diff --git a/packages/browser-playwright/src/playwright.ts b/packages/browser-playwright/src/playwright.ts
index 05d5342fb..3da10a054 100644
--- a/packages/browser-playwright/src/playwright.ts
+++ b/packages/browser-playwright/src/playwright.ts
@@ -96,12 +96,136 @@ export function playwright(options: PlaywrightProviderOptions = {}): BrowserProv
     name: 'playwright',
     supportedBrowser: playwrightBrowsers,
     options,
+    prewarm(ctx) {
+      prewarmBrowser(ctx, options)
+    },
     providerFactory(project) {
       return new PlaywrightBrowserProvider(project, options)
     },
   })
 }
 
+interface WarmBrowser {
+  promise: Promise<Browser>
+  launchOptionsJson: string
+  pending: Set<WarmBrowser>
+}
+
+// the subset of `TestProject` the launch-option resolution needs; `prewarm`
+// runs before the project exists and receives the same shape
+interface LaunchContext {
+  config: TestProject['config']
+  vitest: TestProject['vitest']
+}
+
+// The resolved config object is passed unchanged to the eventual TestProject,
+// so it identifies the browser this project can adopt.
+const warmBrowsers = new WeakMap<LaunchContext['config'], WarmBrowser>()
+const pendingWarmBrowsers = new WeakMap<LaunchContext['vitest'], Set<WarmBrowser>>()
+
+// starts importing playwright and launching the browser while the node side
+// is still creating the vite server, so the launch latency overlaps it. The
+// launch options are resolved by the same code as the real launch — if they
+// still differ by the time the provider opens the browser, the warm instance
+// is discarded, so this is always safe
+function prewarmBrowser(project: LaunchContext, options: PlaywrightProviderOptions): void {
+  const browserName = project.config.browser.name
+  if (
+    options.connectOptions
+    || options.persistentContext
+    // don't speculate on debugging flows
+    || project.vitest.config.inspector.enabled
+  ) {
+    return
+  }
+  if (!browserName || !(playwrightBrowsers as readonly string[]).includes(browserName)) {
+    return
+  }
+  if (warmBrowsers.has(project.config)) {
+    return
+  }
+  let pending = pendingWarmBrowsers.get(project.vitest)
+  if (!pending) {
+    const pendingBrowsers = new Set<WarmBrowser>()
+    pending = pendingBrowsers
+    pendingWarmBrowsers.set(project.vitest, pendingBrowsers)
+    // Browsers whose projects never initialize a provider (they have no test
+    // files to run) are cleaned up when Vitest closes.
+    project.vitest.onClose(() => closeWarmBrowsers(pendingBrowsers))
+  }
+  const launchOptions = resolveLaunchOptions(project.config.browser, project.vitest.config.inspector, options, browserName)
+  const entry: WarmBrowser = {
+    launchOptionsJson: JSON.stringify(launchOptions),
+    pending,
+    promise: (async () => {
+      debug?.('[%s] prewarming the browser', browserName)
+      const playwright = await import('playwright')
+      return playwright[browserName as PlaywrightBrowser].launch(launchOptions)
+    })(),
+  }
+  // if the warm launch fails, drop it so the real launch retries
+  // and surfaces the error through the normal path
+  entry.promise.catch(() => {
+    if (warmBrowsers.get(project.config) === entry) {
+      warmBrowsers.delete(project.config)
+      entry.pending.delete(entry)
+    }
+  })
+  pending.add(entry)
+  warmBrowsers.set(project.config, entry)
+}
+
+function takeWarmBrowser(config: LaunchContext['config']): WarmBrowser | undefined {
+  const warm = warmBrowsers.get(config)
+  if (warm) {
+    warmBrowsers.delete(config)
+    warm.pending.delete(warm)
+  }
+  return warm
+}
+
+async function closeWarmBrowsers(pending: Set<WarmBrowser>): Promise<void> {
+  const closing = Array.from(pending, warm => warm.promise.then(browser => browser.close()).catch(() => {}))
+  pending.clear()
+  await Promise.all(closing)
+}
+
+function resolveLaunchOptions(
+  browser: TestProject['config']['browser'],
+  inspector: TestProject['vitest']['config']['inspector'],
+  providerOptions: PlaywrightProviderOptions,
+  browserName: string,
+): LaunchOptions {
+  const launchOptions: LaunchOptions = {
+    ...providerOptions.launchOptions,
+    headless: browser.headless,
+  }
+
+  if (typeof browser.trace === 'object' && browser.trace.tracesDir) {
+    launchOptions.tracesDir = browser.trace.tracesDir
+  }
+
+  if (inspector.enabled) {
+    // NodeJS equivalent defaults: https://nodejs.org/en/learn/getting-started/debugging#enable-inspector
+    const port = inspector.port || 9229
+
+    launchOptions.args ||= []
+    launchOptions.args.push(`--remote-debugging-port=${port}`)
+  }
+
+  // start Vitest UI maximized only on supported browsers
+  if (browser.ui && browserName === 'chromium') {
+    if (!launchOptions.args) {
+      launchOptions.args = []
+    }
+    if (!launchOptions.args.includes('--start-maximized') && !launchOptions.args.includes('--start-fullscreen')) {
+      launchOptions.args.push('--start-maximized')
+    }
+  }
+
+  return launchOptions
+}
+
 export class PlaywrightBrowserProvider implements BrowserProvider {
   public name = 'playwright' as const
   public supportsParallelism = true
@@ -167,44 +291,26 @@ export class PlaywrightBrowserProvider implements BrowserProvider {
     }
 
