How to Reduce Google Chrome's Memory and CPU Usage

[TheMacDaddy1]

I have a little secret for you - Microsoft has actually had the best developers for several years now. IDK whether it was by acquiring LinkedIn or GitHub. Maybe it was Windows Subsystem for Linux. Maybe it was replacing Steve Balmer. Maybe it was when Steve Jobs died or when Ives left.

But somehow, Microsoft has ended up building some great teams and they’re building some stuff that is pretty great. Better in terms of software quality than Apple has been doing for a long time.

So at work, on one of my computers in my office, I have Windows 11. Using it just occasionally makes everything you just said laughable. If I am wrong...then just use Teams, or Outlook for the Mac with the new Romper Room UI.

Windows 11 is the QVC of operating systems. The widgets "thing" and stub apps, are so utterly bad it is almost not funny. I said almost, because it is funny that this Krap is in an operating system. I love how I see ads in the OS for office 365 "Go premium" when I am signed into the OS with my M365 E5 license, on Windows 11 Enterprise, that has Xbox apps installed by default.

Yeah Microsoft, has the best developers.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Did anybody notice a new trend of Chrome auto launching even when you never launched it on log in? And it doesn’t quit either. I think the worst mistake Apple ever made was not maintaining development Safari for Windows.

Nothing on any of my computers auto launches unless I let it. It is easy to block that on a Mac or Windows. Yes many apps will try to set themselves up to auto launch.

Just use a Windows PC for gaming and install, 4,5,6,7 different game apps (Steam, Microsoft, Epic, Blizzard, EA, Origin, Wargames, etc) they all throw themselves into the "Startup" section. Do not turn on a PC that is setup like this, for say 3 weeks and then turn it on....go to lunch while each game app updates, the patches all of the games you have installed.....and right in the middle of all of that, Windows updates kick in, plus a defender scan.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

I use Safari exclusively for personal use, and Firefox for work use. I like to separate them into different browsers, and I don’t like any browser except these two. Except for how the browsers work, I don’t like that Chrome and Edge has background processes that runs every time I boot my Mac. I want as few 3rd party login items as possible. And some browsers have horrible and slow syncs, e.g. Brave

You picked the only two browsers that do not support profiles. I have two profiles for work alone and both Chrome and Edge support profiles. Then my personal profile.

Safari needs to get profile support, right after it fixes the long list of websites that kind of work, but require you to use another browser to actually have them work. Next Safari could use some theme support, which is far worse than its extension support. Safari looks like it was ironed with a super hot steam iron, to take all life out of the look and feel of the browser, compared to pretty much any other browser.

 

[svish]

Good to see this option. Personally I prefer Safari.

 

[MacBH928]

Can any one explain why Chrome specifically uses so much RAM?

Another tip: You don't need to use Chrome. If you really need to use a Chromium browser for whatever reason then at least use Edge. If you care about the future of the internet and your privacy then you should not be using Chromium at all and that means using Safari (if you don't care about Privacy) or Firefox (If you do care about Privacy) . If anything happens to Firefox or Safari then Google will basically own the internet.

Wrong. Use Brave browser.

Correct about Safari and Firefox, but in more honesty just FireFox since Apple is now slowly riding the privacy invasion train

You mean the same Firefox that has data collection turned on by default? At this point between all the adblockers that limit tracking, cookies, etc it's mostly about what browser you want to use. All of them collect data and if you don't think Google already "owns" the internet then you're sadly mistaken. Firefox will never overtake Chome/Edge or Safari and if it did Firefox would have a hard time resisting the money involved with being #1.

Additionally, doesn't matter what browser you use if you're logging on to social media sites and other web services by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, etc.

Thanks for your input Mr. Google Investor

This. This. And I'll say it again. This.

Edge is a hidden gem in Microsoft's software stack. It's as if all the best developers work in this project, and the result is probably the best Chromium build I've used.

Edge has had energy management for months now and it works brilliantly. It doesn't get anywhere near as bloated as Chrome, and updates are frequent and bring many cool features. (They were also one of the first browsers to offer native Apple Silicon build. Months and months before Google managed to roll a version for Chrome).

