While working with Mozilla, you often notice Mozilla Firefox using too much memory and it’s making devices slower during the browsing sessions. Sometimes, the issue can become so frustrating that you’ll have to switch to another browser, as the pages can take ages to load. Due to this problem, since Firefox starts to utilize more RAM than usual, it can further lead to abrupt crashes and affect the device OS. Fortunately, there is something you can do to resolve this Firefox issue by applying some technical methods. So, check this article for troubleshooting solutions to fix this Firefox error. If you apply the fixes discussed in this article, it can make the browser utilize less memory and avoid loading or crash errors.
Check This Info To Fix Firefox Using Too Much Memory Problem
In order to resolve Firefox using a lot of memory, you must be aware of its causes. If this user-friendly, stable and fast browser starts freezing the pages and consumes more memory, there can be multiple reasons behind this Firefox issue. One of its major cause is the plugins and themes that you customize on your Firefox page. You can learn about some more causes by going through the following points.
- An outdated version of Mozilla Firefox can cause more memory issues in your PC.
- If the maximum entries value for Firefox browser history is kept high, it stores more pages in the memory section.
- When you run malicious sites on the browser and get any virus/malware components, the Firefox can start using more RAM.
- If you have opened multiple tabs during the browsing session, it can lead Firefox to use too much device memory.
Apply These Solutions To Resolve Firefox High Memory Usage Issue
To eradicate Firefox using too much memory problem, check out these following fixes.
Solution 1: Reduce The Pages Stored In Browser History Session
The value of browser.sessionhistory.max_entries helps to determine the maximum count of pages in Firefox browsing history. This value is set to 50 by default. So, if you don’t want to visit more than 5-10 previously browsed pages, set this value to 5 or 10 based on your requirement. To apply this method, go to ‘Firefox search bar and enter ‘about:config’ in the box. Find the browser.sessionhistory.max_entries and then double-click on its ‘Value’. Now, change this default value to something lower (5-10 recommended) and Restart the browser.
In case, you are using Firefox version 1.5 and above, locate browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers. It displays the number of cache content viewers in terms of ‘bfcache’. So, if you find the default value is set as -1, then change it to 0. Hence, it will make sure that no browser pages are stored in the device memory.
Solution 2: Limit Cache Disk Capacity Or Disable It Entirely
In Firefox, whenever you load new pages, it automatically adds them to the cache for avoiding reload and redisplay of websites. If you open about:config, the default value for browser.cache.memory.capacity is -1. To fix the cache limit in Firefox, click Options and then on ‘Advanced’. Then select Network/Cache to access browser.cache.disk.capacity. In order to limit this cache value, make sure that the browser.cache.disk.enable is kept true.
This solution will work if you set browser.cache.memory.enable true as well. Also, set the number of KB used for memory cache and disk cache as 1 MB (1024 KB) or as per your requirement. You can also choose to disable the option to add cache totally. So, put the values for browser.cache.disk.capacity and browser.cache.memory.capacity as 0.
Solution 3: Use Less Tabs, Lower Extension And Themes Usage On Firefox
If opening multiple tabs on Firefox is causing memory leakage, keep this number low. Also, you can experience RAM issue due to too many themes and extensions, hence disable a few to make more space. To identify the memory usage corresponding to each of these extensions, open the browser in Safe Mode. This will allow you to compare the CPU usage and storage consumption on your PC due to these Firefox Adds-ons and components. So, you can determine the extensions that are causing this memory shortage and disable them manually.
Solution 4: Turn On Flash Hardware Acceleration
In case you are getting this Firefox error due to hardware and graphics card overuse, you must ensure whether ‘Enable hardware acceleration’ option is checked. If you turn on this feature, it will reduce the memory consumption towards graphics content on Firefox.
