web view is running 7 sessions without me even having Edge turned on.

WebView2 (msedgewebview2.exe) is a shared web runtime that many Windows apps use to display web content, independently of the Edge browser UI. It is normal to see several WebView2 processes in Task Manager even when Edge itself is closed.

Key points:

1. Why there are multiple “WebView2” processes
   • WebView2 follows the same multi‑process model as the Chromium engine used by Edge.
   • Typical processes include a manager, GPU process, utility processes (network, audio, etc.), and one or more renderer processes.
   • Each app that uses WebView2 gets its own group of processes, and usually one renderer per embedded WebView control, similar to one renderer per tab in a browser.
2. Why they start without opening Edge
   • Many Windows and Microsoft 365 apps use WebView2 under the hood (for example, Widgets, Teams, Office, Outlook, Weather, and other apps).
   • When any of these apps run or stay in the background, they can start WebView2 processes even if the Edge browser isn’t open.
3. Resource usage and performance
   • In most cases, extra CPU or memory usage is caused by what the host app is doing with WebView2 (for example, heavy or poorly optimized web content), not by WebView2 itself.
   • To see which app is responsible, in Task Manager check the Processes tab: WebView2 processes are grouped under the parent app name on supported Windows 11 builds. On the Details tab they appear as msedgewebview2.exe.
   • If a specific app’s WebView2 group is consistently using a lot of CPU or memory, close or uninstall that app, or contact that app’s support.
4. File dates (Created vs. Modified)
   • It is expected that the executable’s Modified date can be earlier than the Created date on disk. The modified date reflects when the file was built or last updated by Microsoft; the created date reflects when it was written to the local disk (for example, during an update). This mismatch does not indicate an error by itself.
5. What to do if the system feels slow
   • Use Task Manager to identify which WebView2 process group (and parent app) is consuming the most resources.
   • Close or disable background apps that rely on WebView2 but are not needed.
   • If a particular app repeatedly causes high usage, report the issue to that app’s vendor or support channel.

References:

• WebView2 end-user FAQ