I've been using it for just over 2 years now, and I haven't looked back. I recommend it to everyone.

If you are willing to sell your private life, sure

Firefox, thirty seconds adjusting settings and uBlock Origin really is all you need. Made the switch back a couple of years ago and have never been happier with my browsing experience. Even use Firefox on my iPhone. I know the browser engine is the same as Safari (for now, let's see what the EU have to say about that) but having it sync with my desktop is nice.

Firefox uses their own engine called Gecko. Safari uses WebKit

 

[Osxguy]

Who is still using chrome… aren’t we tired of being spied on and used for data mining on subpar products that rarely work. Everything in google is in beta and just gets dropped with no reason. I just see google as a Silicon Valley bro product.

 

[discofuel]

why did you ONLY get 16gb?

Or 8 GB on the first one?

My M2 MBA 16GB is a secondary machine (for pleasure/travel) to my primary 16" M1 MBP 32GB work computer.

First M1 MBA was a base model deal from Amazon while I was waiting for M2 to come out.

 

[beanbaguk]

I know everyone hates Google and Chrome but the reality is that most of the web developers actually use Chrome for development tool. Making Chrome the first class citizen for websites and webapps...In other words, making Chrome the most compatible and optimized.

Google made a seriously good strategy building the best development tool.. If Firefox and Apple want more marketshare, they need to build better dev tool first.

Also I believe Edge is also based on Chromium. So that is still under Google..

Can any one explain why Chrome specifically uses so much RAM?



Wrong. Use Brave browser.

Correct about Safari and Firefox, but in more honesty just FireFox since Apple is now slowly riding the privacy invasion train



Thanks for your input Mr. Google Investor



If you are willing to sell your private life, sure



Firefox uses their own engine called Gecko. Safari uses WebKit

Tin foil hat? Funnily enough, Microsoft actually has pretty tight privacy controls, and while brave is an interesting option but if you think it’s private, you need to think again.

Brave is supported by an advertising model which in theory, should be totally private being a supposed DAO, however it’s quite the opposite. While all the computation for ads are done on the client side, your targeting information has to go somewhere. That will lead to personal information being shared.

Additionally, the default privacy controls on Brave are poor. You need to set it up. Twitter and Facebook for example are allowed by default.

Moreover they cloned Jitsi and then renamed it for their rewards platform without providing any credit. That’s just really scummy on the part of the devs and sketchy. What else have they cloned and claimed as their own?

I don’t mind Brave that much, but it’s not a replacement for Edge and certainly isn’t more private.

Do your research.

 

[beanbaguk]

Microsoft is slowly bloating Edge to death. It is slower than Chrome in many tests. The settings section, compared to Chrome, is so crazy. It has become the QVC of web browsers. It and MS Teams are in a race to see which one dies from bloating first.

I’ll agree Teams is bloaty, but I’ve never had an issue with Edge.

 

[benwiggy]

TBH, I've rarely seen a problem that's persuaded me of a need to switch from Safari. It's not like the 2000s, when half the websites would only work with IE. Plus I have iCloud syncing across my devices. I have more windows and tabs open than I can keep track of.

I keep Vivaldi as my 'backup', just to check if another browser handles anything differently.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Can any one explain why Chrome specifically uses so much RAM?



Wrong. Use Brave browser.

Correct about Safari and Firefox, but in more honesty just FireFox since Apple is now slowly riding the privacy invasion train



Thanks for your input Mr. Google Investor



If you are willing to sell your private life, sure



Firefox uses their own engine called Gecko. Safari uses WebKit

Your profile picture says it all, someone who is biased therfore anyone who has a different opinion is either blatantly wrong or an investor of said company. Ironic you suggest and possibly use the only browser (Brave) that has a cypto wallet built-in which came under heat so much so that the CEO had to apologize.

