Microsoft is introducing a new mechanism to accelerate application launches on Windows 11 by eliminating unnecessary temporary processes. The feature allows the operating system to send launch requests directly to an already running instance of an application, bypassing the intermediate step of creating a temporary process to handle the request.
The Microsoft Edge browser is the first application to implement this technology. The improvement is included in the KB5127936 update, released to the Windows Insider Release Preview channel on October 16, 2026. Following the update, Windows 11 25H2 system version reaches 26200.9807, while 26H2 reaches 26300.9807.
This optimization specifically targets 'warm launches'—instances where the application is already running in the background. The feature is currently being rolled out in stages, meaning not all users will receive it immediately upon installing the update. Microsoft has not provided specific performance metrics regarding the time saved by this change.
Microsoft aims to extend this capability to other single-instance applications. Developers must register their applications for this feature using the IExperimentalAPIInvoker interface and request access tokens from Microsoft. The feature is documented in the 'Register your application for accelerated warm launches' guide published in October 2025.
