Reduce Chrome memory usage: less RAM, test, extensions
Many Chrome users notice that this browser can slow down their computers. The reason is that Chrome consumes a lot of RAM. From this guide, you will learn how to check Chrome's memory usage and reduce it to improve your computer's performance.
Google Chrome is a very user-friendly and reliable browser, but it consumes more RAM than other browsers.
Why is Chrome consuming a lot of RAM?
The more Chrome tabs open and extensions are installed, the more RAM is consumed. This is because each tab works autonomously without affecting other tabs. If one tab is stuck, the other tabs continue to work stably. But it requires more RAM.
How to check browser memory consumption?
On your PC under Windows, to see how much RAM your browser is using, go to the Task Manager on your device. You can open it by pressing "Ctrl+Alt+Del" at the same time. Here, find the "Applications" tab and select the Google Chrome program from the list. In the menu, find the command "Go to the process." You will see a list of the processes that the computer is running, and to the left of each process is the degree of usage of various components of the device, including memory (RAM).
If you have a Mac, you can view this information in the Activity Monitor. Open a Finder window and select "Applications". Here select "Utilities" > Activity Monitor".
However, more experienced users are more able to understand and evaluate RAM usage. For most users, the main indicator of memory consumption is the slowdown in loading webpages in the browser and other programs.
How to make Chrome use less RAM?
If there is not enough RAM, you can reduce the memory consumption of the browser in one of the following ways.
- Close the pages you don't work on
Often we have so many tavs open, and each one of them eats up a lot of RAM! We simply forget to close those tabs that we do not need at the moment. If you don't want to lose them, just ad them to reading list or even download to read offline.
- Use Chrome Task Manager
As we said above, Chrome Task Manager is a tool built into the browser itself that shows you how much memory each tab is consuming. With it, you can find out which sites slow down your device more and take this into account when working with other tabs in parallel.
- Limit the number of processes to one
If at a certain moment you need only one action, for example, playing Netflix or music in Spotify, you can adjust the work of the tabs yourself so that only one workflow is created for one site, which will reduce the RAM usage by almost a third.
- Get rid of unwanted extensions
Extensions can consume a lot of RAM, and the more extensions you have running, the more RAM and processing power Chrome will need (and the slower your computer will run).
Type chrome://extensions into the address bar and press "Enter" to go to a page where you can disable any unwanted extensions. Either uncheck the box to disable the extension, or click the trash can icon to remove it.
Please note that if you remove an extension, you will lose all data associated with it (this will not happen if you disable it).
- Increase your computer's RAM
Maybe your device just doesn't have enough RAM? For fast and stable operation of the Chrome browser and other programs, it is desirable that the RAM is 16 GB or more.
- Turn off page preloading
Page prefetching allows cookies and other data to be fired from memory ahead of time, and this speeds up the browser. But the flip side of this is a large load on the RAM! Try disabling this feature and see if your computer runs faster.
- Use special extensions to control RAM consumption
There are special extensions for the Chrome browser, using which you can keep several tabs open without excessive consumption of RAM. For example, you can use One tab or Wrangler tab.
- Use hardware acceleration
The hardware acceleration tool will give you the ability to distribute the load between RAM and GPU, which will increase the amount of RAM. Go to Chrome Settings and open the "System" option. Here, move the "Hardware acceleration" slider to the active position.
- Clear cache and scan your computer for viruses
Sometimes there is simply not enough space left due to contamination by cached files, which indirectly also slows down the browser. Write in the browser address bar: "chrome://settings/clearBrowserData" and press "Enter". Here you can also clear your browsing history.
To check your device for malware and viruses, use reliable and reputable antivirus products.
- Use "Incognito Mode"
Like other browsers, Google Chrome has an "Incognito Mode" that not only makes browsing more private, but also disables extensions.
- Update your Chrome browser to the latest version
Google often releases new versions of the Google Chrome browser, which increase protection against attacks and fix bugs.
You can easily check if there's an update for later releases of Chrome because the three-dot menu will change from green to yellow. To force Chrome to check for updates, type chrome://help into the address bar and follow the instructions.