Google Chrome is king among browsers, but its main problem is using too much memory. If you have done a little research, you must know that Chrome uses a lot of resources on your computer. So, if you are worried about why chrome is taking up so much memory and how you can fix it, here you will get all the answers.
Why does Google Chrome consume so much memory?
Google Chrome is a multitasking browser; from watching YouTube videos, using web apps, extensions to opening different tabs, everything is done by Google Chrome; So what do you think consumes resources to get all that work done? Obviously, Google Chrome uses your computer’s RAM to do all this. Do you know how much RAM Chrome is using? Press SHIFT+ESC to open Google Chrome’s own Task Manager and see for yourself.
Note- Chrome divides every tab and extension you open into a process, so if one breaks, it crashes all your tabs.
So now you know why Google Chrome is using so much memory; if you use a lot of extensions and open many tabs, it can cause it to use a lot of your device’s resources in the form of RAM. Also, Google Chrome has a memory-intensive pre-rendering feature that makes the page load faster.
So, if Google Chrome is using a lot of memory, it means you are allowing this browser to do so by opening multiple tabs or using extensions. Applications you use on your computer run processes in your computer’s RAM, which is a temporary storage area for data stored on your device.
And whenever Chrome runs out of memory, you’ll see this message
“Oh, no! There was a problem displaying this web page; Error code: Out of memory”
Is Google Chrome Using Too Much Memory Harmful?
This should be your main concern if it’s not okay if Google Chrome is using too much memory. The purpose of installing RAM on your device is to allow the device to receive and read stored data immediately. If the numbers in the task manager’s memory column scare you, remember that free RAM is useless, RAM exists in your system for a reason if you have a good amount of RAM on your device. yourself, that means your computer can store a lot of things in its short-term memory as it will quickly remember them later.
So even if your RAM gets full from time to time, it’s good to have RAM working. But if you find your RAM is constantly filling up and slowing down your device, it needs to be addressed. If you need more memory than your computer can provide, it can make your device slower because it will transfer short-term memory to your computer’s hard drive, which will be much slower.
How to prevent high memory usage in Google Chrome?
If Google Chrome is constantly using high memory usage, it is important to know how to reduce high memory usage in Google Chrome. To make Chrome use less memory, you can try some things like manage add-ons and extensions, enable hardware acceleration, etc; all these methods are further explained here:
1. Close programs that consume RAM
There are programs that use more RAM than others and one of them causes a lot of memory usage, you can open the Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+DELETE or open the Task Manager Google Chrome’s own actions by pressing SHIFT+ESC, and there you can see what tabs or extensions consume the most RAM. You can even sort memory usage from highest to lowest in the ‘Memory’ column. You can then select the processes that are consuming a lot of RAM or are not currently in use and click ‘End Task’ to delete them.
2. Use Chrome Extensions to Manage Tabs
Using Chrome’s tab manager extension is another way to limit RAM usage and save memory. You must be wondering why install another extension when there are already many extensions affecting your RAM usage. However, these extensions solve your problem and help customize Chrome. One such useful extension is The Great Suspender, which allows you to kill all the processes that are consuming too much memory, ultimately reducing the memory Chrome uses. OneTab is another useful tab management extension that allows you to close all tabs in one go by clicking the OneTab button; it will provide all the links in a tab so you can open them conveniently.
3. Manage extensions
You also need to know how to manage extensions so you can disable those that are consuming a lot of power but are not currently in use. Here’s how to reduce high memory usage in Google Chrome by managing extensions:
- Right click on the extension you want to disable, then click “Manage Extensions”
- In the “Visit Websites” section, select either “On Click” or “On Specific Sites” to “Allow this extension to read and change all your data on websites you visit”
- You can also use an extension manager like SimpleExt to manage all your extensions if you use a lot of them.
4. Enable Hardware Acceleration
You can also enable hardware acceleration to reduce the high memory usage of Google Chrome. Here’s how to do it:
- When you open Google Chrome, click the three-dot button in the upper right corner; then click ‘Settings’.
- On the ‘Settings’ page, click the ‘Advanced’ option.
- Next, go to the ‘System’ section and turn on the ‘Use hardware acceleration when available’ switch.
- Then restart Google Chrome and type chrome://gpu/ in the address bar; press the Enter key; Now check if hardware acceleration or GPU rendering is enabled.
5. Check your device for malware
You may also experience Chrome using a lot of memory when your device is infected with malware or adware and to fix this, run a virus scan. If your device is infected with any virus, the antivirus will remove the virus and this will eventually help reduce Chrome’s memory usage.
6. Set up a new user profile
You can also work around this by creating a new user profile for Google Chrome as this can prevent Chrome from using too much memory; do this:
- Go to Task Manager and end all Google Chrome processes
- Towards C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default in Explorer.
- Press CTRL+A to select all files and press Shift+Delete to permanently delete all files.
- Then restart Google Chrome and create a new user profile
Hopefully all these solutions will fix the high memory usage of Google Chrome.
Categories: How to
Source: newstars.edu.vn