Warning about Microsoft Edge while installing Prism

Since the release of Prism 9.3.0, Prism on Windows has required the installation of the Microsoft Edge WebView2 rendering component. This component allows for the integration of modern web technologies within desktop applications. WebView2 relies on Microsoft Edge as the rendering engine used to display web (HTML) content within the application.

The Microsoft Edge WebView2 rendering component is required by Prism in order to display various high-quality, dynamic content in the user interface. In particular, the Learn section of Prism's Welcome Dialog relies heavily on this component.

Usually, you do not need to do anything special in order to install Microsoft Edge WebView2. In fact, this is a standard part of Windows 11. On older systems, WebView2 is installed as part of Microsoft Office updates. If WebView2 is absent on the system when Prism is installed, the Prism installer will seamlessly install this component for you. Once installed, WebView2 will be automatically updated to newer versions released by Microsoft as part of the Windows system update.

In rare cases - due to some system configurations - Prism is unable to install Microsoft Edge WebView2, and you will encounter an alert like this:

"Warning 4154. Microsoft Edge Update prerequisite was not correctly installed.
Continue installation of GraphPad Prism 9.3.1.471?"

In this case, you should use one (or several) of the following workarounds to fix this issue:

• Reboot your computer. Yes, this really does resolve many strange issues with the computer
• Update your system by going to the Windows Control Panel. It is possible that - as part of the update - the system will recover or update Microsoft Edge WebView2 or other related components
• Install Microsoft Edge WebView2 separately before installing Prism. If you are running a version of Windows older than 11, use the following download links from Microsoft: WebView2 - Microsoft Edge Developer
• Simply ignore the warning. With Prism version 9, if WebView2 is not installed on the system, Prism will still run fine. The only difference is that any parts of the user interface that would otherwise rely on the WebView2 rendering component (like the Learn section of the Welcome dialog) will contain simpler, less dynamic options

What about Mac?

This information only applies to using Prism on Windows devices. If you're using Prism on a Mac, you should never encounter this issue.