     this.browserPromise = (async () => {
-      const options = this.project.config.browser
-
       const playwright = await import('playwright')
 
-      const launchOptions: LaunchOptions = {
-        ...this.options.launchOptions,
-        headless: options.headless,
-      }
-
-      if (typeof options.trace === 'object' && options.trace.tracesDir) {
-        launchOptions.tracesDir = options.trace?.tracesDir
-      }
+      const launchOptions = resolveLaunchOptions(
+        this.project.config.browser,
+        this.project.vitest.config.inspector,
+        this.options,
+        this.browserName,
+      )
 
       const inspector = this.project.vitest.config.inspector
       if (inspector.enabled) {
-        // NodeJS equivalent defaults: https://nodejs.org/en/learn/getting-started/debugging#enable-inspector
         const port = inspector.port || 9229
         const host = inspector.host || '127.0.0.1'
 
-        launchOptions.args ||= []
-        launchOptions.args.push(`--remote-debugging-port=${port}`)
-
         if (host !== 'localhost' && host !== '127.0.0.1' && host !== '::1') {
           this.project.vitest.logger.warn(`Custom inspector host "${host}" will be ignored. Chromium only allows remote debugging on localhost.`)
         }
         this.project.vitest.logger.log(`Debugger listening on ws://127.0.0.1:${port}`)
       }
 
-      // start Vitest UI maximized only on supported browsers
-      if (this.project.config.browser.ui && this.browserName === 'chromium') {
-        if (!launchOptions.args) {
-          launchOptions.args = []
-        }
-        if (!launchOptions.args.includes('--start-maximized') && !launchOptions.args.includes('--start-fullscreen')) {
-          launchOptions.args.push('--start-maximized')
-        }
-      }
-
       debug?.('[%s] initializing the browser with launch options: %O', this.browserName, launchOptions)
 
       if (this.options.connectOptions) {
@@ -250,6 +356,20 @@ export class PlaywrightBrowserProvider implements BrowserProvider {
         this.browser = this.persistentContext.browser()!
       }
       else {
+        const warm = takeWarmBrowser(this.project.config)
+        if (warm && warm.launchOptionsJson === JSON.stringify(launchOptions)) {
+          const browser = await warm.promise.catch(() => null)
+          if (browser?.isConnected()) {
+            debug?.('[%s] adopting the prewarmed browser', this.browserName)
+            this.browser = browser
+            this.browserPromise = null
+            return this.browser
+          }
+        }
+        else if (warm) {
+          debug?.('[%s] discarding the prewarmed browser, launch options changed', this.browserName)
+          void warm.promise.then(browser => browser.close()).catch(() => {})
+        }
         this.browser = await playwright[this.browserName].launch(launchOptions)
       }
       this.browserPromise = null
@@ -553,6 +673,11 @@ export class PlaywrightBrowserProvider implements BrowserProvider {
 
