Edge webrtc H265 support

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Edge webrtc H265 support

K Anderson 15

In 2025, Edge announced support of webrtc H265 (HEVC) in release 136. However, 7 months later it was removed from the release notes. Why was it removed? And when is support planned for this?

Both Chrome and Safari started officially supporting webrtc H265 (HEVC) in 2025. Additionally, Chromium appears to have added support. So it might be worth putting on the roadmap.

Thanks,

Ken

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Answer 1

Michael Le (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 11,325 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @K Anderson , @Yashraj Singh ,

I reached out internally to get more clarity on this, and I’d like to share what we were able to confirm.

The reference to WebRTC H.265 (HEVC) support that appeared in earlier communication for Microsoft Edge version 136 was removed because the capability was not enabled or supported in the final shipped product. While Chromium does have experimental WebRTC H.265 functionality behind feature flags, Microsoft Edge did not enable this feature, and the documentation was updated to reflect the actual supported state.

At this time, Edge does not support publishing (sending) H.265 over WebRTC, even on hardware that supports HEVC encoding. There is currently no publicly available roadmap or confirmed plan for enabling this feature in Edge.

From a practical standpoint, the recommended approach that I have received is to:

Use H.264 for maximum browser compatibility, or
Implement a dual codec strategy (H.264 + H.265) depending on client capability

For more advanced scenarios, alternative approaches such as MediaRecorder, Media over QUIC, or client-side HEVC decoding may be worth evaluating depending on your requirements.

I understand this may impact your current solution design, especially since other browsers have started enabling HEVC in WebRTC. If this capability is important to your use case, I strongly encourage continuing to submit feedback through Edge and/or raising a support request, as customer demand plays a key role in prioritization.

I hope this clarifies.

K Anderson 15 Reputation points

2026-05-11T21:19:59.5866667+00:00
Are you sure your information is up to date? These links indicate that Chromium's WebRTC H.265 support is no longer experimental. It shipped in 136 (a year ago):

https://chromestatus.com/feature/5153479456456704

https://issues.chromium.org/issues/391903235
Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 530 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-12T03:19:05.0333333+00:00

Hi @K Anderson ,

Based on your question, I’d like to clarify a few points to help provide better context.You’re correct that Chromium introduced WebRTC H.265 support behind feature flags as part of a staged rollout. However, Microsoft Edge did not enable this capability. As a result, the documentation you referenced (April 17, 2025) was revised to reflect the actual shipped state rather than a feature that was not fully supported. This explains why the information was removed from the release notes.

Regarding your second concern, at this time there is no confirmed plan to support this feature. We understand this may be disappointing, and we appreciate your interest. In our role, we’re only able to share guidance and information that has been officially confirmed. That said, at Microsoft we truly value customer feedback. To ensure your request is heard by the product group, I recommend submitting feedback or opening a support ticket, as this helps provide visibility into customer needs and can influence future planning.

While I’m unable to make any commitments at this stage, I hope the explanation above helps clarify the situation. If anything in our response is unclear or if you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re always happy to help.

I hope this information is useful to you moving forward.
K Anderson 15 Reputation points

2026-05-12T23:51:02.1166667+00:00
Chromium WebRTC H.265 support is not behind feature flags. The previously provided link above shows this. But to help clarify, here it is again, plus the relevant source change, and a screenshot.

https://issues.chromium.org/issues/391903235

https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/6367096/6/media/webrtc/webrtc_features.cc

Also, when Edge 136 was released in May 2025, the release notes stated webrtc HEVC (H265) support. They were not updated until 7 months later. It seems pretty clear that they were updated to reflect the fact that webrtc HEVC (H265) didn't work on Edge, not the other way around.
Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 530 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-14T08:11:25.51+00:00

Hi @K Anderson ,

I sincerely apologize for the back-and-forth on this matter, and I truly appreciate your patience throughout the process.

I would like to reconfirm the response to your two main concerns:

Why was it removed? And is support planned for this?

The release notes were updated to reflect the actual shipped state—specifically, that WebRTC HEVC (H.265) is not supported on Edge. Additionally, there are currently no plans from Microsoft to include this support in upcoming releases. I understand that this may be disappointing, and I appreciate your understanding.

In our role, we aim to act as a bridge—providing support and sharing accurate product information with you and other customers. However, we do not have direct involvement in product development decisions or future roadmap planning.

That said, Microsoft places strong value on customer feedback. We highly encourage you to share your input through the channels I previously provided, as your voice plays an important role in shaping future improvements. I understand you were hoping for a more direct resolution, and I appreciate your patience as we work within these limitations.

