What and Why:
To help enterprises respond quickly to critical application regressions, Microsoft is introducing a new Downgrade Version policy for the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Evergreen Runtime. This policy enables administrators to temporarily roll back WebView2 to a previous supported version (N‑1 or N‑2) on a per‑application basis, without disabling Evergreen updates entirely.
This change strengthens enterprise‑grade manageability, giving admins a controlled, time‑bound mitigation option while maintaining the security and update benefits of Evergreen servicing.
This message is associated with Roadmap ID 561329.
Rollout Schedule:
General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in early June 2026 and expect to complete by mid-June 2026.
Impact on Your Organization:
Who is affected:
Organizations managing enterprise‑managed Windows devices (domain‑joined or MDM‑enrolled) that use WebView2‑based applications
Platforms/Services:
- Windows devices
- Microsoft Edge WebView2 Evergreen Runtime
- Group Policy / MDM (msedgewebview2.admx)
What will happen:
- A new Downgrade Version policy becomes available in msedgewebview2.admx.
- Admins can map specific application executables to a previous WebView2 version (N‑1 or N‑2).
- The Edge Updater installs the target version side‑by‑side.
- The WebView2 Loader redirects only the targeted apps.
- Downgrades automatically expire as new WebView2 versions are released:
- Apps pinned to N‑1 remain on that version until the next release (then move forward).
- Apps pinned to N‑2 revert automatically to the current Evergreen version.
- The policy applies only to enterprise‑managed devices.
- No change occurs unless the policy is explicitly configured.
Action Required / Recommendations:
No action is required before rollout.
Recommended actions:
- Review existing Group Policy or registry configurations related to WebView2 to understand potential usage scenarios.
- Update internal incident response or app compatibility playbooks to include this downgrade option.
- Share guidance with application owners on when and how to request a temporary WebView2 rollback.
Learn more: Microsoft Edge WebView2 Policy Documentation | Microsoft Learn
Compliance considerations:
An admin control is added that allows configuration of WebView2 runtime versions per application. No other compliance impacts are identified.