Why is Chrome using so much memory? What actually helps

Updated 2 November 2026. 3 minute read.

Chrome generally gives each tab its own process, so more tabs means more memory. Turn on Memory Saver in Settings, then Performance, to put tabs you aren’t using to sleep. Use Chrome’s Task Manager to see what’s using the most.

The Tidy up panel offering to close 4 duplicate tabs and 3 empty new tabs, sort scattered sites, review 3 suggested groups and put 22 background tabs to sleep. — Tidy up suggests, and you decide. One copy of each duplicate stays open. Real screenshot of TabOverview. The sites in it are made up.

Why Chrome uses so much

Chrome runs pages in separate processes, so a crash in one page usually won’t take down the others, and each page can be sandboxed. That protection has a price: each process needs its own memory. Twenty tabs in Chrome are closer to twenty small programs than to twenty documents.

High memory use isn’t a fault in itself. It only matters if your computer slows down.

See what’s using it

Task Manager: open the three-dot menu, then More tools, then Task manager. On Windows and Linux, Shift + Esc also works. Sort by memory to find the worst tab or extension.
Hover over a tab: in Settings, then Appearance, turn on memory usage for the tab preview card.

Turn on Memory Saver

Open Settings, then Performance.
Turn on Memory Saver.
Choose Moderate, Balanced or Maximum. They differ in how soon a tab is put to sleep. Google recommends Balanced.

A sleeping tab reloads when you go back to it. Chrome won’t sleep tabs that are playing audio or video, sharing your screen, downloading, or holding a half-filled form, and pinned tabs are left alone too. Sites you never want slept can go under Always keep these sites active.

Energy Saver, on the same page, is for battery life. It cuts background work when you’re unplugged or low on battery.

Remove what you don’t use

Extensions. Each one can use memory. Check Task Manager, then remove what you don’t need.
Duplicate tabs. The same page open three times costs three times as much.
Old tabs. Save them to a bookmarks folder and close them. They’re safe there, and they cost nothing.

When you can’t tell which tabs to close

With many tabs open, the tab strip shows only icons, so it’s hard to know what’s safe to close. TabOverview shows every tab in one grid, and its Tidy up button lists duplicates, tabs unused for a week and empty new tabs. It suggests, you decide, and every close in TabOverview has Undo for 30 seconds.

Its Sleep option frees memory when you ask, never by itself. That’s different from Memory Saver, which acts on a timer. You can use both.

A tab tool uses memory too, so here’s ours. With 500 tabs, TabOverview’s page used under 16 MB of JavaScript memory in our tests. It keeps one small pinned tab in each window so it opens at once. That tab uses some memory, and you can turn it off in Settings.

Questions

Is it bad that Chrome uses so much memory?

Not by itself. Unused memory does nothing for you. It only matters if your computer slows down or other apps struggle.

Does Memory Saver lose my tabs?

No. The tab stays in your tab strip and reloads when you open it. Half-filled forms keep a tab awake.

How do I see which tab is using the most memory?

Open Chrome’s Task Manager from the three-dot menu, under More tools, and sort by memory. On Windows and Linux, Shift + Esc also opens it.