Please know that your experience with the product truly matters to us, and we remain committed to supporting you as best as we can.

If you have any further questions or concerns in the future, we would be more than happy to assist. For now, this is the most up-to-date information we can provide on this topic.

Thank you again for your time and understanding.

Answer 2

Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 530 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @K Anderson , @Yashraj Singh ,

Thank you for getting back to me—I really appreciate it.

Regarding your feedback, I recommend submitting it directly through Microsoft Edge so it can reach our product team. You can do this by following these steps:

Click the three dots in the top-right corner of Edge and select Help and feedback > Send feedback.
A pop-up will appear where you can describe your experience and, if helpful, include additional details or a screen recording.

While this may not resolve the issue immediately, your input is valuable and helps our product team prioritize future improvements. There’s a possibility that native WebRTC H.265 support in Edge may be reconsidered for upcoming plans.

I hope this information is helpful. If you need any further assistance or have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out—I’d be happy to help.

Have a wonderful day!

Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 530 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-30T10:23:33.14+00:00

Hi @K Anderson ,

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us.

Regarding WebRTC H.265 (HEVC) support in release 136, there is currently no official explanation or documentation from Microsoft regarding the removal of the previously published note on WebRTC H.265. Additionally, I regret to inform you that there is no publicly available roadmap, plan, or commitment confirming future support at this time.

While there are some third-party extensions available in the market that enable WebRTC H.265 (HEVC) functionality in Microsoft Edge, these are not developed or officially supported by Microsoft. You may choose to evaluate these options based on your specific requirements.

I hope this information is helpful. Should there be any updates or official announcements in the future, I will be sure to share them promptly. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please feel free to reach out—I would be happy to support you.

Wishing you a great day ahead!
Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 530 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-05T02:23:35.66+00:00

Hi @K Anderson ,

Since I did not hear anything back from you, I wonder whether my answer is helpful for you. If there is anything else, don't hesitate to leave me a comment so that I can support you further.
Yashraj Singh 20 Reputation points

2026-05-05T14:49:55.2466667+00:00

Hi @Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION)
I’m facing a similar issue. We’ve built a VMS and recently added HEVC support—it works fine on Chrome, but we’re struggling to get it working on Edge. We’ve tried multiple extensions, including the paid Microsoft HEVC extension, but nothing seems to help.
K Anderson 15 Reputation points

2026-05-05T15:02:57.6933333+00:00

Thanks Lizzy. Yes, your response was helpful. It just didn't answer my questions. I'm not really interested in third party extensions, I'm interested in Edge's native webrtc H265 support. Specifically why it was removed from the release notes and whether support is planned. If this information isn't available publicly, it would be nice to know where/who to go next to find out/increase priority.
Yashraj Singh 20 Reputation points

2026-05-06T07:34:19.9166667+00:00

Thanks @Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION)
I’ve done that, could you let me know if there’s a way to escalate this issue? If it’s not currently on the roadmap, I may need to ask our existing users to switch to another browser that supports HEVC over WebRTC. It would be great if this could be prioritized and added to the pipeline.
Lizzy Dinh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 530 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-07T09:56:42.0533333+00:00

Hi @Yashraj Singh ,

You may also consider raising a support ticket through the Engage Center if you’d like to have this reviewed further or escalated.

That said, I’d like to set clear expectations—based on current information, this behavior is not considered a bug. At the moment, Microsoft Edge does not support HEVC over WebRTC. You’re absolutely welcome to submit feedback or request escalation, as customer input is always valuable in shaping future improvements.

However, I would gently encourage keeping expectations flexible, as there hasn’t been any confirmed plan or timeline for this capability to be added.

I truly understand how important this request is, and I want you to know that I’ve done my best to explore all available options and support you as thoroughly as possible.

Thank you for your understanding, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any further assistance—I’m always here to help.

Wishing you a wonderful day ahead!

Answer 3

The current Microsoft Edge 136 web platform release notes list only “H26x codec support updates for MediaRecorder” and no longer mention “H265 (HEVC) codec support in WebRTC”. The documented change is that MediaRecorder now supports HEVC encoding and new HEVC/H.264 codec strings and containers, with HEVC availability depending on device and OS capabilities.

The context provided does not state any reason for the earlier WebRTC H.265 note being removed, nor does it document any current or planned WebRTC H.265/HEVC support in Edge. Only MediaRecorder HEVC support is described, and only for recording, not for WebRTC.

Based on the available documentation, no official explanation is published for the removal of the WebRTC H.265 item from the release notes, and there is no documented plan or commitment for WebRTC H.265 support in Edge beyond what is described for MediaRecorder.

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Edge webrtc H265 support

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