Avatar for Username

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

This thread was closed and archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Why by default Firefox uses so much RAM?

  • 21 replies
  • 116 have this problem
  • 533 views
  • Last reply by lolix

delavaca
delavaca
more options

I tried to use Firefox in three different computers but only in the one with over 4 GB of ram is usable. Why it uses so much RAM and renders so slow? Specially the scroll is really laggy.

I tried clean installations but they do not fix the issue.

When opening Firefox and Chrome and playing a video in YouTube, Firefox uses over 500 MB while Chrome uses less than 300 MB. Both with the same single addon.

Is there something that can be done to use Firefox in computers with less than 4 gb of RAM?

I tried to use Firefox in three different computers but only in the one with over 4 GB of ram is usable. Why it uses so much RAM and renders so slow? Specially the scroll is really laggy. I tried clean installations but they do not fix the issue. When opening Firefox and Chrome and playing a video in YouTube, Firefox uses over 500 MB while Chrome uses less than 300 MB. Both with the same single addon. Is there something that can be done to use Firefox in computers with less than 4 gb of RAM?

Chosen solution

Hi, yes there's a couple of things to try: You can try reducing the number of Multiprocesses: Go to the 3-bar menu > Options (General) - Performance, then deselect 'Use recommended performance settings' and change 'Content process limit' to 1 or 2. See - Firefox's performance settings, and Startup, home page, tabs, and download settings.

Whilst in the 3-bar menu, you can also go to Options (Privacy & Security) - Permissions, and tick/check 'Prevent accessibility services from accessing your browser' then restart Firefox. More - What is the Accessibility Service Indicator?

If your question is resolved by this or another answer, please take a minute to let us know. Thank you!

Read this answer in context 👍 8

All Replies (1)

lolix
lolix
more options

Yes, how is it possible that a single tab eats as much as 4GB ram (and counting) ?? What's in there ? 4GB !!! Garbage collector on strike ? ;-)

  1. 1
  2. 2