MicrosoftEdge / MicrosoftEdge/WebView2Feedback
[Bug]: Cannot exclude bloat from Microsoft.Web.WebView2 package
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Description
What happened?
Referencing Microsoft.Web.WebView2 produces significant bloat in the output folder. The same goes for deployed app. All in all, 1 MB which can be throw away. But how?
Importance
Moderate. My app's user experience is affected, but still usable.
Runtime Channel
Stable release (WebView2 Runtime)
Runtime Version
1.0.2792.45
SDK Version
No response
Framework
WPF
Operating System
Windows 10
OS Version
No response
Repro steps
- Create a WPF project targeting
.NET 8. - Add a reference to
WebView2as shown below. - Optionally add an
x64configuration and select it.
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Web.WebView2" Version="1.0.2792.45" />
</ItemGroup>
Now look in the build folder. Why do we see all this bloat? Targeting WPF and x64 we certainly don't need all this:
- Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Core.xml
- Microsoft.Web.WebView2.WinForms.dll
- Microsoft.Web.WebView2.WinForms.xml
- Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Wpf.xml
- runtimes/win-arm64/native/WebView2Loader.dll
- OK: runtimes/win-x64/native/WebView2Loader.dll
- runtimes/win-x86/native/WebView2Loader.dll
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
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the WPF .NET 8 project and its Microsoft.Web.WebView2 PackageReference in the shown .csproj snippet, then inspect the build folder contents. Determine why the listed WinForms, XML, and runtime files are copied for the x64 WPF configuration. Done means the unnecessary files are excluded while the required win-x64 WebView2Loader.dll remains.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- build-system, desktop
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100