Brave browser CEO apologizes for automatically adding affiliate links to cryptocurrency URLs

The company touts its browser as a privacy-focused option that doesn’t track users.

www.theverge.com

 

[beanbaguk]

Your profile picture says it all, someone who is biased therfore anyone who has a different opinion is either blatantly wrong or an investor of said company. Ironic you suggest and possibly use the only browser (Brave) that has a cypto wallet built-in which came under heat so much so that the CEO had to apologize.

Brave browser CEO apologizes for automatically adding affiliate links to cryptocurrency URLs

The company touts its browser as a privacy-focused option that doesn’t track users.

www.theverge.com

Bang on. Don’t be a sheep.

 

[webkit]

Can you share the source of the claim about Safari's dev tool market share?
I'm talking about development tool. Not the general consumer browser.
Im a developer in Sillicon Valley and none of the devs I know from major tech companies (Google, Doordash, Uber, Twitter, etc) use Safari for development.

My share comment was referring to browser usage share.

Greater usage share, which could come from expanding availability to Android and Windows, would help to encourage more developer efforts regarding Safari/WebKit. Of course, more/better developer tools can certainly help too.

 

[webkit]

Yeah Google is making money through all the traffic on chrome. That’s the important difference. Apple isn’t directly making money from users in safari. You can change the engine to DuckDuckGo

Google makes money from Safari users using its search, Google pays Apple some of that money (around $15 billion a year right now) so therefore Apple makes money form users on Safari. Yes, it may be more indirect but Apple still ends up profiting significantly from Safari users/usage.

 

[justperry]

How to Reduce Google Chrome's Memory and CPU Usage​

How about.....

Removing it from your system.

 

[I7guy]

Google makes money from Safari users using its search, Google pays Apple some of that money (around $15 billion a year right now) so therefore Apple makes money form users on Safari. Yes, it may be more indirect but Apple still ends up profiting significantly from Safari users/usage.

What about those users on chrome as default? Apple is making out double?

 

[P-DogNC]

Thanks for the tip for those of us who still need to use Google Chrome for compatibility with specific online services, apps, or programs that require Chrome, like some online banking apps and others. I will give this a try on my new 8GB, 256GB Mac Mini M2 to save from using as much swap memory, from using more of the precious 8GB RAM than it should, and also saving more of the Mac Mini M2 CPU for use by other programs.

Use Brave instead. It is functionally identical to chrome, but without all of the bloat and tracking.

 

[P-DogNC]

Ouch. Chrome is still my main browser and unlikely to switch.

Why not use Brave? It is functionally identical to chrome, but without all of the tracking and surveillance nonsense.

 

[Bento.Box]

Chrome really is the new "I.E."

Not really. Chrome actually has performance, features and is well supported on all platforms. I don’t think it ever got this nasty crowd of people that made sure „websites“ are only compatible with Chrome.

IE is still important though for many Microsoft Enterprise applications.
Hence I don’t understand why they made Edge. It‘s not backward compatible.

 

[Bento.Box]

Firefox on your iPhone = ads. Safari + Wipr = no ads.

I will try that out.

Brave so far blocks adds most effectively on my iPhone. I have an adblocker for Safari, but it’s notWipr. It does fail on YouTube regularly

Edit: I have AdBlock Plus installed for Safari at the moment. I see that Wipr is not free so I‘m not going to test it

 

[P-DogNC]

am i the only who loves chrome here ? lol

i feel everyboy hates it

Why not try Brave?

 

[I7guy]

Why not use Brave? It is functionally identical to chrome, but without all of the tracking and surveillance nonsense.

I’m not interested in installing and testing another browser.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Why not use Brave? It is functionally identical to chrome, but without all of the tracking and surveillance nonsense.

Brave to me, and Vivaldi, are just weird browsers. I tried them, did not like them.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Why not try Brave?

i had several issues with brave on mac , such as broken pwa for example

 

[threesixty360]

It’s amazing how power corrupts absolutely.. I remember a time when chrome was saving us from the tyranny of internet explorer!! Now we all need saving from chrome. And the old king (MS) is now the new saviour with Edge… it all just goes round and round doesn’t it?