Every tab, extension and web app you keep open gives Chrome more work to do. The two fastest fixes are built in: turn on Memory Saver, then open Chrome’s Task Manager and close whatever is using the most memory.
- Select the three-dot More menu at the top right, then Settings > Performance, and turn on Memory Saver.
- Select More > More tools > Task Manager. On Windows and Linux the shortcut is Shift + Esc.
- Select the Memory column to sort by memory use, select the biggest task you don’t need, and select End process.
- Close tabs you aren’t using: Ctrl + W on Windows and Linux, ⌘ + W on a Mac.
These steps come from Google’s guides to speeding up Chrome and Chrome’s performance settings. The sections below explain each one.
Find out what is using the memory
Chrome’s Task Manager lists every tab, extension and background process with the memory each one uses. It answers the question faster than guesswork.
- Open Chrome on your computer.
- Select More (three dots) > More tools > Task Manager.
- Select Memory to sort the list.
- Look for items labeled “Background page”. Google points these out as tasks worth checking.
- Select a task you don’t need and select End process.
Google warns that any unsaved work in a task you end is lost. For a fuller walk-through, see our Chrome Task Manager guide.
You can also see a single tab’s memory use without opening Task Manager. In Settings > Appearance, turn on Show tab memory usage (Windows, Linux and Chromebook, under “Tab hover preview card”) or Show memory usage on tab hover preview card (Mac), then point at a tab.
Turn on Memory Saver
Memory Saver deactivates tabs you aren’t using so their memory goes to the tabs you are using. A deactivated tab stays in the tab strip and reloads automatically when you go back to it.
- Select More > Settings.
- On the left, select Performance.
- Turn on Memory Saver.
- Pick a level. Moderate waits longer before deactivating tabs, Balanced is the one Google recommends, and Maximum deactivates tabs soonest and saves the most memory.
Some things can stop a tab from being deactivated: audio or video that is playing (including calls), screen sharing, page notifications, a download in progress, a partly filled form, pinning the tab, or a connected USB or Bluetooth device. To see which tabs are inactive, turn on Inactive tabs appearance on the same page. Inactive tabs then show a ring around their icon.
Keep important sites active
If a site needs to keep running in the background, such as a chat app or a dashboard, add it to the exclusion list. In Settings > Performance, next to Always keep these sites active, select Add. Choose from the sites open in your tabs, or type an address. Typing google.com covers that domain and its subdomains, such as drive.google.com.
How Chrome decides when to pause and unload tabs is explained in how tab freezing and discarding works.
Turn off extensions you don’t use
Google’s advice is to turn off or remove the extensions you aren’t using:
- Select More > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
- Use the switch to turn an extension off, or select Remove to uninstall it.
If memory use drops a lot after turning everything off, turn extensions back on one at a time to find the heavy one.
If memory use keeps climbing
- Update Chrome. Google lists this as the first step to a faster Chrome. Select More > Help > About Google Chrome, and select Relaunch if an update is waiting. Our update guide covers every platform.
- Quit other apps. Chrome shares your computer’s memory with everything else that is running, and Google’s speed guide recommends not running many apps at the same time.
- Check for unwanted software. Pop-ups that won’t go away, a search engine that keeps changing, or extensions you didn’t install are signs of unwanted software. Follow Google’s steps to remove it, or see removing browser hijackers.
- Reset Chrome’s settings. In Settings, select Reset settings > Restore settings to their original defaults > Reset settings. This returns your search engine, homepage and startup tabs, new tab page, pinned tabs, site permissions, cookies and site data, and extensions and themes to their defaults. According to Google, your bookmarks and saved passwords are not deleted or changed.
If Chrome is also slowing the whole computer down, see fixing high CPU usage.
On a phone or tablet
Memory Saver and the other performance settings are only on computers. Google’s help says you can’t personalize Chrome’s performance on Android, iPhone or iPad. On a phone, you can still close tabs you no longer need.
More ways to cut memory use
- How to make Chrome use less RAM: a short checklist, including extensions that close or save tabs for you.
- Chrome Memory Saver explained.
- Tab management strategies for people who keep dozens of tabs open.