How much memory does Yandex take up? Chrome is eating up memory: what to do? Which browser consumes the least amount of RAM?

The modern Internet is significantly different from what it looked like when it first appeared. Simple static web pages have been replaced by full-fledged web applications using a variety of technologies.

Look right now at the tabs of your browser: in one of them an online music player is running, in another you are currently reading this article, in the third a text editor is open, from which you took a break “for a minute” for the sake of Lifehacker, and in the fourth a funny video is waiting in turn on YouTube. These are at least four different applications that simultaneously run in your browser (and some users even keep several dozen tabs open).

And switching between these tabbed applications should happen instantly, you don’t want to waste a few seconds on this process each time. What does it mean? That all necessary data should be stored in RAM! This, of course, is a very simplified answer to the question of why all modern browsers use so much RAM.

But Chrome uses more RAM than others, doesn't it?

Is it true. And there are reasons for this. Let's leave aside the unfounded statements that “crooked Indian programmers write the wrong code” and look at what is really happening.

1. The Chrome browser uses a multi-process architecture. Each tab and add-on installed in the browser has its own process. This allows Chrome to work more stable, and if, for example, in the situation described above, Flash freezes on one of your tabs, this will not lead to the browser crashing and you will not lose the results of your work in the text editor.
2. Preload function, which is designed to quickly open links. This function tries to predict which link you will now click on and loads the necessary data before you click. Comfortable? Yes, but it also requires RAM.
3. Large number of extensions available. A huge variety of extensions for all occasions is a significant advantage of Chrome. But if used rashly, it can also become a big disadvantage, since each extension also requires a certain amount of memory for its operation.

So what's the bottom line? Yes, the Chrome browser does use more memory than many competitors, but this is done for user convenience and speed. And now the next question arises.

Is using a lot of RAM bad?

Guys, why did you equip your computer with all these gigabytes of RAM? In order to open the task manager and be upset that all of it, oh horror (!), is being used?

Let me remind you that RAM was invented in order to load into it the data that the system may soon need for quick access to it. This provides us with efficient work in general and instant switching between applications in particular. Therefore, the more RAM is used, the better. Constantly worrying about the amount of RAM used, and even more so cleaning it with all sorts of “cleaning programs” is a completely useless and even harmful activity.

Thus, in an ideal situation, the active use of RAM by the Chrome browser is not something reprehensible. However, real life sometimes looks completely different from what the developers planned. Some users overload the browser with a myriad of installed extensions, accumulate dozens and hundreds of open tabs, launch Chrome in parallel with heavy programs that themselves are capable of draining the system.

How to reduce Chrome's appetites?

So, we found out why the browser consumes a lot of memory and that in most cases it is completely natural. But what if this becomes a problem in your case?

There are two solutions. The first is to increase the amount of RAM. This upgrade is quite easy and not that expensive to do on a desktop. But for laptops this is not always possible, so you will have to resort to software optimization. We have already written more than once about how to reduce memory consumption in the Google Chrome browser, so we will limit ourselves to only a short list of necessary actions:

• Set the default theme.

Conclusion

Whether to switch from Google Chrome to another browser or not is, of course, up to you. I was just trying to tell you that the active use of system resources, which is what this program is most often blamed for, is not always a minus. Most often, this property, on the contrary, ensures speed and stability, for which this browser still has no equal.

Yes, some of you may be fascinated by the novelty of sensations and then write enthusiastic posts about “” or “”. But then you will still come back. Proven by Google.

Of course, if money is not a problem, then the most effective solution to combat the gluttony of Google Chrome is... not to fight, but simply to “feed” more memory to it. After all, 8 GB of DDR 3 memory today costs around 50-60 euros - a moderate amount for computer equipment. Just remember that in this case it would be a good idea to change the operating system to the 64-bit version, otherwise Google Chrome will not be able to use more than 4 GB. But if an upgrade is not an option or you simply don’t want to pay on principle, then...

Why does Chrome have all this memory?

The reason Chrome can easily gobble up a couple gigabytes of memory and not wince is because in 2015 there are a lot of expensive things going on in the browser window. We work with sites that are more complex than other programs; we watch a rather “heavy” video (and often leave it “hanging” so that we can watch it again later); we play games. All this requires a little RAM, but the total is not that much.

