The web browser is one of the essential programs that cannot be missing from any computer. But it is also one of the most resource consuming, and that is a problem, especially for users who have somewhat old and not very powerful computers. The basic browsers already consume a lot of RAM memory, and as we open tabs or install extensions, consumption skyrockets. Therefore, if we have little memory, or our CPU is not very powerful, these tricks will help us navigate much better.
Microsoft, Google, and Mozilla are working to include features that reduce resource usage in browsers. For example, one of the latest innovations in this regard is Sleeping Tabs, a function that is responsible for suspending the tabs that we do not use to free memory.
However, in addition to the functions included in the browsers, we must also carry out our own tasks that allow us to save as much resources as possible.
Keep an eye on the tabs you open
Browsing with tabs is very comfortable, but also dangerous. The tabs consume a large amount of resources in the system, since they keep all the information of the loaded page. And if the web is very heavy, or has scripts that run in the background, much worse.
Wearing lashes is inevitable. Furthermore, sailing without them would be going back more than 20 years. However, we must watch the number of these that we open. We should try to make small browsing sessions, and when we finish close all the related tabs to start over. This will prevent memory and CPU consumption from spiking.
The fewer extensions in the browser, the better
Extensions are another browser feature that we couldn’t live without, but it’s also one of the reasons why the browser consumes a lot of resources. Installing many extensions will make our browser consume a lot of RAM and a lot of CPU, even when we don’t have any open tabs. And the truth is that, despite the existence of thousands of extensions, in the end we always use the same ones. And many of them are even unnecessary.
Therefore, if we want to make the browser lighter, we must reduce the number of extensions. If we can avoid installing them, the better. But, if we can’t, then install the ones that are strictly necessary.
Install extensions to reduce web load
Although this goes just against the previous point, the truth is that we could consider it an exception, since it will help us save resources. There are many websites that load content that is totally unnecessary and that also consumes many resources. Especially JavaScript code. To avoid this, there are extensions, such as NoScript, that allow us to block this type of content to free up browser resources.
There are also other extensions that allow us to reduce the load on the browser through different techniques, such as downloading only text, without images, or blocking embedded videos. Thus, in exchange for reducing the browsing experience a bit, we will improve the overall performance of the computer.
Control what you consume the most
In the Windows Task Manager, everything appears under the Google browser process, which makes it difficult to differentiate between one process and another. However, some browsers, like Chrome, have their own task manager. And this is much more detailed when it comes to checking what is using the most RAM and CPU.
From here we can locate the websites or extensions that consume the most, and, if we want, finalize them.
Look for a lightweight browser
Chrome, Firefox and Edge are the most popular and most used browsers . But they are also the most complete and, therefore, the ones that consume the most resources. If we want to reduce the use of RAM and CPU when browsing the Internet, it is advisable to look for a lightweight browser that consumes few resources.
These browsers are usually based on either Chromium or Firefox. The difference with them is that they remove functions and features so that they consume less and therefore are faster.