Why Chrome Uses too Much Memory And How to Fix It
By now, everyone knows Google Chrome uses way too many resources on your PC. Despite Chrome being a resource hog, it’s still the go-to internet browser for PC users across the world. According to Kinsta, Google Chrome makes up 77% of the global desktop market. The experts at HighSpeedInternet.com says it’s popular around the world because it’s “the fastest web browser.”
Still, Google Chrome has one major flaw. It uses too much RAM. Content creators like Twitch educator Katliente even recommend not having Chrome open while streaming or gaming. Sometimes having a browser open while gaming or creating content is necessary for a variety of reasons. Gamers and creators may need to have their browsers open to look up game guides or share Youtube videos with their community. Unfortunately, having a browser open can use too much RAM. And depending on how much memory you have, open browsers can cause powerful games like GTA V and New World to drop frames.
Why Google Chrome is a RAM Hog
RAM or random-access memory is temporary storage for computer data. Or, as Intel says, “short-term memory” for data storage. Every computer app runs processes in RAM allowing your CPU to access data more quickly. Browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge store each plugin, tab, and extension in a different RAM process. It prevents one process from overwriting another process. This is why you will see a number in parenthesis next to the application and then the dropdown in Task Manager. This is called isolation.
The reasons your Chrome browser is hogging all of your RAM are:
You have too many tabs open at the same time. And when you close one browser tab, the processes of the closed tab don’t necessarily stop. Those processes include plugins and extensions.
You have too many plugins and extensions attached to your browser.
Chrome is running in the background even after you close it.
You don’t have enough RAM.
Websites with too many ads or animations can take up too much RAM.
Screenshot: Kiesha Richardson
After closing Chrome Tabs, the processes continue to use half the memory even with only one tab open.
How to Fix Google Chrome Hogging RAM
Throughout the years, Google has made significant progress in reducing the amount of memory it consumes on PC. Even with the changes, however, Chrome still can use a considerable amount of RAM.
Though most of the problems are Chrome itself, there are ways to fix Google Chrome using too much memory. To access most Chrome’s functions, you will need to go to the three dots on the top right of the Chrome browser.
Make Sure Google Chrome is Up to Date
Clean Up Your Cache and Cookies
Enable Hardware Acceleration
Remove Plugins and Extensions You Don’t Use
Stop Apps from Running in the Background
Check Chrome’s Task Manager
Make Sure Google Chrome is Up to Date
Just as you would keep your drivers up to date, so, too, should you keep your browser updated to the latest version. To update Chrome,
Open Google Chrome and click on the three dots in the upper right corner to view settings.
After going to Settings, look to the left and select About Chrome.
Here, you can check which version of Google Chrome you have and check to see if there are any updates that need to be installed.
Clean Up Your Cache and Cookies
Having too much junk cache and cookies cause pages to not load properly. It can also cause your PC to freeze. To declutter your cookies and cache,
Click the three dots in the right corner of Google Chrome.
Look for “More Tools” and mouse over it to select “Clear browsing data.”
You can choose either “Basic” or “Advanced” to control what you clean up.
Enable Hardware Acceleration
Hardware acceleration is the process where applications delegate certain tasks from your CPU to other specialized hardware to speed up or accelerate the task. Many programs like Google Chrome support hardware acceleration if you have a dedicated GPU or graphics card.
To enable hardware acceleration in Google Chrome,
Select the three dots on the right-hand corner of Google Chrome.
Go to Settings.
Scroll down and select Advanced settings.
Scroll down to find “System”.
Find “Use hardware acceleration when available” and toggle it on.
Close your browser and restart to check if the changes were implemented and see if Chrome’s memory usage is still too high or if it lessened.
Stop Apps from Running in the Background
When you minimize Google Chrome or even close a tab, the processes do not necessarily stop running. Sometimes Chrome will run apps—plugins and extensions in the background, using up precious memory. To stop apps Chrome apps from running in the background,
In the Chrome browser, click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
Scroll down to Settings.
In Settings, scroll down to Advanced and go to Systems.
In Systems, you will see “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed.” Switch that off.
Remove Plugins and Extensions You Don’t Use
While plugins and extensions help enhance the browsing experience, they can become a problem when you have too many. Each plugin and extension have its own process. And having them perform operations at the same time can take up RAM unnecessarily. Removing unused extensions and plugins can free up some much need memory. To delete or disable unused extensions or plugins,
Open the Google Chrome browser.
*You can also access Extensions by typing chrome://extension into the address bar*
Click on the three dots in the right corner and scroll down to “More tools.”
Mouse over to More tools and scroll down to Extensions.
In Extensions, each plugin and extension will give you the option to Remove or turn toggle the extension on or off. Remove or disable any plugins you do not use.
Take a Look Inside Google Chrome’s Task Manager
Did you know that Google Chrome has its own Task Manager similar to Windows OS? Like Windows Task Manager, you can see the different processes Chrome is running, but in more detail. To access Chrome Task Manager,
Open the Chrome browser.
Click on the three dots in the upper right corner and scroll down to More tools.
Mouse over More tools and scroll down to Task manager.
In Task manager, find the process you want to close and click End process.
If these fixes do not help with resource hogging, then you may need to defragment your PC. If defragmenting your PC doesn’t help, you most likely just don’t have enough memory to spare and it could be time to upgrade your RAM.
