How to enable Sleeping Tabs to save resources on Microsoft Edge

On Microsoft Edge, “Sleeping Tabs” is a nifty feature designed to save system resources (such as memory and processor). When you enable the feature, open tabs will enter into a sleep mode after inactivity to free up resources to improve system performance and battery life. The next time you switch to the website, the tab will resume automatically.

It is not a new idea since similar features are already available in other browsers through extensions like The Great Suspender for Chrome. However, Microsoft has built one inside the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge, starting with version 88 and higher releases.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to enable, configure, and disable the Sleeping Tabs feature in the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge to reduce resource usage on Windows 10.

You can also watch this video tutorial to learn how to use the feature.

• Enable Sleeping Tabs on Microsoft Edge
• Disable Sleeping Tabs on Microsoft Edge
• Configure Sleeping Tabs flags on Microsoft Edge

Enable Sleeping Tabs on Microsoft Edge

To enable sleeping tabs to save memory and other resources, use these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

2. Click the Settings and more (three-dotted) button in the top-right corner.

3. Select the Settings option.

4. Click on System.

5. Under the “Save resources” section, turn on the Save resources with sleeping tabs toggle switch.

   

6. (Optional) Use the drop-down menu to specify how long before the browser should put a tab to sleep to save system resources. (You can specify as little as 15 minutes to 12 hours. The default setting is 2 hours.)

Once you complete the steps, open tabs will suspend after the time you specified to reduce system resources and save battery life.

Disable Sleeping Tabs on Microsoft Edge

To prevent tabs from sleeping on Edge, use these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge.

2. Click the Settings and more (three-dotted) button in the top-right corner.

3. Select the Settings option.

4. Click on System.

5. Under the “Save resources” section, turn off the Save resources with sleeping tabs toggle switch.

   

After you complete the steps, open tabs will continue to consume system resources.

Disable Sleeping Tabs for specific sites

To prevent some sites from entering into the sleeping mode, use these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge.

2. Click the Settings and more (three-dotted) button in the top-right corner.

3. Select the Settings option.

4. Click on System.

5. Under the “Save resources” section, click the Add button for the Never put these sites to sleep option.

6. Specify the website domain – for example, pureinfotech.com.

   

7. Click the Add button.

Once you complete the steps, Microsoft Edge will continue to put the tab to sleep, except for those websites you specified in the list.

Configure Sleeping Tabs flags on Microsoft Edge

The feature to save system resources should be enabled by default on Microsoft Edge version 88, but if you cannot find the settings, you can enable it through the advanced flags settings page.

To enable Sleeping Tabs through the flags settings page, use these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Edge.

2. Type the following path in the address bar and press Enter:

   edge://flags/#edge-sleeping-tabs

3. Use the drop-down menu on the right of “Enable Sleeping Tabs” and select the Enabled option.

4. (Optional) Type the following path in the address bar and press Enter:

   edge://flags/#edge-sleeping-tabs-immediate-timeout

   Quick note: If you enable this option, tabs will suspend immediately, and the option to set the timeout will be grayed out.

5. Use the drop-down menu on the right of “Enable immediate timeout for Sleeping Tabs” and select the Enabled option.

   

6. Click the Restart button.

After you complete the steps, you can use the steps outlined above to configure the browser feature.