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EnableUnsafeSwiftShader

Allow software WebGL fallback using SwiftShader

Supported versions

  • On Windows and macOS since 139 or later

Description

Controls whether SwiftShader is used as a fallback for WebGL when hardware GPU acceleration isn't available.

When enabled, Microsoft Edge uses SwiftShader to support WebGL on systems without GPU acceleration, such as headless environments or virtual machines.

Starting in Microsoft Edge version 139, SwiftShader has been deprecated due to security concerns. As a result, WebGL context creation fails in scenarios where SwiftShader would have been used. Enabling this policy allows organizations to temporarily defer the deprecation and continue using SwiftShader.

If you disable or don't configure this policy, WebGL context creation may fail on systems without hardware acceleration. This could cause web content relying on WebGL to function incorrectly if it doesn't handle context creation failures.

Note: This is a temporary policy and will be removed in a future release.

Supported features

  • Can be mandatory: Yes
  • Can be recommended: No
  • Dynamic Policy Refresh: No - Requires browser restart
  • Per Profile: No
  • Applies to a profile that is signed in with a Microsoft account: Yes

Data type

  • Boolean

Windows information and settings

Group Policy (ADMX) info

  • GP unique name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
  • GP name: Allow software WebGL fallback using SwiftShader
  • GP path (Mandatory): Administrative Templates/Microsoft Edge
  • GP path (Recommended): N/A
  • GP ADMX file name: MSEdge.admx

Example value

Disabled

Registry settings

  • Path (Mandatory): SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
  • Path (Recommended): N/A
  • Value name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
  • Value type: REG_DWORD

Example registry value

0x00000000

Mac information and settings

  • Preference Key name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
  • Example value:
<false/>

See also