is expected to create a better experience.

Want to learn more about how developers can take advantage of the expanded availability of segment heap memory improvements? Please this page for the latest developer information.

We would love to hear more about your experience with the new Microsoft Edge. Please continue to join us on the Microsoft Edge Insider forums or Twitter to discuss your experience and let us know what you think! We hope you enjoy the changes and look forward to your feedback.
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Source: Improving Memory Usage in Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Edge Blog

Latest Microsoft Edge released for Windows

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Robelene Win · Jan 13, 2021

High CPU usage Microsoft Edge on video Streaming

Hi Sibtain,

Let's try to isolate the cause of this issue with the high CPU usage in Edge. We suggest that you clear your browsing data. Clearing your browsing data will help improve the performance of Edge. To clear, kindly follow the steps below:

Open Edge.

Click on the three dots icon on the upper-right part of the screen.

Click Settings.

Under Clear browsing data, click on Choose what to clear.

Click on Clear.

You can also visit this link with a similar concern as yours and check the solution
provided by Josette Sal.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

margrave55 · Jan 13, 2021

Runaway memory usage

On your suggestion I went to uninstall AVG. It offered to go into an on-demand mode (I can't remember the word it used to describe).
So I tried that instead of uninstalling. Upon reboot everything seemed unchanged. High CPU usage, memory growth, no good.

So I ran the uninstall. This moved along step by step ... until the last step (titled: replacing files) never completed. It left behind a bunch of its stuff in Program Files:
Code:

1.1 GB in C:\Program Files\AVG
6.5 MB in C:\Program Files (x86)\AVG
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So I have a bunch of leftover crap ... which I'll probably just delete.

Anyway, after rebooting it seems that all is well. CPU usage is near zero. The fans are quiet. (Computer fans, not football fans!) *chuckle

Thanks for the quick reply.

Windows 10: How to investigate Microsoft Edge memory usage on Windows

How to investigate Microsoft Edge memory usage on Windows

How to investigate Microsoft Edge memory usage on Windows

How to investigate Microsoft Edge memory usage on Windows

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