Allow software WebGL fallback using SwiftShader

Computer and userIntune-readyEnableUnsafeSwiftShader

Supported on Microsoft Edge version 139, Windows 7 or later

155.0.4283.62

What it does

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 144, SwiftShader is deprecated due to security concerns. As a result, WebGL context creation fails in scenarios where SwiftShader is 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 can 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 policy is temporary and scheduled for removal in a future release. Microsoft doesn't guarantee the security of environments where this policy is enabled.

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
Value name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
When enabled: DWORD 1
When disabled: DWORD 0

Security baselines

Microsoft's Microsoft Edge v151 Security Baseline sets this to Disabled, in its GPO “MSFT Edge Version 151 - Computer”.

Policy value EnableUnsafeSwiftShader: Sets EnableUnsafeSwiftShader to 0 (REG_DWORD).

Read from the registry.pol files in the baselines' GPO backups, downloaded from Microsoft's Security Compliance Toolkit. All baselines

Configure and deploy

Choose a state; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge]
"EnableUnsafeSwiftShader"=dword:00000001

PowerShell

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Allow software WebGL fallback using SwiftShader
# Name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge' -Name 'EnableUnsafeSwiftShader' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_msedge/EnableUnsafeSwiftShader

ADMX SyncML candidate

<SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2">
  <SyncBody>
    <Replace>
      <CmdID>1</CmdID>
      <Item>
        <Meta>
          <Format>chr</Format>
          <Type>text/plain</Type>
        </Meta>
        <Target>
          <LocURI>./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_msedge/EnableUnsafeSwiftShader</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;</Data>
      </Item>
    </Replace>
    <Final/>
  </SyncBody>
</SyncML>

Intune remediation scripts

Detection

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function Test-RegistryValueExists {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}

function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    $valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
        return $false
    }

    $actual = $valueObject.$Name
    switch ($Kind) {
        'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
        'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
        'MultiString' {
            $actualArray = @($actual)
            $expectedArray = @($Expected)
            if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
                if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        'Binary' {
            $actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
            $expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
            if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
                if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
    }
}

# Policy: Allow software WebGL fallback using SwiftShader
# Name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge' -Name 'EnableUnsafeSwiftShader' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\EnableUnsafeSwiftShader') | Out-Null
}

if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output 'Compliant'
    exit 0
}

$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1

Remediation

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Allow software WebGL fallback using SwiftShader
# Name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge' -Name 'EnableUnsafeSwiftShader' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

History 37 retained releases

150.0.4078.8016 Jul 2026
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

36 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name: EnableUnsafeSwiftShader
Namespace: Microsoft.Policies.Edge
Template file: msedge.admx
Release: Microsoft Edge 155.0.4283.62 · file set 0a733b0040dbbf02…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Both" displayName="$(string.EnableUnsafeSwiftShader)" explainText="$(string.EnableUnsafeSwiftShader_Explain)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge" name="EnableUnsafeSwiftShader" presentation="$(presentation.EnableUnsafeSwiftShader)" valueName="EnableUnsafeSwiftShader" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139" />
      <enabledValue>
        <decimal value="1" />
      </enabledValue>
      <disabledValue>
        <decimal value="0" />
      </disabledValue>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="EnableUnsafeSwiftShader" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />

Supported platforms and category

Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge)" name="microsoft_edge" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge)" name="microsoft_edge" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge">Microsoft Edge</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V139">Microsoft Edge version 139, Windows 7 or later</string></strings>