Add to this the fact that Chrome, for the convenience of the user, often tries to load in the background those resources that have not yet been requested, but which, as it believes, will be requested - and it turns out that the modern browser is a rather resource-hungry thing . And, of course, not without reason - 2015 is just around the corner, simple HTML pages are a thing of the past forever.

At the same time, Google Chrome separates the resources that each open tab, window or extension consumes into separate processes - just like the operating system does. This inevitably leads to an increase in memory consumption (because some things are duplicated), but at the same time it makes life more convenient and the browser more stable. For example, one open “defective” website in Chrome rarely causes the entire browser to freeze. And, of course, the more tabs you have open and extensions installed, the more memory Chrome consumes.

The paradox of a large amount of memory used is that it is not always a bad thing if some program (for example, Chrome) uses a lot of memory. Empty memory is useless, but full memory, on the contrary, is useful. After all, if something is in RAM, it can be quickly retrieved from there! But, of course, if Chrome takes ALL the memory or leaves so little of it that the computer starts to slow down, then this is no longer good. And something needs to be done about this.

How to curb Google Chrome's appetite and save some RAM

So let's say Google Chrome is eating up everything you have. Or you have 16 GB of RAM in your car, but you still don't like that Chrome takes two of them. What can you do to curb your browser's appetite?

We already said above that Chrome allocates everything, everything, everything into separate processes, just like in an operating system. In Chrome, as in the OS, these processes can be reached! Launch Chrome and press Shift+Esc on your keyboard (on a Mac - Windows – Task Manager). This will open Chrome's built-in Task Manager, where you can see which tab or extension is taking up so much RAM (and processing power) that it's slowing down the entire machine. And, accordingly, take action - remove an extension that is not so necessary, if you think about it, do not always keep Gmail and YouTube open, and so on.

The second effective way is to make sure that extensions are not always loaded, but only as needed. To do this, go to Chrome settings, click on Content Settings and select "Let me choose when to run plugin content". The appearance of sites will deteriorate a little (ok, a lot), but Flash and other “gluttons” will not automatically load on every site. There you can also configure a list of exclusion sites. It’s not even possible, but it’s necessary, otherwise you’ll go crazy pretty quickly if every time you go to YouTube you have to “click” on the video to see it.

Finally, you can resort to the help of extensions that will allow you to “put to sleep” inactive tabs. The Great Suspender does this automatically, unloading inactive "tabs" from memory, but leaving them visible. And OneTab allows you to manually select what you don’t want to see yet, but are afraid to lose - tabs closed with its help will live on their own “page”, from where they can always be downloaded again.

Why does Chrome eat up a lot of memory?

Unfortunately, lately there have been a lot of malicious Chrome extensions coming across. Some of them just don't work well, but there are others that use your computer's resources for monetization. Which causes Google Chrome to use too much CPU or memory on your computer. This can cause Chrome and Windows to become slow, frozen, or stop working altogether.

When this happens, if you look in Windows Task Manager, you will see that Chrome is using a lot of CPU or memory as shown below.

Luckily, Google has included a utility in Chrome called Chrome Task Manager that allows you to see how much memory and CPU a certain Chrome process, extension, and web page is using. This can then be used to find problematic extensions or web pages that should be removed or avoided.

To open Google Task Manager, first click on the Settings button (Options button), then select More Tools and finally click on Task Manager as shown below.

When Task Manager opens, it will display a list of all open tabs, extensions, and processes that are currently in use by Chrome. For each entry there will be information such as the amount of CPU used, the amount of memory used, its process ID and current network activity.

For example, in the image above we see an extension called SafeBrowse, which uses 59 MB of memory and 48.4% of the computer's processor. The memory isn't terrible, but using half the computer's processing power will cause severe slowdown in Windows. This SafeBrowse extension just so happens to contain a cryptocurrency miner called Monero.

Since we don't want the installed extension to use so much of the computer's available CPU power, the extension must be removed.

As you can see, Chrome Task Manager is a useful utility for identifying which extensions or web pages are causing problems so that they can be avoided in the future.

Since the emergence of the World Wide Web, called the Internet, surfing tools have begun to develop at a breakneck pace. Web browsers are used as the main tool. But not all of them are equal in their capabilities and the load they can put on the system. Let's try to figure out which browser loads the system the least, taking into account the main technical characteristics and reviews of ordinary users.

