Fix Chrome Memory Leak
Fix chrome Memory Leak: Who does not know Google Chrome, one of the browsers most used by Internet users? Why do we love the Chrome browser? Mainly it is super fast unlike any other browser like – Firefox, IE, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox’s new Quantum browser.
Each of them has advantages and disadvantages: Firefox is loaded with various add-ons, making it a bit slower, IE is slow, and Microsoft Edge is quite a bit faster. However, when it comes to Chrome, it’s super fast and loaded with Google’s other services, which is why many users stick with Chrome.
However, some users have reported that chrome becomes sluggish after a few months of heavy use and this may be related to the chrome memory leak issue Have you ever noticed that the Chrome browser tabs load a bit slow and go blank for a few minutes?
This is the result when you open multiple tabs in your browser, which in turn uses more RAM. Therefore, the device may freeze or hang for a few minutes. Anyway, without wasting any time, let’s see how to fix Chrome memory leaks and reduce high RAM usage with the help of the tutorial below.
Chrome memory leak fix and reduce chrome memory usage
Make sure to create a restore point in case something goes wrong.
Google Chrome Task Manager
Let’s start with the Task Manager to find out how hard the system is working to give us a smooth experience and where it is taking the load. To access the Task Manager of your device you need to use the shortcut keys “Ctrl + Alt + Delete”.
Here you can see that a total of 21 Google Chrome processes are running taking around 1GB of RAM usage. However, I have only opened 5 tabs in my browser. How is the total of 21 processes? Isn’t it confusing? Yes, it is, therefore we need to dive deeper.
Can we identify which tab or task is using how much RAM? Yes, the built-in task manager in the Chrome browser will help you find RAM usage. How can the task manager be accessed? You can either right-click on the header section of the browser and choose the Task Manager option from there or just use the “Shift + Esc” shortcut keys to open the Task Manager directly. Here we can see each process or task that is running in Google Chrome.
The browser itself is a process, each tab has its process. Google separates everything into different processes so that one process does not affect the others making the browser more stable, suppose that if the flash plugin crashes, it will not lower all the tabs. It seems like a nice feature for a web browser.
You may have noticed that sometimes one of the multiple tabs has fallen out, so you just have to close that tab and keep using the other open tabs without any problem. As seen in the image, there are service processes called “subframe: https://accounts.google.com”.
This is not related to the Gmail account but there are some other processes associated with it. Is there a way to reduce the amount of RAM that Chrome is using? How about blocking flash files for all websites to open? What about deactivating all extensions? Yes, it can work.
Method 1 – Block Flash in Google Chrome
- Open Google Chrome and then navigate to the following URL in the address bar:
chrome://settings/content/flash
2. To disable Adobe Flash Player in Chrome, simply turn off the “Allow sites to run Flash” toggle.
3. To check if you have the latest version of Flash player installed, navigate to chrome://components in Chrome’s address bar.
5. Scroll down to “Adobe Flash Player” and you will see the latest version of Adobe Flash Player that you have installed.
Method 2 – Update Google Chrome
- To update Google Chrome, click Three dots in the upper right corner of Chrome, select Help, and then click About Google Chrome.
- Now make sure Google Chrome is up to date, if not, you will see an update button, click on it.
This will update Google Chrome to its latest version, which could help you fix Chrome’s memory leak and reduce high RAM usage.
Method 3 – Disable unnecessary or unwanted extensions
Another method could be to disable the add-ons/extensions that you have installed in your Chrome browser. Extensions are a very useful feature in Chrome to extend its functionality, but you should know that these extensions take up system resources while running in the background.
In short, even if the particular extension is not in use, it will still use your system resources. Therefore, it is a good idea to remove all the unwanted / deleted Chrome extensions that you may have installed before. And it works if you simply disable The Chrome extension that you are not using will save huge RAM, resulting in increased speed of the Chrome browser.
- Open Google Chrome and type chrome://extensions in the address and hit Enter.
- Now first disable all the unwanted extensions and then delete them by clicking on the delete icon.
- Restart Chrome and see if it can fix the Chrome memory leak and reduce high RAM usage.
Method 4 – Chrome extension «One Tab»
What does this extension do? It allows you to convert all the open tabs into a list so that, when you want to recover them, you can restore all or each of the tabs according to your preferences. This extension can help you save 95% of your RAM with one click.
1. First you must add the chrome extension “One Tab” in your browser.
2. An icon in the upper right corner will be highlighted. Every time you open too many tabs in your browser, just click on that icon once, and all the tabs will turn into a list. Now whenever you want to restore any page or all pages, you can easily do it.
3. Now you can open the Google Chrome Task Manager and see if you can fix the Chrome memory leak problem or not.
Method 5 – Disable hardware acceleration
- Open Google Chrome and click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select Settings.
- Now scroll down until you find Advanced (which is probably at the bottom) and click on it.
3. Now scroll down until you find the system settings and make sure to disable the “Use hardware acceleration when available” option.
4. Restart Chrome and this should help you fix the Chrome memory leak issue.
Method 6 – Clear the temporary files
- Press Windows Key + R, then type %temp% and hit Enter.
2. Press Ctrl + A to select all and then permanently delete all files.
3. Restart your browser to see if the problem is resolved or not.
TIP: If you’re still having trouble, be sure to read our guide on how to make Google Chrome faster.
Method 7 – Use the Chrome Cleaning Tool
The official Google Chrome cleaning tool helps scan and remove software that may be causing the chrome problem, for example, crashes, unusual home pages or toolbars, unexpected ads that you cannot get rid of, or changes to the browsing experience.
Method 8 – Reset Chrome Settings
- Open Google Chrome and click on the three dots in the upper right corner and on Settings.
- Now in the settings window, scroll down and click on Advanced at the bottom.
- Go back down to the bottom and click on the “Restart” column.
- This would open a pop-up window again asking if you want to Reset, so click Reset to continue.
Hope this article was helpful and that you can now easily fix the chrome memory leak and reduce high RAM usage, but if you still have any questions about this tutorial, feel free to ask them in the comment section.
Mustafa Al Mahmud is the Founder of Gizmo Concept and also a professional Blogger, SEO Professional as well as Entrepreneur. He loves to travel and enjoy his free moment with family members and friends.