Why is Microsoft Edge so big?

Microsoft Edge's app size has increased significantly because it is no longer just a web browser. It is integrated into Windows as a core system component that powers Windows Widgets, system search, and Edge WebView, while also keeping duplicated files to ensure stability during updates.

The main reasons for the larger footprint include:

• EdgeCore and WebView: Windows requires underlying Edge components (EdgeCore and WebView) to render modern, web-based UI elements across your OS. This essentially means your computer houses multiple sub-versions of Edge to support these applications.
• Hard-Linked Files: In Windows Apps menus, the displayed size often counts files multiple times. Shared files (like core rendering engines) are linked across multiple folders, artificially inflating the size you see in settings.
• Cached Data: Modern browsers like Edge store a large amount of temporary data (cookies, saved site information, media caches) to make websites load faster and allow you to resume sessions instantly.
• Leftover Update Installers: Edge regularly updates itself, and leftover installation files (.tmp, old .exe versions) can sometimes accumulate over time in your system folders.

Btw. I assume you didn't mean 9000 MB (that's close to 9 GB)

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hth

Marcin