Why is edge running in the background after copilot installation?

I didn't understand any of this. Add a new key - what?

...

So bottom line. play around with your default app browser settings. For those who only have one channel (i.e. Edge stable), toggle the default browser off and on with Chrome or firefox or something else (or maybe download Edge Beta just for this test), and see if it helps your issue.

But the underlying problem remains. Microsoft should really fix this annoyance and resource hog.

I hope this helps someone.

Thank you for your insights and possible workaround. However, as you mentioned, an official fix for this bug is required.

UPDATED (as of 2/27/2024):

Here is, finally, a proper workaround:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrosoftEdge/comments/1ac4ioa/a_workaroud_to_prevent_background_running_after/

Looking at the name of the added Edge policy that stops the issue, we were likely right in pointing out that the problem was caused by Edge's new Sidebar/Copilot feature integration.

Credit to @Careless-Elevator768 and all we have been investigating and reporting this annoying "feature" or misbehavior since October 2023 till today.

There is no more need for InPrivate mode (by the way, you can already set up a clean with no gossip/weather/sports ads and bloated stuff Edge's new tab page via easy layout customization) or Windows 11's End Task feature for developers (I found it helpful anyway and will keep using it, though).

Here are the instructions from the linked Reddit post (with some additional reminder or consideration):

1. Turn off "Continue running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed" and "Startup boost" Edge's settings (System and Performance > System).
2. Open regedit.exe (Registry Editor) - Running it as Administr is recommended.
3. Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" (if this path does not exist, add a new Key with that name).
4. Add the following new DWORD (32-bit) Value: StandaloneHubsSidebarEnabled and set it to 0.
5. Reboot Windows or kill the task and restart MS Edge.
6. NOTE: "Managed by your organization" will be displayed below the Close Microsoft Edge option (Settings and more, Alt+F) and "Your browser is managed by your organization" mentioned at the top of the Edge's Settings tab/page.

I hope this helps. Enjoy!

My configuration or issue may not apply to all, but I stumbled upon a workaround that seems to be working for me...for now. Basically, like everyone else, even after disabling "Startup Boost" and "Continue Running Background Extensions..." Edge processes would continue running in the background after closing the main browser window. I do not launch or use Copilot from the Windows 11 UI. So it is not a Copilot issue for me. Here's what I found:

I have both the Edge Beta and Edge channels installed. Edge Beta is my default browser. However, I noticed that when I changed the default browser to Edge (Settings > Default Apps > type "Edge" and click on it and set it as "Default" via the button at the top), and I launched and closed Edge Beta manually, all the background processes would close. However, when Edge Beta was set as the default browser, the background processes persisted after closing the browser.

Upon further investigation, I noted that when the default browser is changed, the only file associations that seemed to be set to the new default browser are:

.htm

.html

HTTP

HTTPS

So, what I found was that setting the default browser from Edge Beta to Edge (or from Edge to Edge Beta) fixed the issue of background processes persisting after closing the non-default browser. But, in my case, as Edge Beta is my browser of choice, if I went back in to Settings > Default Apps > typed "Edge Beta" and individually changed/assigned the above associations to "Edge Beta", it is now effectively the default browser, and most importantly, in my case, all background Edge Beta processes would also terminate after closing all browser windows. Additionally, there were no instances of the regular Edge channel processes running as I had not manually started that Browser channel.

So bottom line. play around with your default app browser settings. For those who only have one channel (i.e. Edge stable), toggle the default browser off and on with Chrome or firefox or something else (or maybe download Edge Beta just for this test), and see if it helps your issue.

But the underlying problem remains. Microsoft should really fix this annoyance and resource hog.

I hope this helps someone.

UPDATED (2/8/2024): Using MS Edge Version 121.0.2277.110 (Official build) on Windows 11, at least (some Win 10 users reported the same problem on their systems), the issue still occurs and has not been fixed.

The "Continue running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed" setting (in Settings > System and Performance > System settings) doesn't work, and Edge continues running in the background despite using any Edge or related OS settings intended to prevent or get rid of this MS Edge (mis)behavior.

Please, an official application fix is still required.

This works perfrectly on my system - Win 11 Pro 23H2 Build 22631.3007