- [Narrator] So this. This is Chromy.
- [Chromy] Hey.
- [Narrator] He lives inside your computer. (crunching)
That is if you use Chrome.
- Oh, ba-RAM-burger.
- He's everyone's favorite,
or at least most used web browser.
He's just got one tiny problem.
He can't stop eating your computer's RAM
and other resources.
Have no idea what I'm talking about?
Actually, I bet you do.
You know when your Mac or PC's Chrome web browser gets slow
and then the entire machine sounds
like it's gonna do, well, this.
- [Scientist] And liftoff! (booming)
- Yes, that could be happening
because this guy's eating your computer's resources
for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
But don't worry, you can put him on a diet
and take bake your computer with some of these tips.
Tip number one, just stop using Chrome.
Sure, Chrome has far more browser market share
than the rest of these guys
but all of them have actually gotten quite good
over the last number of years.
Heck, the new Microsoft Edge browser
even uses Chromium, the same underlying technology
as Chrome, and the performance is much improved,
across Windows PCs and Macs.
Yes, Microsoft's browser is available for your Mac
and it's good.
In my weeks of testing,
Edge used 5% less resources than Chrome on Windows.
Safari used up to 10% less
in some of my tests on my Mac.
That meant up to two extra hours of battery life
in their respective operating systems.
Firefox unfortunately took up just as much power as Chrome.
Google says it's working
on some resource-saving improvements
that will come in the next few months.
If you can switch to just one of those, go for it.
Even if just for their better privacy tools.
- Oh, whatever, you'll be back.
- But if you can't switch
basically Chrome just handles certain websites better
or Google apps better,
then you need to try one of these next tips.
Tip number two.
Spot and kill the RAM gobblers.
First, a little computer 101.
Every app on your computer runs a number
of tasks in your system's RAM.
The more RAM you have,
the more programs you can run swiftly and simultaneously.
Every Chrome Tab and Chrome extension
is a different Ram process.
Basically a different app.
The bad news of this design
is that each site can be duplicating some backend work
that another is doing.
And sites have gotten far more powerful.
The good news is that the Chrome Task Manager lets you see
the resources each tab is using
and close ones that are problematic.
Click the three vertical dots here.
Then go to More Tools.
Then Task Manager.
And knock out any of the major hogs.
Tip number three, uninstall extensions.
This one made the biggest difference at my laptop.
Extensions you may have once installed
but barely use, like this Cisco Webex in my case,
can run in the background
and secretly chew on your RAM and CPU.
You can see this in the same activity monitor.
To disable them, go to Settings, and Extensions.
- Oh, don't take my extensions now. Come on.
- Tip number four, limit browser-based video chats.
You know what tabs take up the most RAM and CPU power?
The ones handling video calls.
Video calling is a lot more processor intensive,
especially when you have multiple callers.
Google Meet used up a whopping 1.5 gigabytes during tests,
no matter what the browser.
Heck, Google even offers all these Google Meet tips
for overheating laptops,
including one that says using the Spotlight View,
which shows one caller at a time
will conserve CPU power.
Another good tip I've picked up to stop the crazy fan noise
is disconnecting my external monitor
when using a website for video calling.
Sure, if you follow these tips,
Chromy here's probably gonna be a little bit more hungry
but your computer, it should be quieter,
faster, and cooler.
- Oh, come on, just one more bite.
I'll tell you which tab the music's playing from.