WebView does not load on Windows

Question

Hello,

I have a WebView component, which has a Source, WidthRequest and HeightRequest attribute, but it doesnt show up when im debugging on Windows Machine. The component works on Android perfectly.

Is there some setting I have to enable for it to be functional on Windows? I found nothing about that in the documentation. (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/maui/user-interface/controls/webview?view=net-maui-10.0&pivots=devices-windows)

I also tried to change the chache directory as mentioned there, but this didnt change anything.

Thanks for the help

Answer 1

Hi @Arthur P ,

Thanks for reaching out.

There isn’t a special MAUI setting you need to enable for WebView on Windows. The key difference is that .NET MAUI uses WebView2 on Windows, which depends on the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime being installed and working correctly on the machine.

On Android, the WebView control is part of the OS, so it usually “just works.” On Windows, if the WebView2 runtime is missing, outdated, or corrupted, the WebView can fail to render and simply appear blank with no obvious error. Without the runtime, the WebView control cannot initialize, so it appears blank.

Here’s exactly what to check on your Windows machine:

1. Verify WebView2 Runtime is installed
   • Press Win + I to open Windows Settings
   • Go to Apps → Installed apps (or Apps & Features)
   • In the search box, type WebView2
   • Look for Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime in the list
   • If it’s not present, download and install the Evergreen Standalone Installer from Microsoft’s official page
2. Check the runtime version
   • Make sure the WebView2 runtime is reasonably up to date
   • An outdated runtime can cause WebView to fail silently in MAUI apps
3. Confirm Edge/WebView2 availability
   • WebView2 relies on Edge (Chromium) components
   • If Edge is disabled or heavily restricted by policy, WebView may not load
4. Check output and logs while debugging
   • Run the app with the Windows target and watch the Debug/Output window
   • WebView2 initialization failures often appear there even if the UI stays blank

Once the WebView2 runtime is correctly installed and functioning, the MAUI WebView should render normally on Windows without any additional code or XAML changes.

Hope this helps! If my answer was helpful - kindly follow the instructions here so others with the same problem can benefit as well.