[Problem/Bug]: Cannot update Webview2 to same version as Edge

[pyorot]

What happened?

The automatic updating desynchronises Webview2 from Edge and so wastes 0.6GB of storage to duplication. I cannot find a reliable way to update Webview2 or to downgrade/disable automatic updates in Edge so that the two remain synchronised. It's fairly painful for storage space control and cleanup to have this variable 0.6GB. Help or remediation appreciated.

I tried:

• Winget: latest version of Webview2 unavailable.
• Evergreen installer: says Webview2 already installed.
• Add/remove programs reinstall: reinstalls the old version.
• .\setup.exe --msedgewebview --delete-old-versions --system-level --verbose-logging --on-logon: immediately exits with no output.
• Windows Update: doesn't update Webview2 to the latest version.

Importance

Moderate. My app's user experience is affected, but still usable.

Runtime Channel

Stable release (WebView2 Runtime)

Runtime Version

130.0.2849.56

SDK Version

No response

Framework

Other

Operating System

Windows 10

OS Version

19045.5011

Repro steps

Bug is fully automatic and intermittent depending on versions.

Repros in Edge Browser

No, issue does not reproduce in the corresponding Edge version

Regression

No, this never worked

Last working version (if regression)

No response

[LiangTheDev]

Did you run WebView2 Runtime installer as admin (elevated)? By default it tries to install per user and would refuse to do so if per machine install is already there.

Edge browser and Edge WebView2 Runtime are 2 different products, and have slightly different release and rollout schedule. While rollout schedules are different, the same version is normally released at the same time, and I would expect running installer as admin would install latest version. Note that there could be times that we release the two products at different times or skip a version for WebView2. Those should not be often though.

[pyorot]

I am fairly certain I ran the setup.exe command from admin Powershell 7. The problem I've had each time is that a version of Edge WebView2 Runtime with the same version number as Edge browser was out and available to download from the website, but nothing worked when trying to install it. It would say it's already installed, regardless of the version, and repairing the installation in Add/Remove Programs would re-download the already-installed version.

Potentially, I didn't try to run the evergreen installer executable as admin – only the setup.exe from the console as I described. I'll try this next time it desyncs.

The specific desync in the screenshot above was resolved by a monthly Windows cumulative update.