     debug?.('[%s] closing provider', this.browserName)
     this.closing = true
+    // a prewarmed browser that was never adopted must not outlive the provider
+    const warm = takeWarmBrowser(this.project.config)
+    if (warm) {
+      void warm.promise.then(browser => browser.close()).catch(() => {})
+    }
     if (this.browserPromise) {
       await this.browserPromise
       this.browserPromise = null
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/config/resolveConfig.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/config/resolveConfig.ts
index 05810c53b..31467e22b 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/config/resolveConfig.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/config/resolveConfig.ts
@@ -416,6 +416,7 @@ export function resolveTestConfig(
         + `Use a single provider for the project, or move the instances into separate projects.`,
       )
     }
+    browser.provider ??= browser.instances.find(instance => instance.provider)?.provider
 
     // use `chromium` by default when the preview provider is specified
     // for a smoother experience. if chromium is not available, it will
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/core.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/core.ts
index 4bd40393d..6bcc24043 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/core.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/core.ts
@@ -283,9 +283,11 @@ export class Vitest {
    */
   async _attachRootServer(): Promise<void> {
     const resolved = this.config
+    const children = resolved.resolvedProjects
+      .filter(entry => entry.viteConfig === this.viteConfig)
     // For a root-level browser config (no `projects`) this builds the single
     // browser server; otherwise it just creates the Vite server.
-    const { server, parent } = await createClusterServer(this, this.viteConfig, resolved)
+    const { server, parent } = await createClusterServer(this, this.viteConfig, resolved, children)
     this.vite = server
     this._rootBrowserParent = parent
 
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/browserLoader.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/browserLoader.ts
index 3e15b030f..81fa6bc13 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/browserLoader.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/browserLoader.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import type {
   BrowserServerContribution,
   ParentProjectBrowser,
 } from '../types/browser'
-import type { ResolvedConfig } from '../types/config'
+import type { ResolvedConfig, ResolvedProjectEntry } from '../types/config'
 import { createViteServer } from '../vite'
 
 export interface BrowserContributionHolder {
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ export async function createClusterServer(
   vitest: Vitest,
   viteConfig: ResolvedViteConfig,
   config: ResolvedConfig,
+  children: readonly ResolvedProjectEntry[],
 ): Promise<{ server: ViteDevServer; parent?: ParentProjectBrowser }> {
   const contribution = config._browserContribution
 
@@ -125,6 +126,23 @@ export async function createClusterServer(
   const parent = contribution.createParent({ config, vitest })
   contribution.parent = parent
 
+  // Start browser launches now so their latency overlaps Vite server creation.
+  // Entries that cannot run browser tests are skipped because they will never
+  // initialize a provider that could adopt and close the prepared browser.
+  for (const child of children) {
+    if (
+      child.hidden
+      || child.hasTestFiles === false
+      || (child.projectConfig.typecheck.enabled && child.projectConfig.typecheck.only)
+    ) {
+      continue
+    }
+    // The Vite server is shared, but each child carries its own resolved
+    // provider and browser options, so it must be prewarmed independently.
+    const projectConfig = child.projectConfig
+    projectConfig.browser.provider?.prewarm?.({ config: projectConfig, vitest })
+  }
+
   const server = await createViteServer(viteConfig)
   await server.listen(config.api.port)
   contribution.setupRpc(parent)
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/projects/resolveProjects.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/projects/resolveProjects.ts
index 1f92fe3aa..87ea2bfb5 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/projects/resolveProjects.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/projects/resolveProjects.ts
@@ -202,14 +202,15 @@ async function applyBrowserOptimizeDeps(
   harness: PluginHarness,
   entries: ResolvedProjectEntry[],
 ): Promise<void> {
-  const groups = new Map<ResolvedViteConfig, ResolvedConfig[]>()
-  for (const { viteConfig, projectConfig } of entries) {
+  const groups = new Map<ResolvedViteConfig, ResolvedProjectEntry[]>()
+  for (const entry of entries) {
+    const { viteConfig } = entry
     let group = groups.get(viteConfig)
     if (!group) {
       group = []
       groups.set(viteConfig, group)
     }
-    group.push(projectConfig)
+    group.push(entry)
   }
 
