Is there a way to reduce the memory usage of Firefox?

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On my notebook with 2GB and Windows XP, Firefox 3.5.2 uses about 150MB of the memory with 4 tabs open. Is there a way to reduce the amount of memory that Firefox consumes?

Roberto Barros

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 231

Here in The Future, 4 tabs means 600mb - 1GB of RAM usage O.O – YetAnotherRandomUser – 2018-02-28T20:40:52.693

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See also: http://superuser.com/questions/5939/how-to-determine-which-firefox-add-ons-are-using-the-most-memory

– mark4o – 2009-08-18T22:34:13.957

I think you meant 150MB, not 150K, right? – mark – 2009-09-04T09:29:21.950

Answers

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This works wonders!

  • Check your Extensions and Themes. (By running Firefox in safe mode.)
  • Check the Plug-ins.
  • Clear Download History.
  • Restart Firefox Periodically.
  • Assign Memory Cache on Firefox. (browser.cache.memory.enable and browser.cache.memory.capacity)
  • Release Memory when Firefox is minimized. (config.trim_on_minimize)

ctzdev

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 2 320

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150mb isn't that much of memory usage. However, there are plenty of tweaks in about:config - here's a guide at http://howto.helpero.com/howto/Reduce-Firefox-Memory-Usage_4.html.

Edit Unfortunately, it appears that the link is being fiddled with by SU's markdown.

EvilChookie

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 4 519

1Your linkie is broken. – TheTXI – 2009-08-18T18:25:32.133

Silly markdown. It was mucking about with the final underscore. Thanks for the heads up. – EvilChookie – 2009-08-18T18:35:36.497

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I've been testing this for a few days and am very impressed. Reduced from average 150MB to 60MB

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11922

Of course, it's an extension so has its own footprint!

outsideblasts

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 6 297

Thank you so much for this! After soooo long, Firefox is fast again =8-) – Yuval – 2009-09-07T12:13:32.943

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In recent versions, default history setting is 90 days. This causes your Places database's size to skyrocket and can slow down Firefox considerably. Reduce your history size to something more suited to your needs.

christophem

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 201

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Not to self-promote (I apologize), FireTune is a great little tool which can speed up your Firefox experience along with optimizing the memory usage of Firefox.

DemoGeek

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 353

1Self-promotion is alright (to a point) as long as your answers are relevant and helpful! – The How-To Geek – 2009-08-18T19:51:29.277

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One thing that has worked well for me is to be very selective with which extensions I have installed (or at least enabled). If I find that I'm not using an extension very often, I'll disable it until I need it.

Travis Northcutt

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 901

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One of the biggest memory consumers in firefox is flash. If you can't disable the flash completely, try installing Adblock Plus. This will remove at least the flash ads (as long as the other ads)

And btw, 150MB is not that much at all.

iffi

Posted 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Reputation: 68

You can try FlashBlock (don't have the URL handy) which blocks all flash until you tell it to run the flash video. – mrdenny – 2009-08-19T03:59:52.433

Asked: 2009-08-18T18:18:36.920

Viewed: 1 393 times

Active: 2012-02-25T14:38:26.107