Evergreen Webview2
While WebView2 comes pre-installed on modern Windows machines, robust applications must still verify its presence during installation or runtime initialization.
However, if your app supports older Windows environments or stripped-down enterprise deployment images, your installer should verify its presence. You can bundle the —a tiny 2MB executable provided by Microsoft—with your installer. If the installer detects the runtime is missing, the bootstrapper downloads and configures the latest shared components silently. Step 2: Code Initialization (C# Example)
Microsoft pushes updates directly to the client machine independently of your application.
Since the Evergreen runtime is shared across all apps (Teams, Office, Discord, etc.), Windows loads the same binaries into memory once. With Fixed Version, if you have five different apps using five different WebView2 versions, memory usage spikes dramatically.
The performance difference is significant: in WPF environments, CEF effectively generates bitmap images of the rendered interface before displaying them, while WebView2 eliminates this intermediate step, delivering noticeable performance improvements. However, some developers note that WebView2's low-level COM/Win32 architecture can make certain tasks more complex than CEF's more intuitive API design. evergreen webview2
While Evergreen is recommended, it is important to understand the alternative: . Evergreen WebView2 Fixed Version WebView2 Updates Automatic, silent updates Manual, controlled by developer Size Small app size, shared runtime Larger app size (bundled) Security Always up-to-date Requires manual patching Compatibility Best for modern apps Best for locked-down or offline apps
Multiple applications on the same machine utilize the exact same Evergreen runtime installation, drastically saving disk space.
Use the Microsoft Edge Insider channels (Beta, Dev, or Canary) to test your application against upcoming WebView2 runtime versions. This catches potential edge-case regressions early.
The runtime stays on the latest version of Chromium. If the installer detects the runtime is missing,
WebView2RuntimeInstaller.exe /silent /install
| Feature | Evergreen Bootstrapper | Evergreen Standalone | Fixed Version | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Small (~2MB) | Large (~120MB) | Large (Self-managed) | | Internet Required? | Yes (to download runtime) | No | No | | Updates | Automatic (via Windows Update) | Automatic (via Windows Update) | Manual (Developer controls) | | Target Audience | Consumer Apps, Web Download | Enterprise, Offline Machines | Strict Environment Control |
For developers looking to integrate the Evergreen Runtime, there are three primary ways to ensure users have what they need: Announcing Microsoft Edge WebView2 General Availability
Evergreen WebView2 is a control component from Microsoft that allows developers to embed modern web content (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) directly into native Windows applications. Unlike traditional "Fixed Version" distributions that bundle a specific browser version with the app, the model ensures the underlying web platform is always up-to-date and shared across all applications on a device. 🚀 Key Benefits of the Evergreen Model With Fixed Version, if you have five different
If you're deploying your application as an MSIX package, you can specify the WebView2 Runtime as a dependency to have it installed alongside your application. This approach handles all prerequisite logic automatically and provides a seamless installation experience.
You can deploy it using a tiny Evergreen Bootstrapper (which downloads the runtime on the fly) or an Evergreen Standalone Installer for offline environments.
: It is pre-installed on Windows 11 and pushed to eligible Windows 10 devices through Microsoft 365 Apps .
