What is QtWebEngineProcess.exe?
Users sometimes express concern over finding a process in their task manager that they don't recognize and regard as potentially malicious. QtWebEngineProcess.exe is among those unusual names that can cause suspicion.
In the most common case, QtWebEngineProcess.exe is not a malicious process and executable. Qt is the name of a framework and toolkit that is used for interface implementation in various applications.
Some of the most popular legitimate applications that rely on QtWebEngineProcess.exe in their installation include the file sharing platform DropBox client and the Origin client that publisher Electronic Arts uses to sell and distribute its games.
The reason why very different applications can share the QtWebEngine executable is that it's a component focused on interfaces and, of course, every modern-day computer application needs a visual interface with a lot of different capabilities.
If you have concerns about the legitimacy of the QtWebEngineProcess.exe in your task manager, you can first check the location of the actual executable. On a Windows 10 system, open the task manager, locate QtWebEngineProcess.exe in your list of active processes.
Right click on QtWebEngineProcess.exe and select "Open file location" from the menu. This will show you the location of the file on your hard drive. If you find the process located in an application that is regularly using it as part of its internals, you have nothing to worry about.
However, if you find the executable in an unusual folder where it does not belong, such as Windows\System32, there is a very high probability that this is some sort of virus, malware or cryptojacker process that should not be there.
Another red flag to watch out for with QtWebEngineProcess.exe is how the name of the process and file is spelled. Sometimes malware attempting to pose as a legitimate process will spell the name as qtwebengineprocess, lacking any capitalization on the separate words. This can also be a sign that the process is malicious.
In order to remove an instance of QtWebEngineProcess that you suspect is malicious, repeat the process described above - right click the process in task manager, locate the file in the Windows Explorer window that opens and delete it manually.
