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Too many tabs slowing down Chrome? Here's what to do

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A laptop struggling under a tall stack of browser tabs, with a slow loading spinner

In short: Every open tab holds on to some of your computer's memory. First, find the heavy tabs with the memory usage shown on the tab hover card. Then turn on Memory Saver so Chrome puts idle tabs to sleep.[1] For tabs you're keeping "for later", save them and close them: that's the only fix that frees everything.

The fan spins up, typing lags, and switching tabs takes a second too long. If you have forty tabs open, they're the first suspect.

Why tabs slow Chrome down

An open tab keeps its page in your computer's memory, even when you're not looking at it. That's why Chrome's own answer is to deactivate tabs you aren't using, to help your active tabs run smoothly.[1] There's a human cost too: in a Carnegie Mellon study, the median participant started struggling to manage their tabs at 8 open.[2]

1. Find the heavy tabs

  1. Select More > Settings, then Appearance on the left.
  2. On Windows, under Tab hover preview card, turn on Show tab memory usage. On Mac, turn on Show memory usage on tab hover preview card.[1]
  3. Point at any tab to see how much memory it uses.

2. Turn on Memory Saver

Go to Settings > Performance and turn on Memory Saver. Chrome then deactivates tabs you aren't using, and a tab reloads when you come back to it.[1] We cover the levels and exceptions in our Memory Saver guide.

3. Say yes to performance alerts

When browsing gets slow, Chrome can show a notification recommending tab deactivation. Click Fix now to accept it.[1] This alert is on by default, under Settings > Performance > General.[1]

4. On a laptop, use Energy Saver

Energy Saver works when your device is unplugged or the battery is low. It reduces background tasks and stops eligible CPU-heavy background tabs. Video calls and tabs playing audio aren't affected.[1]

5. Close what you're only keeping for later

A sleeping tab still sits in your tab strip, and you still scan past it. Most "later" tabs are reminders or research you've finished. Save them in one place and close them. Our tab habits backed by research help decide which ones.

Close tabs without fear. Keeptab saves your tabs in one click, backs them up every hour and notes your open tabs every 5 minutes. Free for Chrome.

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Close 40 tabs, keep all 40

Keeptab is our free Chrome extension for exactly this. One click turns a window into a list, written and read back before any tab closes, and the memory those tabs used is freed.[3] Search by word, date or site when you need one back.[3]

Lists are backed up every hour, with a 30-day trash for the ones you delete.[3]

FAQ

Do open tabs slow down Chrome?

Yes. Each open tab keeps its page in memory. Chrome's Memory Saver deactivates tabs you aren't using to help active tabs run smoothly.

How do I see which tab uses the most memory?

In Settings, under Appearance, turn on tab memory usage for the hover preview card, then point at a tab.

Is it better to close tabs or use Memory Saver?

Memory Saver helps with tabs you use during the day. Tabs you keep for later are better saved and closed.

Sources

  1. Google Chrome Help. Personalize Chrome performance. https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/12929150?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
  2. Carnegie Mellon University. Chang et al., “When the Tab Comes Due: Challenges in the Cost Structure of Browser Tab Usage”, CHI 2021. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445585
  3. Keeptab. The OneTab alternative to stop losing your tabs. https://keep-tab.com/onetab-alternative

Close tabs without fear

Keeptab saves your tabs in one click, backs them up every hour and notes your open tabs every 5 minutes. Free for Chrome.

Add to Chrome — it's free

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