Here’s How You Can Reduce Chrome Memory Usage

There is no doubt that Google Chrome is a fantastic browser and in fact one of the most popular and preferred browsers available. However, there is one complaint that even the most ardent lovers of these browsers have – that is, it consumes a lot of RAM.

Pull up your Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc and you might be surprised so as to how much memory Chrome alone takes up. Sometimes, you might just gasp for breath and ask, how to make Chrome use less RAM?

Now, we have an extensive blog on how you can optimize Windows 10 for best performance, in this blog though, we’ll go all out and see what all can be done to reduce Chrome RAM usage. So, read the blog from start to end –

Also Read: Ways to Fix Windows 10 100% Disk Usage Error Message

How To Reduce Chrome RAM Usage

1. Efficiently Manage Tabs

If you want to make Chrome use less RAM, get rid of all the tabs which you don’t need. Sounds simple? Let us tell you it isn’t. Immaterial of why you use Google Chrome, chances are you do keep several tabs open, isn’t it? And, honestly sometimes it is so confusing to judge so as to which tab to close and which tab to open when you are multitasking – using websites as references, catching up with latest news updates and what not. But, that doesn’t change the fact that these tabs have a great impact on Chrome’s performance. To process these tabs, Chrome consumes a lot of RAM.

And, we have a way to smartly manage tabs on Chrome –

The Great Suspender Chrome extension is a smart and efficient way to suspend tabs that aren’t in use. And, worry not! You won’t have to lift a finger as the extension would automatically close all those tabs in the background which haven’t been used for a specific length of time. The best part is that you can configure this length and many other settings.

2. Use Chrome’s Built-In Task Manager

Just as Windows has a Task Manager that lets you end-task the memory hogging processes, you can take aid of Chrome’s inbuilt Task Manager to get rid of processes which could help reduce Chrome RAM usage. Now, this can be a great step as you won’t have to close Chrome completely. Here’s how you can use the Task Manager in Chrome to limit Chrome memory usage –

1. Click on three dots at the topmost right corner of the screen

2. Click on More Tools

3. Click on Task Manager. Alternatively, you can simply press Shift+Esc and the Task Manager in Chrome will fire up.

4. Click on the process taking up maximum memory and click on End process

Note: Be careful when choosing a process to end.

3. Enable Hardware Acceleration

There is a setting that not many are aware of. You can enable hardware acceleration to enhance Chrome’s performance when playing games or videos. When playing around with other settings you might have accidentally switched off. So, here’s how you can re-enable it –

1. Click on three dots (Menu button) at the top right corner of the screen

2. Go to Settings

3. Scroll down and click on Advanced dropdown

4. Under System click on Use hardware acceleration when available

5. Restart Google Chrome

6. To check whether hardware acceleration is enabled or not type chrome://gpu/

4. Get Rid Of Conflicting Or Unwanted Extensions

More the number of extensions, more RAM will be consumed by Chrome as it will have to have more processing power. So, one of the best ways to reduce Chrome memory usage is to disable or remove unwanted extensions. To quickly get rid of unneeded extensions type chrome://extensions in the Chrome address bar and then either move the toggle button to the left to disable the extension or click on the Remove button to delete the extension.

5. Clear Chrome Cache

Clearing Chrome cache could help you reduce Chrome memory usage and also speed up its performance. To clear Chrome Cache –

1. Click on three dots at the topmost right corner of the screen

2. Click on Settings

3. Under Privacy and security click on Clear browsing data

4. Click Clear data

6. Use Chrome’s Inbuilt Cleanup Tool to Track and Remove Malware

If despite using the above steps, you are not able to reduce Chrome RAM usage, chances are that your browser might have been hit by a malware. For this you could blame a fishy email you accidentally clicked on or even a malicious extension. Anyways, instead of crying on the spilt milk, you can instead use Chrome’s cleanup tool to get rid of Malware and we are going to deal with this as quickly as possible.

1. Type chrome://settings/ in the address bar

2. Scroll down and click on the Advanced dropdown

3. Go to the bottom of the page and select Clean up computer

4. Click Find and wait till your computer is searched

5. In case there is a malicious software looming over, Chrome will track it and prompt you to delete it. So, to delete any harmful application or file click on Remove

Conclusion

Do let us know in the comments section if you were able to reduce Chrome memory usage by using the methods above. If the blog helped, do share it with others who are dealing with a similar situation. For more such content keep reading Tweak Library. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Flipboard. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

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