- To change the time when tabs should suspend to save memory on Google Chrome, open the “chrome://flags/#high-efficiency-mode-time-before-discard” setting on the flags page, change memory saver time, and restart the browser.
Google is getting a new setting to change the time to suspend inactive tabs in its Chrome browser, and in this guide, you will learn the steps to enable it in the latest Canary preview.
On Google Chrome, “memory saver” is a feature that aims to reduce the amount of memory the browser uses. This feature is designed to improve the performance of the browser, especially when multiple tabs.
When memory saver is enabled, Chrome will automatically suspend tabs that have been inactive for a while. This means that the tabs will be unloaded from memory, freeing up resources for other tabs and applications while at the same time expanding battery life.
The only caveat is that the feature works automatically, and you don’t have the option to control when inactive tabs will automatically suspend. However, this is about to change as the latest Canary version of Chrome includes an experimental setting that allows you to change the time before suspending inactive tabs.
In this guide, you will learn the steps to enable the new visual updates for Google Chrome.
Change memory saver time on Chrome
To change the memory saver time before discarding tabs on Google Chrome, use these steps:
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Open Google Chrome (Canary).
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Type the following path in the address bar and press Enter to open the “flags” experimental settings to enable and adjust the memory saver time setting:
chrome://flags/#high-efficiency-mode-time-before-discard
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Use the “Configure discard time for Memory Saver” setting on the right and choose when to discard inactive tabs.
Quick note: The setting allows you to choose from a number of times ranging from 1 minute to 12 hours. -
Click the Relaunch button.
Once you complete the steps, the next time you use Google Chrome, tabs that haven’t been active for the amount of time specified in the option will enter into sleep mode (discard) to free up system memory.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].