Microsoft is testing a new feature in the Edge browser called the “extension performance detector,” which warns you when browser extensions cause performance issues on web pages you visit.
When browser extensions are installed, they commonly process pages visited to perform additional functionality. However, this can also use a lot of memory, which can cause performance issues on the webpage.
“However, if you notice some delay in loading pages, this might be due to extensions which run extra lines of web code to personalize the page for you,” reads an announcement from Microsoft about the new feature.
If you’ve installed extensions negatively affecting Edge’s performance, Microsoft will now show alerts within the toolbar, warning that a performance issue was detected, as shown below.
This feature is part of Microsoft Edge’s browser essentials feature, which will reveal the installed extension’s impact on page loading speed. Microsoft will encourage users to turn off extensions that cause performance issues.
Edge’s extensions performance detector will begin rolling out to more people with Edge Canary 130, but you can turn it on from the flags menu right now.
To turn on the extensions performance detector feature, follow these steps:
- Type edge://flags/ into the address bar at the top of the browser and press Enter.
- In the search bar that appears on the page, type Extension Performance Detector.
- Once you see the option titled Extension performance detector, click on the dropdown menu next to it and choose Enabled.
- A button to Restart the browser will appear at the bottom. Click on it to apply the change.
After restarting, this feature will be turned on, and Edge will help detect extensions that slow down your browsing.
However, remember that the alerts will only appear if Edge detects a persistent performance problem caused by extensions.