Chrome browser was introduced in 2008 in Microsoft Windows and later on followed on other platforms. It’s been more than a decade and Chrome has managed to get accessed by 2.65 billion users in the year 2020. On the other side, I personally love to use the Google Chrome browser because it’s simple, quick to access, and customizable. Google Chrome browser is best if your work revolves around browsing the information on the internet, and if your hardware is powerful enough then you can access Chrome browser without any issues.

There are some Chrome users who reported that they are facing issues related to the Chrome browser, the app either get crashes or slows down the machine performance. This happens because Chrome needs a good memory and CPU, else it will just work against your machine. That’s the actual reason make people use only a single or two tabs on the Chrome browser.

But if you are facing issues like freezing, Chrome not responding, quick battery drainage issues on laptops, or performance drop due to high CPU usage even your machine hardware is good then don’t worry as we have got you all covered up. We have mentioned some workaround that will help you to reduce Chrome memory usage.

Check How much RAM Chrome is Consuming

Before performing any fixes, it is important to know that which app is consuming more RAM. It could be another app like any game launcher running in the background, if that’s the case then you need to check it using Task Manager. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Press Esc + Shift + Ctrl to open Task Manager.

Step 2: Check which app is consuming more RAM or CPU.

Step 3: Select the program and click on End Process.

Also, make sure that unwanted apps are disabled from the startup, these apps get launched as your system starts and runs in the background unknowingly. This will free up some memory so that you can use the Chrome browser.

Restart Your Computer

Restarting your computer is a simple and major thing you can perform. There are multiple apps running in the background that might have consumed your memory, this happens when you are accessing the computer for hours. Just press the Windows button > Power button > Restart.

This will eventually free some memory so that it will help you to use the Chrome browser like before.

Update Your Chrome Browser

Google developers roll out the update for Chrome in order to fix the issues. You might be unaware of the update and still be using the previous one, this can cause issues due to bugs, or glitches. Therefore, it is important to update the Chrome browser to the latest version.

Follow the steps to update the Chrome browser manually:

Step 1: Open the Chrome browser.

Step 2: Click on the three vertical dots located right at the end of the URL bar.

Step 3: Once done, just click on Help > About Google Chrome.

Step 4: Chrome will itself search for new updates, if an update is available then just update the Chrome browser.

Turn Off Unwanted Extensions and Remove Apps

Chrome browser offers many features to its users, it also allows you to install multiple apps and extensions so that you can do the specific task quickly. But the same apps and extensions can hinder your browsing experience. So, it’s good to turn off unwanted extensions and remove apps.

To Remove Apps

Step 1: Type chrome://apps/ in Chrome’s URL bar and press Enter.

Step 2: Install apps that will appear on your screen, just do a right-click on the app and select Remove from Chrome, a prompt will appear just click on Remove.

The apps will get removed from the Chrome browser but can keep the apps that you really need.

To Turn off Extensions

Step 1: Type chrome://extensions/ in the Chrome’s URL bar and press Enter.

Step 2: Installed extensions will appear on your screen, just turn off the extensions. Moreover, you can simply remove the extensions which you don’t need.

Step 3: A prompt will appear and click on Remove, to remove the extensions.

Open Limited Tabs

If your system hardware is strong then you should experience issues maintaining the tabs. But if you have weak hardware like having only 2GB RAM on your computer with an old CPU then limiting the Chrome tab makes sense. Closing the tabs which are currently not in use can help the memory to work better at memory management. Else, it will add more work and load on the CPU and the memory.

Good thing is that Chrome allows you to maintain the Chrome tabs:

• To close a particular tab, just click on x button to delete the unwanted tab or, you can even press Ctrl+w to close the tab.
• Moreover, you can explore the closing the tabs section more doing a right click on the tab, you can literally select close the tabs to the right or to close the rest of the tabs.

Control CPU/Memory Usage using Chrome’s Task Manager

Just like Windows Task Manager, there’s a built-in task manager present in the Google Chrome browser. This task manager shows the process that is currently running by the Chrome browser. You can just stop the unwanted process running regarding the Chrome browser.

Step 1: Click on the three vertical dots located right at the end of the URL bar.

Step 2: Click on the More tools.

Step 3: And select Task manager, you can also press Shift+Esc.

Step 4: Task Manager of Google Chrome will appear along with the Memory footprint and CPU usage. Just select the process and click on End Process.

This will eventually let you stop the unwanted processes inside the Chrome browser.

Disable Background Apps

Chrome will allow its users to run the apps in the background even they decide to quit the browser. This will simply consume the memory, even you have closed the browser.

Step 1: Click on three vertical dots located right at the end of the URL bar.

Step 2: Once done, just click on the settings.

Step 3: Click on the Advanced tab located at the right navigation bar and select System.

Step 4: Turn off the option that says “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed“

Check if there’s no unwanted consumption of RAM.

Remove Malware Using Chrome’s Clean Up Tool

Malware can affect the CPU and memory which then affects the browsing speed. There’s a cleaning tool, available on Chrome that will help the users to remove the malware. (This Cleaning tool is only made for the Google Chrome Windows version.)

Step 1: Go to Chrome Settings.

Step 2: On the left navigation panel, under the Advanced options select Reset and Clean up.

Step 3: Click on the Clean-up computer option, and click on Find.

It will start finding the malware files and harmful software, once you find the software click on Remove. The malware gets removed from the PC.

Enable Hardware Acceleration to Boost Chrome Performance

Using hardware acceleration, you can boost Chrome’s performance. How this works is, Chrome makes the system’s CPU offload page rendering and loads the tasks to the system’s GPU. But some people have noticed that it somehow doesn’t boost the performance entirely but at least you can run Chrome effectively.

See what happens if you enable hardware acceleration, whether you are able to run Chrome effectively or not that’s another thing but trying might be worth it. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Open Chrome’s Settings.

Step 2: Visit the Advanced section located on the right navigation bar, and select System.

Step 3: Now turn on Hardware acceleration.

Check if this helps, else turn it off by following the same steps mentioned above.

What if Nothing Works?

All the methods mentioned above are valid fixes to reduce Chrome memory usage. At this time, you should be able to run Chrome efficiently. But if you are still experiencing issues related to chrome you can do the following:

Re-install Google Chrome

• Just uninstall the Chrome entirely from your system, visit Control Panel > Uninstall a Program.
• Find Google Chrome and uninstall it.
• Then visit here, and download the latest Google Chrome and install it on your system accordingly.

Restore Chrome to Default Settings

Another method to fix the issues related to Chrome is to restore it to the default settings. This can resolve all the issues related to the browser:

• Visit Chrome Settings.
• Click on the Advanced section located on the right navigation panel and click on Reset and Clean up.
• Hit the Restore settings to the original defaults, a prompt will appear then click on Reset Settings button to confirm.

Switch on Different Browser

If nothing is working out for you, then it’s time to switch to another internet browser. Make sure to switch on the lite browser for a better browsing experience.

That’s it for now, hope this helps! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Till then stay tuned for more info.