To make Chrome use less battery on a Mac, turn on Chrome’s Energy Saver, close tabs you aren’t using and turn off extensions you don’t need. Energy Saver is built into Chrome on Mac, Windows and Chromebook laptops. Chrome’s settings say it limits background activity and some visual effects, like smooth scrolling. For Windows laptops, see our general battery drain guide.
Quick Fixes to Try First
- Close tabs you aren’t using.
- Update Chrome to the latest version (More > Help > About Google Chrome).
- Restart your Mac.
Turn on Energy Saver in Chrome
Google’s Personalize Chrome performance page says Energy Saver works when your Mac is unplugged, or only when the battery is low, depending on the option you pick. It doesn’t run while the Mac is plugged in.
- Open Chrome and select More (the three dots at the top right) > Settings.
- On the left, select Performance.
- Turn on Energy Saver, then choose when it should run.
When Energy Saver is on, Chrome stops eligible background tabs that use a lot of processing power. Tabs playing audio or running a video call are not affected. Google notes that games and videos may not run as smoothly. To pause it for the current session, select the Energy Saver icon next to the address bar, then Turn off now.
See how much energy Chrome uses
Apple’s Activity Monitor shows the energy use of each app. Apple explains it in View energy consumption in Activity Monitor.
- Open Activity Monitor. It is in Applications > Utilities.
- Click Energy.
- Find Google Chrome and check its Energy Impact. Apple describes this as a relative measure, where lower is better.
To see which tab or extension is to blame, open Chrome’s own Task Manager: select More > More tools > Task Manager.
Turn on Memory Saver
Memory Saver deactivates tabs you haven’t used for a while, so they stop working in the background. It is on the same Performance page in Chrome’s settings. Turn on Memory Saver and choose Moderate, Balanced (recommended) or Maximum.
Turn off extensions you don’t use
- Type
chrome://extensionsin the address bar. - Turn off, or remove, each extension you don’t need.
Graphics acceleration
Chrome uses your Mac’s graphics chip to draw pages and play video when it can. Leave Use graphics acceleration when available (in Settings > System) turned on unless pages flicker, go black or crash. Our hardware acceleration guide covers that problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Chrome using so much battery on my Mac?
Many open tabs, busy background pages, video and extensions all use power. Energy Saver and Memory Saver reduce what Chrome does in the background.
How can I reduce Chrome’s power use on macOS?
Turn on Energy Saver, close tabs you don’t need, turn off unused extensions and keep Chrome updated.
Is Safari better for battery life than Chrome?
It depends on what you do. To compare, use each browser for the same tasks and check its Energy Impact in Activity Monitor.