Differences between Microsoft Edge and WebView2

WebView2 is based on the Microsoft Edge browser. You have the opportunity to extend features from the browser to WebView2-based apps, which is useful. However, since WebView2 isn't limited to browser-like apps, there are some browser features that need to be modified or removed.

This article covers:

  • The modified browser features and supporting information.
  • The ability to turn on or off the feature.
  • Guidance on keyboard shortcuts.

Design guidelines

In the context of WebView2, browser features adhere to the following design guidelines:

  • Most features work the same in WebView2 and Microsoft Edge. If a feature doesn't make sense in the context of WebView2 or for other reasons, the feature is modified or turned off.

  • WebView2 features don't include Microsoft Edge branding.

Browser features

The following table displays the WebView2 features that differ from the Microsoft Edge browser:

  • Default state indicates that the feature is part of the default experience on a new WebView2 instance.

  • Configurable indicates that you can turn on or off the feature using WebView2 APIs or command-line switches.

Note

This article doesn't cover modifying features by using command-line switches. For more information about turning on and off features by using command-line switches, see List of Chromium Command Line Switches.

Feature Default state Configurable Details
Autofill for Addresses On Yes This feature is turned on by default. You can turn this feature on or off by using the WebView2 Autofill APIs.
Autofill for Passwords Off Yes This feature is turned off by default. You can turn this feature on or off by using the WebView2 Autofill APIs.
Autofill for Payments Off No This feature is turned off.
Browser Extensions Off No This feature is turned off.
Browser Task Manager Off No This feature is turned off.
Collections Off No This feature is turned off.
Continue-where-I-left-off prompt Off No This feature is turned off.
Downloads On Yes WebView2 provides an API that allows you to customize the download UI to manipulate downloads. For example, you can block, redirect, save, pause, and so on. For more information, see Download API.
Edge Shopping Off No This feature is turned off.
Family Safety Off No This feature is turned off.
Favorites Off No This feature is turned off.
IE Mode Off No This feature is turned off. WebView2 doesn't support IE mode and has differences in behavior compared to IE (such as MHT or BIN support).
Immersive Reader Off No This feature depends on the browser UI for interaction. This feature is turned off.
Intrusive Ads Off No This feature is turned off.
Keyboard Shortcuts Review Details Review Details The keyboard shortcuts that are turned off by default either don't make sense or cause problems in WebView2. You cannot turn these shortcuts off or on. Instead, you can listen for a key combination using the AcceleratorKeyPressed event and create a custom response if needed. For more information, see Additional keyboard shortcuts information.
PDF Annotations Off No This feature is turned off. The PDF viewing feature is enabled, but drawing, inking, and highlighting in a PDF aren't enabled. For more information, see Disabling Feature: PDF Annotations Support.
Mini menu Off No This feature is turned off.
Read Aloud Off No This feature is turned off.
Smart Screen On* No * The UI for this feature has been removed, however the underlying functionality is still available. Additionally, you can turn off Smart Screen by using a command-line switch.
Translate Off No This feature is turned off.
Tracking Prevention On* No * The UI for this feature has been removed, however the underlying functionality is still available. Tracking prevention is always set to balanced.
Visual search on image hover Off No This feature is turned off.
Profile and Identity Off No The feature that syncs your favorites, cookies, and so on, is turned off.
Windows Defender Application Guard Off No This feature is turned off.
edge:// URLs Review Details No Settings for the Microsoft Edge browser are on edge:// URLs. Because most of these webpages have Microsoft Edge branding or don't make sense within the context of WebView2, some of these URLs are turned off. For more information, see Blocked internal URLs.

Web platform features

The following WebView2 platform features are currently unavailable:

Feature Details
Push Notifications This feature isn't implemented in WebView2.
Web Payment API This feature is turned off.
Periodic Background Sync Periodic Background Sync events will never trigger.

Blocked internal URLs

The following Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome settings webpages aren't available in WebView2:

  • chrome-search://local-ntp/local-ntp.html
  • edge://application-guard-internals
  • edge://apps
  • edge://compat
  • edge://extensions
  • edge://favorites
  • edge://help
  • edge://management
  • edge://network-error
  • edge://new-tab-page
  • edge://newtab
  • edge://omnibox
  • edge://settings
  • edge://supervised-user-internals
  • edge://version

Google Authentication

Google has disabled Google Authentication in embedded webviews, which includes WebView2, due to a security policy they have set. See Upcoming security changes to Google's OAuth 2.0 authorization endpoint in embedded webviews.

