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Firefox uses all my memory with 30/40 tabs open but only reads 200mb total in about:performance

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Hi all,

Every day for the past month or two, Firefox has been gradually using up memory until my computer freezes and I have to restart the program. I'll admit I can have 80 or 90 tabs open sometimes, but using chrome on my laptop this really isn't a problem in the way of memory.

Firefox on the other hand will gradually open more processes and use up to 11gb of memory before I have to close it. I've checked the built-in performance graph (image attached) and it doesn't show any of my tabs using anywhere near that amount of memory. However, when I open the Windows Task Manager (image also attached) Firefox is using a baffling amount of system resources.

I can't simply close a few tabs, either. If I close all but three tabs the memory usage will hardly drop, only when I fully restart the program does it return to a 'normal' state for a while.

Would appreciate any help anybody can provide.

Thanks.

Hi all, Every day for the past month or two, Firefox has been gradually using up memory until my computer freezes and I have to restart the program. I'll admit I can have 80 or 90 tabs open sometimes, but using chrome on my laptop this really isn't a problem in the way of memory. Firefox on the other hand will gradually open more processes and use up to 11gb of memory before I have to close it. I've checked the built-in performance graph (image attached) and it doesn't show any of my tabs using anywhere near that amount of memory. However, when I open the Windows Task Manager (image also attached) Firefox is using a baffling amount of system resources. I can't simply close a few tabs, either. If I close all but three tabs the memory usage will hardly drop, only when I fully restart the program does it return to a 'normal' state for a while. Would appreciate any help anybody can provide. Thanks.
Attached screenshots

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Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or userChrome.css is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window

See also: