Updated Firefox to 82.0.2, multiple processes are being made again in Task Manager.
Updated to 82.0.2 today and found that I'm once again getting extra Firefox processes made in the Task Manager.
I have already went to Options>General>Performance and set the Content Process Limit to 1. Nothing happens. Tried going to about:config and changed browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2/browser.tabs.remote.autostart to false. Nothing happens.
My computer can't handle multiple processes running like this, it'll lag and eventually overheat. Closing them in the Task Manager does nothing as they'll just come back. I'd like a way to keep my processes at 1 and only 1 if possible.
All Replies (9)
The option that you have changed only limits how many processes will be used to load websites. Firefox has multiple processes for different things (the interface, add-ons, graphics, etc). By keeping all of those processes separate, there are a number of security, stability and performance improvements.
Many modern programs use multiple processes for this reason, including most other internet browsers.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been a way to disable multiple processes for a while now because doing so breaks some of the features and functions in Firefox.
Wesley Branton said
The option that you have changed only limits how many processes will be used to load websites. Firefox has multiple processes for different things (the interface, add-ons, graphics, etc). By keeping all of those processes separate, there are a number of security, stability and performance improvements. Many modern programs use multiple processes for this reason, including most other internet browsers. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a way to disable multiple processes for a while now because doing so breaks some of the features and functions in Firefox.
There isn't any improvements when Firefox is hogging all of my memory for even a single tab. I don't have a high end computer for this kind of thing. The previous versions gave me the option to disable it and keep only 1 process running, is there really no way to go back to that? Or do I have to downgrade to a previous version?
Are you possibly using extensions that might affect how much RAM Firefox uses ?
You can check the Firefox Task Manager (about:performance) and about:memory pages.
cor-el said
Are you possibly using extensions that might affect how much RAM Firefox uses ? You can check the Firefox Task Manager (about:performance) and about:memory pages.
The extensions I currently have enabled are UBlock Origin and AdBlock Plus, they don't appear to use much RAM while I'm browsing according to the Firefox Task Manager.
AdBlock Plus is known to use more memory than uBlock Origin, so you can try to disable ABP for some time as a test to see if that has effect.
cor-el said
AdBlock Plus is known to use more memory than uBlock Origin, so you can try to disable ABP for some time as a test to see if that has effect.
Tried it. Doesn't really do anything and it doesn't remove any of the extra processes in the Task Manager.
Removing ABP is not about using processes as shown in the task manager as you can only affect the number of content processes via Options, but merely about lowering the memory footprint. All other processes that Firefox uses on Windows will always be present and these extra processes are used to improve the Firefox stability.
cor-el said
Removing ABP is not about using processes as shown in the task manager as you can only affect the number of content processes via Options, but merely about lowering the memory footprint. All other processes that Firefox uses on Windows will always be present and these extra processes are used to improve the Firefox stability.
I don't understand why you'd suggest this then when the main issue was that there are multiple, unnecessary processes of Firefox in the Task Manager taking up a lot of memory that my computer can't handle. I can reduce Firefox to a completely clean state without any add ons or anything, and yet it baffles me that it'll still take more than 5 processes just to display a single tab (blank or even just this topic for example) in the browser. How exactly does this improve stability when it takes up so much like this?
Previous versions of Firefox gave me the option to disable and reduce the number of processes down to 1, do I have to downgrade to a previous version just to fix this?
I suppose the only solution to this issue then is to either downgrade to an earlier version that doesn't force multiple processes on you, or find a better browser that doesn't cause slow downs to the computer. Really upsetting, I can only hope the next update fixes this issue at some point to disable this because no matter how much you say this "improves stability", I'm not seeing it when my computer is forced into a lagging crawl even on a Refresh.