This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How to stop a tab process without closing the tab?

  • 2 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by zeroknight

more options

I've been considering switching to Firefox from Chromium for quite a while. However, there's one feature in Chromium that I can't do without: the task manager. In Chromium, I'm able to stop a tab's process, but the tab still remains open, displaying an error. Even if I refresh the tab, the tab's process restarts as if the tab was just refreshed, without any crashes. I'm aware that Firefox also has a task manager, but when I stop a tab's process using Firefox's task manager, the tab closes as well. Is there a method to forcefully stop a tab's process without having to close the entire tab? Perhaps there's an add-on that can help with this? I typically have a large number of tabs open — more than my PC can handle — so this feature is essential for me.

I've been considering switching to Firefox from Chromium for quite a while. However, there's one feature in Chromium that I can't do without: the task manager. In Chromium, I'm able to stop a tab's process, but the tab still remains open, displaying an error. Even if I refresh the tab, the tab's process restarts as if the tab was just refreshed, without any crashes. I'm aware that Firefox also has a task manager, but when I stop a tab's process using Firefox's task manager, the tab closes as well. Is there a method to forcefully stop a tab's process without having to close the entire tab? Perhaps there's an add-on that can help with this? I typically have a large number of tabs open — more than my PC can handle — so this feature is essential for me.

All Replies (2)

more options

This extension may suit you. I wouldn't want to be without it.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/auto-tab-discard/

more options

shkiper.d1000 said

when I stop a tab's process using Firefox's task manager, the tab closes as well.

Make sure you are closing the process rather than the tab. The process consists of the website domain in bold and a number in brackets. When you hover over the close button, it should read "Unload tabs and kill process" (see attached screenshot).