To stay up-to-date on the latest discussion, in the WebView2Feedback repo, see Google Auth Flows and WebView2.

Additional keyboard shortcuts information

Keyboard shortcuts or key bindings are supported in Microsoft Edge and WebView2.

Preventing shortcuts from changing during update

When Microsoft Edge is updated, the default key bindings might change. Furthermore, a keyboard shortcut that is turned off by default might instead be turned on, if the feature is now supported in WebView2.

To avoid such changes to your keyboard shortcuts, you can set AreBrowserAcceleratorKeysEnabled to FALSE, which turns off all keys that access browser features, but keeps all basic text-editing and movement shortcuts turned on.

Shortcuts that are turned off

The following shortcuts are always turned off in WebView2, or are effectively turned off. An asterisk (*) indicates that the shortcut isn't turned off, but the feature that it accesses is turned off, or the feature doesn't apply to WebView2.

Action Shortcut
Add to Favorites Ctrl+D
Add All Tabs to Favorites Ctrl+Shift+D
Focus Location Ctrl+L, Alt+D
Paste and Go Ctrl+Shift+L
Open File Ctrl+O
Read Aloud * Ctrl+Shift+U
Web Capture * Ctrl+Shift+S
Sidebar Ctrl+Shift+E
Save Page Ctrl+S
Select Last Tab Ctrl+9
Select Next Tab Ctrl+Tab
Select Previous Tab Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Select Tab (1 - 8) Ctrl+(1-8)
Show Favorites Bar * Ctrl+Shift+B
Help F1
Focus Next Pane * F6. Supported in windowed hosting mode, but not in visual hosting mode. Visual hosting mode is used for WinUI 2 (UWP) apps, and for Win32 C++ apps with Visual Composition.
Focus Previous Pane * Shift+F6. Same as F6 support, above.
Reading View * F9
Focus Menu Bar F10
Show Identity Menu * Ctrl+Shift+M
Browser Task Manager * Shift+Escape
Edge Feedback * Shift+Alt+I
Mute Tab * Ctrl+M
New Incognito Window Ctrl+Shift+N
New Tab Ctrl+T
New Window Ctrl+N
Restore Last Closed Tab Ctrl+Shift+T
Focus Favorites Alt+Shift+B
Focus Inactive Popup Alt+Shift+A
Focus Search Ctrl+E, Ctrl+K, Search Key
Duplicate Tab Ctrl+Shift+K
Focus Toolbar * Alt+Shift+T
Home Alt+Home, Browser Home Key
Show App Menu Alt+E, Alt+F
Show Favorites Ctrl+Shift+O
Show Downloads Ctrl+J
Show History Ctrl+H
Show Reading Mode Bar * Shift+Alt+R
Show Collections * Ctrl+Shift+Y

Shortcuts turned off except when event not handled

The following keyboard shortcuts are always turned off, except in windows that display when the NewWindowRequested event isn't handled:

Action Shortcut
Close Tab Ctrl+W, Ctrl+F4
Close Window Ctrl+Shift+W
Fullscreen F11

Shortcuts turned off if AcceleratorEnabled is False

If you set AreBrowserAcceleratorKeysEnabled to FALSE, the following additional keyboard shortcuts are turned off:

Action Shortcut
Stop Esc
Find on Page Ctrl+F
Find Next Ctrl+G
Find Previous Ctrl+Shift+G
Print Ctrl+P
Refresh Ctrl+R, F5, Reload Key
Refresh Without Cache Ctrl+Shift+R, Ctrl+F5, Shift+F5, Ctrl+Refresh, Shift+Refresh
Zoom Out Ctrl+-
Zoom In Ctrl++
Reset Zoom Ctrl+0
Find Next F3
Find Previous Shift+F3
Back Alt+Left Arrow, Browser Back Button Key
Forward Alt+Right Arrow, Browser Forward Key
Caret browsing F7
Open / Close DevTools Ctrl+Shift+I
Open DevTools Console Ctrl+Shift+J
Open DevTools Inspect Ctrl+Shift+C

Customizing an individual key

To customize any of the keys individually, use the AcceleratorKeyPressed event.