What is the load on the system?

To understand the meaning of the load, you should directly examine the currently loading content contained on a specific web resource. It is clear that if the site is a resource that presents exclusively text, there is nothing to talk about. The system reads text in any encoding and doesn’t really strain itself.

The question of which browser loads the system the least should be considered from the point of view of multimedia content or development tools provided by the browsers themselves.

If we talk about multimedia, it’s immediately worth considering that the processing tools provided in the main versions of programs are often supplemented by a fairly large number of special plug-ins. Take, for example, the same Adobe Flash Player, which is responsible for high-quality reproduction of animation, graphics and sound.

Thus, the relevant question will be not so much about which browser consumes the least resources, but about how resource-intensive the additional plugin is, because the browser itself in its pure form may not work with some elements of web pages.

Basic performance parameters

If we consider the main characteristics of the most famous and most often used tools, the first thing for any user or expert tester is the speed of launching the program itself from an executable file and the speed of opening pages.

Unfortunately, many users who are trying to figure out which browser uses less CPU or RAM, often ignore the application startup options. So to speak, in their pure form after installation, they all start quite quickly. This is only due to the fact that they do not have plugins connected, the cache is not full, there is no browsing history, etc.

Over time, any, even the most sophisticated browser with a bunch of bells and whistles turns into a clumsy hulk. The saddest thing is that even deleting temporary files does not help. And if you also take into account the initialization of plug-ins at program startup, in general, it’s worth thinking about the advisability of installing them.

Some applications have their own set that cannot be deleted, but can be disabled. For example, Chrome comes with built-in components like Adobe Flash Player or AdBlock. If everything is clear with the first plugin, the second sometimes causes legitimate complaints. It is responsible for blocking ads, pop-ups and banners, and can also prevent some auto-executing scripts and applets embedded in web pages from working. And all this takes a lot of time.

Opening pages with preliminary content analysis directly depends on the content. Any modern browser takes a fraction of a second to do this. Again, it all depends on the plugins - the more there are, the slower the program runs. And incorrectly installed or incompatible add-ons slow down the system even more.

Which browsers use less memory?

But let’s start checking the means of Internet access themselves. Here you should take into account the consumption of RAM, virtual and physical memory. If you understand the question of which browser loads the system the least, you should pay attention to the basic default settings and the size of the allocated cache.

Cached data, although it allows you to open the most frequently visited pages by saving some elements on the hard drive, is nevertheless capable of clogging up the system too much and causing programs to freeze. This is due to the constant analysis of loaded structural elements of pages. If there is a sufficiently large number of them, more time is required for analysis and loading.

In this regard, the best performance, judging by user and expert reviews, is shown by Internet Explorer 11, Edge from Windows 10, Mozilla and Google Chrome. Opera, although a very popular means of accessing the Internet, is much slower. In addition, today you can find so many versions of the program in unofficial sources that you don’t always know whether a given product is safe.

and reviews

If you look at it, you can make a list, which, as you would expect, contains only programs from the most famous developers:

• Internet Explorer;
• Edge;
• Opera;
• Mozilla Firefox;
• Chrome.

It would be possible to add here some programs like Amigo, Yandex Browser, 360 Safety Browser or something else. But they are specifically not included in the list, since they are built on the basis of Chrome and are not of interest as truncated or expanded derivatives of the main product. Often, due to unfinished technologies and algorithms, many more problems arise in them than in the parent product. This is evidenced by clearly unflattering statements from users.

Now let’s look at the question of which browser loads the system the least in a little more detail.

Internet Explorer

Users have an extremely negative attitude towards IE, which is part of any Windows operating system, since the early versions of the program were so unfinished that it was not even possible to talk about any ease of working on the Internet.

Over time, Microsoft developers revised the basic concept of the browser, resulting in the 11th version of the application. No matter what anyone says, Internet Explorer 11 in all respects surpasses Mozilla, Chrome, and even more so Opera. The load is minimal, startup is much faster than similar applications, clearing the cache and temporary files does not require user intervention, as it was before (you had to clean the Temporary Files folders manually).

Edge

The same Internet Explorer became the progenitor of a new generation browser called Edge, which appeared only in Windows 10 (a version is not provided for systems of a lower rank).

