Do you want to know why Google Chrome uses so much RAM? Google Chrome is the most popular web browser. But it uses an excessive amount of computer memory. Just open the task manager and you will be shocked to see how much memory Chrome is using. Most of the time, Chrome will be at the top of the list.

But the main question is that why Chrome consumes lots of system memory?

Is Chrome High RAM Usage Real

Does Google Chrome really use high memory?

When we compared Chrome vs Firefox, Mozilla Firefox comes as the winner in the memory consumption area. Also in Microsft Edge vs Chrome comparison, Edge comes as the winner. As every internet users know that Google Chrome is a fast web browser. But comes at the cost of high memory consumption.

Also, if you do a Google search about chrome’s high memory usage then you will many results backing up about Chrome eats more RAM than other browsers.

Reason Why Chrome Use So Much Memory

Whenever you run an app on a computer, it runs a process in RAM. The Random Access Memory is temporary memory for all processes. The CPU fetches data in the system RAM very fast.

On a computer, we do many tasks in a web browser. It includes watching videos, opening Facebook, using extensions, and much more. All of the web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge use a different process for every tab, plugin, and extension.

The beauty of Chrome is that it splits every tab and extension into its own process. It means if one of the tab or process crashes then it does not have any impact on other opened tabs. Although this system is better for the users. But also leads to high memory usage. That’s why Chrome usually displays multiple processes. Although each process consumes a small amount of RAM but together a significant amount of memory gets used.

Google Chrome will display an error message when it runs out of memory. “Aw, Snap! Google Chrome ran out of memory while trying to display this webpage.”

There is a feature in Chrome called “Predendering“. Pre-rendering allows Chrome to preload a web page in in anticipation that you will visit that website on the webpage. It can be any link on a web page like the “next page” link on a news site. This feature helps the chrome browser in loading web pages faster. But the downside is “high memory usage”.

Also, if you have installed more extensions and opened many tabs then surely the RAM usage will be on the higher side.

Google Chrome surely uses a lot more RAM than other browsers. But all this is done for the convenience of the user. Infact, if you have a computer with enough system memory then Chrome will be the best browser for you in terms of performance.

Google Chrome’s RAM Management

Google Chrome manages system memory by running each process separately. All it is done for better stability. As we explained earlier, by running each process separately, your browser will remain stable if one of the process crashes.

What will happen if a plugin or extension crashes and the browser is running on the single-process model? Surely, you will need to restart the browser, or your browser may become unresponsive.

The multi-process model also provides security benefits. For example, if a javascript attack happens in a tab then it will affect other tabs in chrome. But in a single-process model, the whole browser will get affected including all tabs.

Google Chrome using too much memory is not always an issue. If most of the time, your system is not using available RAM then what is the use of it. Infact. if you are keeping your RAM always free then you are not utilizing the potential of your computer.

But in case, if chrome uses too much system memory then very little memory will be available for other programs. It will lead to the slowness of the whole computer system.

If Chrome is using a lot of memory, but there is no negative impact on the performance of the system then you don’t need to worry about it.

For example, you have opened about 60 tabs in chrome with 3GB RAM consumption and your system has 16GB RAM then there should not be an issue. But if you try this on a computer with 4GB RAM then it will negatively impact your system’s performance.

Tips To Fixing Chrome Using Too Much RAM

There are mainly two ways to fix the problem of Chrome using too much memory. The first fix is simple and straightforward. All you need is to increase your system’s memory by installing a compatible memory stick in your system. The second one includes 5 fixes that you can apply in the browser.

1. Close Unused Tabs

If you have opened many tabs and some of them are no longer in use then surely it will be contributing to the high memory usage of chrome. So you need to close all unused tabs and the memory usage will come down in an instant.

2. Disable Unnecessary Extensions

The browser extensions are one of the key reasons for high memory usage in Google Chrome. It is always best to manage Chrome extensions. To run browser extensions, more memory is needed. If one of the extensions which you are using has memory leaks then RAM usage will increase in no time. To make sure that extensions are not consuming all of the system memory, we need to disable them. Here is the fix:

  • Click on the three vertical dots at the upper right-hand corner.
  • Hover on “More tools” and click on extensions
  • Disable all extension by clicking on the disable toggle
  • Restart the browser and get the stats of Chrome’s memory consumption.

3. Enable Hardware Acceleration

To enable Hardware Acceleration, go to Settings in Google Chrome. On the Settings page, scroll down to the Advanced and click on it. Now scroll down the section called “System” and turn on the toggle of “Use hardware acceleration when available”.

Restart the browser and check if the issue is still there or not.

4. Update Google Chrome

If you are using an outdated version of Google Chrome then there may be some bugs that might be causing high memory consumption issues. It may cause a slow down in the browsing experience. So you need to make sure that Google Chrome remains updated every time.

  • Click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner.
  • Hover on Help and click on About Google Chrome.
  • A new tab will open automatically and the Chrome will automatically check whether you have the latest version or not. If not, it will start the update process automatically.
  • After the update gets downloaded, restart the browser.

5. Use Memory Saving Extensions

Memory Saving extension can also help in fixing the issue of high RAM usage in chrome. But it seems a bit counter-intuitive. There are some extensions available in Chrome Web Store that help in RAM Management.

The Great Suspender is an excellent extension for managing Chrome’s high memory consumption. It reduces chrome’s memory footprint just by suspending the tabs you aren’t using. If you do not use a tab for a configurable amount of time then all those tabs will be suspended automatically.

6. Reset or Reinstall Google Chrome

We can reset Google Chrome to its default settings. By resetting the browser setting, its search engine, new tab page, and homepage will be reset to default. All pinned tabs will be unpinned. Cookies and site data will be cleared and extensions and themes will be disabled.

To quickly reset , enter chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings in Chrome’s address bar. Now just click on “Reset settings”.

Is Google Chrome Still Using Too Much Memory

If you find Google Chrome is still using too much memory then you can try other browsers like Firefox and Microsoft Edge. Both these browsers are memory efficient.

But switching to another browser is not always a good decision. If you have a computer with high memory then you don’t need to worry about high memory consumption.

Google Chrome is still a great browser with great speed and security.

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