If you’re like us and have 250 tabs open at once in Google Chrome, you know that this is a real test of your RAM. The browser is known to be greedy, and rightly so. Google is aware of this and will try to fix the problem with a new technique.
This is happening in the next version of the browser, Chrome 107. The person who noticed this feature in the options was Reddit user Leopeva64-2. Simply put, it is possible put tabs to sleep when you are not using it.
Google Chrome wants to save your RAM
A new option is available in the Performance menu: Memory Saver. It works very simply: Tabs you haven’t touched in a while will be paused. They will no longer consume resources and therefore have no impact on your RAM. When you return there, They will reactivate in the blink of an eye.
All this will happen invisible to the user. The only visual indicator will be a small clock next to the tab. This will warn you that it is not actually active. This is a technique that is already known and used (Huawei’s latest MateBook Pro X takes advantage of it) but it has not been included in Google Chrome.
It will be possible to disable this function if you wish, or grant exceptions. Many of us use YouTube music in the background and it would be a shame to disable this tab. This option is designed primarily for Chromebooks, which are quite penalized by small configurations as well as the greediness of the browser. Also note that Chrome is coming with a power-saving mode that allows you to disable features like refresh rates above 60 Hz, visual effects, and animations on certain sites.
There’s currently no release date for the new version of Chrome, but there should be in the coming weeks or months.
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