This application rightfully occupies the top positions in all ratings. Most of the background processes when starting the program are automated, the start takes place within a couple of seconds, opening pages even without installing the accompanying plugins is very fast. By the way, you don’t need to install add-ons - everything comes included here.

Another thing is that this browser is somewhat inconvenient to configure, especially in terms of disabling extensions. And the default start page (news, weather, advertising, etc.) is a little annoying. But all this can be disabled if you set the dummy at startup, similar to how it is done in IE.

Opera

The notorious "Opera", although revered by many, has recently lost ground. Despite the convenient and fairly simple interface, performance leaves much to be desired.

Even at startup, you may notice that it takes too long to access the hard drive, as well as when completely clearing the cache and deleting temporary files. True, one of the advantages is the ability to quickly configure, disable or remove extensions. But this in no way can affect the overall rating.

Mozilla Firefox

The search for an answer to the question of which browser loads the system the least cannot do without this browser.

Light and fast - that's what you can say about it. However, not all users appreciate it fully. The fact is that “Fire Fox” cannot be considered as the most primitive means of accessing the Internet. This browser is more suitable for web developers and can be used as a complete platform for creating web applications. The tools here are much wider than what other favorites on the list offer.

Chrome and browsers based on it

Chrome is considered the fastest of all existing browsers. Developments based on it are fast only after the first installation, but over time they begin to slow down incredibly.

The speed of launch, the speed of opening pages, and the ease of setup or management are excellent. Plus - the largest number of developed plugins and extensions. The question is different. Is it worth installing them? This is something everyone decides for themselves. Nevertheless, this browser is not inferior to Edge in all the main indicators in the popularity lists.

What to choose?

So, we choose Of course, preference (based on user reviews) could be given to Microsoft products, however, it is believed that the best option would be to install Chrome.

And here the choice is supported not only by technical characteristics or performance parameters with minimal load on the system. If you look more broadly, you will notice that the latest version of the application supports RDP (remote desktop) technologies and can be used as the main client for connecting to computers and laptops, even from mobile devices.

Thus, the balance in the question of which browser loads the system the least, is the easiest to manage and configure, clearly tips in favor of Chrome, although this assessment is based solely on ratings, nothing more.

Let's take an image of 1000×1000 size. It alone, when unpacked, is approximately 4 megabytes. But she may not be alone on the page. Let's take jQuery (without plugins), it will only create a bunch of closures and arrays during loading, which will take up memory. But people also connect all sorts of plugins so that it doesn’t seem like enough. Then, during HTML parsing, you need to allocate memory for the DOM. W3C tirelessly comes up with tag attributes and CSS properties every day, and memory needs to be allocated for each.

Also, the resources of the previous page can be stored in memory for quick operation of the back button.

JavaScript code may store data in arrays/variables in the global scope, and they will not be freed until the page is closed or reloaded.

Further. If Flash is not prohibited in your browser, there are probably 1-2 banners on the page and maybe some other invisible Flash components. They require the creation of threads and memory for storing resources and all sorts of rubbish.

Even further. Surely the page has Like/+1 buttons, login through social networks and other evil spirits. They. As a rule, they create a separate iframe, and in particularly advanced cases, load scripts, jQuery with 10 plugins and CSS into it. That is, each such button becomes comparable in resource consumption to a regular web page.

Now let's look at the Chrome developers from Google. Tired of struggling with crooked and buggy libraries, they took a radical approach to solving the problem - they separated the browser, tabs and plugins into separate processes. Needless to say, in terms of productivity this does not provide an increase at all. Also. The authors of Chrome are not shy about adding libraries like ICU.dll weighing 11 megabytes to it, solely in order to correctly sort some useless Hanoi script. Apparently, Google employees have computers with so much memory that 11 megabytes for
they are not told anything.
By the way, in Chrome it is convenient to see how much memory a specific page or extension uses (Shift + Esc). For example, by adding the SCRIPT tag to an HTML page, we see how memory consumption jumps from 4 to 11 MB (the vaunted v8 has loaded).

But all this, as you might guess, is by no means the limit for modern school developers. New JS frameworks, new HTML 5/CSS3 properties and other joys are still ahead of us.

And, if the author fell for the promises of marketers and bought a 64-bit processor, then the programs begin to consume about 2 times more memory. That is, when buying such a processor, you should immediately purchase 2 times more memory than would be enough on a 32-bit system.