Reducing memory usage - Firefox: Difference between revisions
SteveChapel (talk | contribs) (add tip about virtual memory settings) |
Alice Wyman (talk | contribs) (→Virtual memory: We shouldn't really be giving Windows users advice on setting Virtual Memory. Any formula based on RAM is arguable.) |
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[http://www.squarefree.com/2006/02/04/memory-leak-progress/ Here] is an update on memory leaks in Firefox. You can help to find and fix memory leaks by reading [http://www.squarefree.com/2006/01/13/memory-leak-detection-tool/ this]. | [http://www.squarefree.com/2006/02/04/memory-leak-progress/ Here] is an update on memory leaks in Firefox. You can help to find and fix memory leaks by reading [http://www.squarefree.com/2006/01/13/memory-leak-detection-tool/ this]. | ||
==Virtual memory== | == Virtual memory== | ||
Some users have problems with Firefox memory usage because they have virtual memory turned off or have a paging file that is too small. | Some Windows users have problems with Firefox memory usage because they have virtual memory turned off or have a paging file that is too small. These articles provide additional information: | ||
* [http://www.aumha.org/win4/a/memmgmt.htm Windows 98 & WinME Memory Management] | |||
* [http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm Virtual Memory in Windows XP] | |||
[[Category:Firefox]] | [[Category:Firefox]] |
Revision as of 00:57, 7 April 2006
For most users, Firefox doesn't use an abnormally large amount of memory. For others, however, Firefox's memory consumption is a major problem. This article discusses how to lower Firefox's memory consumption. Typical Firefox memory usage reported by Windows is around 50-100 MB, with virtual memory usage at 100-150 MB. These numbers will vary because Firefox is configured by default to use more memory on systems that have more memory available and less on systems with less. If you experience substantially more usage than this, there may be a problem, or you may just be viewing pages with large amounts of data.
Extensions and themes
Observing memory usage while Firefox is in safe mode will tell you whether one of your extensions or themes is causing memory problems. If you find a significant reduction in memory usage, you may be able to find updates for your extensions and themes or alternative extensions and themes that use less memory. You should also review this article which discusses extension-specific problems. Failing that, uninstalling the extensions and themes is an option.
Plugins
Plugins can cause Firefox to use more memory when they're used. They may not even release the memory they took until Firefox is closed. It's a good idea to make sure you're using the most recent version of every plugin. Here's some plugin-specific information.
Download history
Memory usage can increase and Firefox can slow down or hang if the download history is allowed to accumulate [1]. Clear the download history (you may need to exit Firefox and delete the file "downloads.rdf" from the profile folder in some cases [2]) and change this setting to circumvent the problem:
- "Tools -> Options -> Privacy -> Download History -> Remove Files from the Download Manager", select: "Upon successful download".
Settings that reduce memory usage
Changing the about:config preferences below may have an effect on memory consumption but may also affect performance or reduce functionality. Read each article for the preference's effects. Each preference includes an estimate of the amount of memory that can be freed on an average (512MB RAM) system by choosing the most memory-friendly setting.
Preference | Max memory freed |
---|---|
browser.cache.memory.capacity and browser.cache.memory.enable | 22MB |
browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers | 20MB |
config.trim_on_minimize (Windows only) | all but 10MB when minimized |
Restarting Firefox
If you find that Firefox's memory usage continues to grow after long periods of being open, you may want to consider periodically restarting Firefox to bring the memory usage back to reasonable levels. The Session Manager extension allows you to close Firefox while maintaining the pages you have open.
Memory leaks
Memory leaks occur to some extent in Firefox. These memory leaks cause Firefox to not release memory that it is no longer using. 1.5.0.1 fixed several memory leaks. If you have not already, you should upgrade to this release.
Here is an update on memory leaks in Firefox. You can help to find and fix memory leaks by reading this.
Virtual memory
Some Windows users have problems with Firefox memory usage because they have virtual memory turned off or have a paging file that is too small. These articles provide additional information: