If you are a Google browser user and your computer is running low on resources, you may be interested in this information Chrome memory saving mode, one of his latest innovations, the implementation of which is a little confusing to say the least. Of course, be careful because when we talk about PCs, we mean desktops, and the fact is that Chrome’s memory saving option should be available by default when using a laptop, if not activated.

The point is that the memory saving mode in Chrome is not on its own, it does so together with another feature that also saves machine resources, the battery saving mode, which, logically, only appears on laptops. Why Chrome’s memory saver doesn’t do this on either device is unclear, since one doesn’t directly depend on the other.

The rest has a simple control of memory storage in Chrome. The option description says it all: “When this option is enabled, Chrome frees memory from inactive tabs. This gives active tabs and other apps more computing resources and Chrome runs fast. Your inactive cards will automatically reactivate when you return to them.»

How to Turn on Chrome’s Memory Saver

Both Battery Saver Mode and Chrome Memory Saver Mode are two new features of the latest stable version of Chrome 100, so it is a basic requirement to be able to use them. However, even if you’re using a laptop, keep in mind that while the latter is available to everyone, the former depends on the hardware your system is running on.

If you are using a laptop, just go to the app settings and you’ll see a new section that wasn’t there before: performance. There you have the option to activate it if you wish, as well as the option to create a kind of whitelist with sites that you want to always remain active (for example, a page that updates regularly and sends you notifications) and that you will have to add manually.

However, if you’re using a desktop instead of a laptop, you won’t see the performance section in settings, and of course you won’t be able to turn on Chrome’s memory saver. In that case, go to Chrome’s hidden preferences and enable it manually. You do this using the following URI:

• chrome://flags/#high-efficiency-mode-available

When you activate it, you will find different options as you can see in the following image:

Which one to choose? As you can guess, the time intervals listed are how long it will take for the background cards to free up memory, so it depends a bit on your usage. Keep in mind that when you re-enter one of these cards, it won’t take as long as if you loaded it from new, but it’s not like having it already open and loaded, there’s a moment of refreshment. So it’s up to him to try.

If you don’t want to complicate things, a reasonable option is “Enabled with 2 minutes of elimination”; this means that after two minutes the memory of unused cards is freed. Try to see what is most convincing for you, but a warning: choose the option with a predefined time, because the rest, at least in my experience, do not work very well (or I have not found that they do; just me.).

Of course, don’t forget to go back to your browser settings to activate Chrome’s memory saving and whitelist sites. Chrome Memory Saver Mode is available for Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Faced with any problem, it’s as easy as following the steps and disabling everything.

The question you might be asking yourself is how important is chrome memory saving with this option? But you can already imagine the answer: it depends. It depends on how many cards you have open, what is on those cards, etc.

On top of all that, the implementation of Chrome’s battery and memory saving modes is not complete: as expected a few months ago, both options were accompanied by more accessible controls, which have not been heard from again, although they may have been dropped. Or not. If it appears in an update, we’ll tell you here.