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High memory usage when many tabs are open (and closed)

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  • 10 have this problem
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  • Last reply by blatan

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When I open Firefox the memory usage is about 70-100 MB RAM. When I'm working with Firefox I often open 15-20 tabs at once, then I close them and open others. Memory usage increaes up to 450 - 500 MB RAM. After closing the tabs the usage usually decreases, but after sometime. It starts decreasing very slow and never comes back to the level from the beginning. After few hours of work Firefox uses about 400 MB RAM even if one tab is open. First I thought it's because of my plugins (Firebug, Speed Dial, Adlock Plus) but I've checked it and it's not. I reinstalled Firefox but the problem occurs as well. I'm not sure if it's normal. Could you help me, please?

When I open Firefox the memory usage is about 70-100 MB RAM. When I'm working with Firefox I often open 15-20 tabs at once, then I close them and open others. Memory usage increaes up to 450 - 500 MB RAM. After closing the tabs the usage usually decreases, but after sometime. It starts decreasing very slow and never comes back to the level from the beginning. After few hours of work Firefox uses about 400 MB RAM even if one tab is open. First I thought it's because of my plugins (Firebug, Speed Dial, Adlock Plus) but I've checked it and it's not. I reinstalled Firefox but the problem occurs as well. I'm not sure if it's normal. Could you help me, please?

Chosen solution

Hi,

Not an exact answer but please see this. The KB article ponders through various general situations which may or may not be applicable to specific instances but nevertheless could be helpful.

...............................................................................................................................

Useful links:

All about Tools > Options

Going beyond Tools > Options - about:config

about:config Entries

What's That Preference? add-on - Quickly decode about:config entries - After installation, go inside about:config, right-click any preference, enable (tick) MozillaZine Results to Panel and again right-click a pref and choose MozillaZine Reference to begin with.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Firefox Profile Folder & Files

Safe Mode

Problematic Extensions/Add-ons

Troubleshooting Extensions and Themes

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (3)

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Could anybody help me? Is it normal Firefox takes so much RAM?

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Chosen Solution

Hi,

Not an exact answer but please see this. The KB article ponders through various general situations which may or may not be applicable to specific instances but nevertheless could be helpful.

...............................................................................................................................

Useful links:

All about Tools > Options

Going beyond Tools > Options - about:config

about:config Entries

What's That Preference? add-on - Quickly decode about:config entries - After installation, go inside about:config, right-click any preference, enable (tick) MozillaZine Results to Panel and again right-click a pref and choose MozillaZine Reference to begin with.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Firefox Profile Folder & Files

Safe Mode

Problematic Extensions/Add-ons

Troubleshooting Extensions and Themes

Modified by Vivek

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Tahnk you for yor reply. I check memory usage in Google Chrome and it's very similar. I have 6 GB so maybe I shouldn't worry about it. On the other hand 500 MB per 1 application it's very much. Last time when I had such high memory usage in 1 program was during my studies. When I wrote programs using pointers in C++ by myself. :-)