   // Most projects in a group share identical glob inputs (the `dir`/`root` is
@@ -228,12 +229,16 @@ async function applyBrowserOptimizeDeps(
   }
 
   await Promise.all(
-    Array.from(groups, async ([viteConfig, projectConfigs]) => {
+    Array.from(groups, async ([viteConfig, projectEntries]) => {
+      const projectConfigs = projectEntries.map(entry => entry.projectConfig)
       const contribution = projectConfigs.find(config => config._browserContribution)?._browserContribution
       if (!contribution) {
         return
       }
       const fileLists = await Promise.all(projectConfigs.map(globTestFiles))
+      projectEntries.forEach((entry, index) => {
+        entry.hasTestFiles = fileLists[index].length > 0
+      })
       const testFiles = [...new Set(fileLists.flat())]
       const optimizeDeps = await contribution.resolveOptimizeDeps(projectConfigs, testFiles, harness)
       // the browser runs in the `client` environment, but Vite's dep scanner
@@ -453,9 +458,9 @@ function expandBrowserInstancesInEntries(
 
   for (const entry of browserEntries) {
     const { projectConfig, viteConfig } = entry
-    const instances = projectConfig.browser.instances ?? []
     const parentName = projectConfig.name
 
+    const instances = projectConfig.browser.instances ?? []
     if (instances.length === 0 || isExcludedByProjectFilter(globalConfig.project, parentName)) {
       continue
     }
@@ -916,6 +921,12 @@ export async function attachProjectsFromEntries(
   // provider). Siblings (browser instance variants, benchmark variants) share
   // these resources by linking to the primary via `_parent`.
   const primaryByViteConfig = new Map<ResolvedViteConfig, TestProject>()
+  const childrenByViteConfig = new Map<ResolvedViteConfig, ResolvedProjectEntry[]>()
+  for (const entry of entries) {
+    const children = childrenByViteConfig.get(entry.viteConfig) ?? []
+    children.push(entry)
+    childrenByViteConfig.set(entry.viteConfig, children)
+  }
 
   // The root Vite config can also serve as a project's `viteConfig` — either
   // the default no-`projects` case or browser/benchmark variants of it.
@@ -963,7 +974,8 @@ export async function attachProjectsFromEntries(
     // Workspace project with its own `viteConfig`: own a fresh Vite server. For
     // a browser cluster this is the single server shared by `project.vite` and
     // `project.browser.vite`.
-    const { server, parent } = await createClusterServer(vitest, viteConfig, projectConfig)
+    const children = childrenByViteConfig.get(viteConfig) ?? []
+    const { server, parent } = await createClusterServer(vitest, viteConfig, projectConfig, children)
     const project = new TestProject(vitest, server, viteConfig, projectConfig)
     project._initializeRunners(server)
     if (parent) {
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/types/browser.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/types/browser.ts
index c1f8fff01..4c8c2fdfd 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/types/browser.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/types/browser.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,16 @@ export interface BrowserProviderOption<Options extends object = object> {
   name: string
   supportedBrowser?: ReadonlyArray<string>
   options: Options
+  /**
+   * Called once for every resolved browser project right before its shared
+   * Vite server is created, so the provider can start preparing the browser
+   * (e.g. launching it) concurrently. Optional, fire-and-forget: errors must
+   * surface through the normal provider flow.
+   */
+  prewarm?: (ctx: {
+    config: ResolvedConfig
+    vitest: Vitest
+  }) => void
   providerFactory: (project: TestProject) => BrowserProvider
   serverFactory: BrowserServerFactory
 }
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts
index 582cceb26..5d87d7e4f 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts
@@ -1298,6 +1298,14 @@ export interface ResolvedConfig
 export interface ResolvedProjectEntry {
   viteConfig: ResolvedViteConfig
   projectConfig: ResolvedConfig
+  /**
+   * Whether test files were found while resolving browser dependencies. This
+   * early result is used only to decide whether prewarming is useful; runtime
+   * discovery still globs after plugins have configured the server.
+   *
+   * @internal
+   */
+  hasTestFiles?: boolean
   /**
    * When set, this entry exists only so browser-instance siblings can attach
    * to a parent that owns the Vite server and (later) the browser provider.
diff --git a/test/browser/specs/prewarm.test.ts b/test/browser/specs/prewarm.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c89d5c62f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/browser/specs/prewarm.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+import type { BrowserProviderOption } from 'vitest/node'
+import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
+import { runInlineTests } from '../../test-utils'
+import { instances, provider, runInlineBrowserTests } from './utils'
+
+function spyOnPrewarm() {
+  const prewarmed: (string | undefined)[] = []
+  const spyProvider: BrowserProviderOption = {
+    ...provider,
+    prewarm(ctx) {
+      prewarmed.push(ctx.config.name)
+      provider.prewarm?.(ctx)
+    },
+  }
+  // config resolution assigns `name` on the instance objects,
+  // so the shared settings array cannot be reused between runs
+  const freshInstances = instances.map(instance => ({ ...instance }))
+  return { prewarmed, spyProvider, freshInstances }
+}
+
+const basicTest = `
+import { test } from 'vitest'
+test('works', () => {})
+`
+
+test('prewarm receives only the instances matching the --project filter', async () => {
+  const { prewarmed, spyProvider, freshInstances } = spyOnPrewarm()
+  const target = instances[0].browser!
+
+  const result = await runInlineBrowserTests({
+    'basic.test.ts': basicTest,
+  }, {
+    project: [target],
+    browser: { provider: spyProvider, instances: freshInstances },
+  })
+
+  expect(result.stderr).toBe('')
+  expect(prewarmed).toEqual([target])
+})
+
+test('prewarm receives only the matching instances of a workspace project', async () => {
+  const { prewarmed, spyProvider, freshInstances } = spyOnPrewarm()
+  const target = `browser (${instances[0].browser})`
+
+  const { stderr } = await runInlineTests({
+    'basic.test.ts': basicTest,
+  }, {
+    watch: false,
+    reporters: 'none',
+    project: [target],
+    projects: [
+      {
+        test: {
+          name: 'browser',
+          browser: {
+            enabled: true,
+            provider: spyProvider,
+            instances: freshInstances,
+            headless: true,
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    ],
+  })
+
+  expect(stderr).toBe('')
+  expect(prewarmed).toEqual([target])
+})
+
+test('prewarm uses the provider from the resolved instance project', async () => {
+  const prewarmed: { browser: string | undefined; name: string }[] = []
+  const instanceProvider: BrowserProviderOption = {
+    ...provider,
+    prewarm(ctx) {
+      prewarmed.push({
+        browser: ctx.config.browser.name,
+        name: ctx.config.name,
+      })
+      provider.prewarm?.(ctx)
+    },
+  }
+  const target = instances[0].browser!
+  const freshInstances = instances.map((instance, index) => ({
+    ...instance,
+    provider: index === 0 ? instanceProvider : undefined,
+  }))
+
+  const result = await runInlineBrowserTests({
+    'basic.test.ts': basicTest,
+  }, {
+    project: [target],
+    browser: { provider: undefined, instances: freshInstances },
+  })
+
+  expect(result.stderr).toBe('')
+  expect(prewarmed).toEqual([{ browser: target, name: target }])
+})
+
+test('does not prewarm a project without test files', async () => {
+  const { prewarmed, spyProvider } = spyOnPrewarm()
+  let projectNames: string[] = []
+  const browser = instances[0].browser!
+
+  const result = await runInlineBrowserTests({
+    'basic.test.ts': basicTest,
+  }, {
+    browser: {
+      provider: spyProvider,
+      instances: [
+        { browser, name: 'with tests', include: ['basic.test.ts'] },
+        { browser, name: 'without tests', include: ['missing.test.ts'] },
+      ],
+    },
+    $viteConfig: {
+      plugins: [
+        {
+          name: 'capture-projects',
+          configureVitest({ project, vitest }) {
+            projectNames = vitest.projects.map(project => project.name)
+            if (project.name === 'without tests') {
+              project.config.include = ['basic.test.ts']
+            }
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  })
+
+  expect(result.stderr).toBe('')
+  expect(prewarmed).toEqual(['with tests'])
+  expect(projectNames).toEqual(['with tests', 'without tests'])
+  expect(result.ctx!.state.getFiles().map(file => file.projectName).sort()).toEqual(['with tests', 'without tests'])
+})