Auto Tab Discard

Increase browser speed and reduce memory load and when you have numerous open tabs.
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Auto Tab Discard is a lightweight Chrome extension designed to enhance your browser's speed and efficiency by automatically discarding inactive tabs. It reduces memory usage by disabling JavaScript and DOM events on tabs that are not currently in use, helping conserve battery life on portable devices.

Key features include customizable options for discarding based on tab activity, exclusion lists for certain websites, preservation of tab states like scroll position and input content, and the ability to force discard specific hostnames. The extension supports pinned tabs, media playing tabs, and tabs with unsaved content, ensuring important tabs stay active. Additional plugins extend its functionality by enabling bulk discarding, timestamp storage for YouTube, and auto-discarding of new inactive tabs.

Unlike similar tools, Auto Tab Discard uses a native browser method to discard tabs, ensuring your sessions remain intact even if the extension is removed or the browser crashes. Overall, it effectively manages browser memory and battery consumption without sacrificing user experience.

Manifest V2 Add-on Productivity Utilities Developer Tools
By:
tlintspr
Daily users:
71,786 -56
Rating:
4.51
(924) 2 new ratings
Version:
0.6.7 Last updated: 2022-12-19
Version code:
5500664
Creation date:
2017-12-21
Risk:
Moderate risk impact Low risk likelihood
Permissions:
  • idle
  • storage
  • contextMenus
  • notifications
  • alarms
  • *://*/*
Size:
162.80K
URLs:
Website
Full description:
See detailed description
Source:
Firefox Browser Add-ons
Updated:
a day ago

Ranking

# 256 ▲ 3
Other rankings
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Other platforms

Auto Tab Discard (suspend) (v0.6.8.2)
100,000 4.16 (310)
Auto Tab Discard (suspend) (v0.6.8.2)
30,766 4.50 (39)

User reviews

Auto Tab Discard is praised for significantly reducing RAM usage and improving browser performance, especially helpful for users with many open tabs or limited RAM. It is lightweight, configurable, and effectively manages tab discarding. However, users report concerns about the add-on appearing abandoned, leading to some bugs such as issues with discarding pinned tabs on startup and occasional tab crashes. Despite these problems, many find it a valuable tool for managing memory and tab overload in Firefox.
Pros
  • Effectively reduces RAM usage, improving browser performance.
  • Highly configurable and works well even with a large number of tabs open.
  • Lightweight and easy to use, helping users manage tab hoarding.
  • Saves memory, especially beneficial for computers with limited RAM (e.g., 8GB).
  • Reliable and useful for automatic or manual tab discarding.
Cons
  • Extension appears to be abandoned or not updated frequently, causing some features to malfunction.
  • Issues with discarding pinned tabs on startup; logs indicate it's 'not ready.'
  • Some users experience tab crashes or new tabs crashing when using the extension.
Recent reviews
by Fi*****, 2025-06-09
Great idea! Unfortunately, it doesn't function or work properly as of June 6 2025
by lu*****, 2025-06-06
don't work
by ki*****, 2025-06-05
View all user reviews ›

Extension safety

Risk impact

Auto Tab Discard requires a few sensitive permissions. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk impact analysis details
  • Critical Allows access to all websites, posing a significant security risk as it can monitor and modify data from any visited site.
  • High ******* ******* **** *** ****** ***** *** ***** ** ******* **** ********* ********* ** * *********** *****
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Risk likelihood

Auto Tab Discard has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

Risk likelihood analysis details
  • Low This extension was updated more than 6 months ago. Older versions are more likely to be stable and safe.
  • Low **** ********* *** ***** **** **** * ****** **** ***** ********** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
  • Low **** ********* *** **** **** ****** ******* ********** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
  • Good **** ********* *** **** **** *******
Upgrade to see full risk analysis details

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