TabMemFree

Lower RAM and CPU load by unloading idle tabs

▶

TabMemFree is a lightweight Chrome extension designed to lower RAM and CPU load by automatically unloading idle tabs. It preserves each tab's title and icon, allowing quick restoration without losing your place. Users can toggle the extension on or off with a single click and customize settings such as maximum idle time before unloading and frequency of checks. The extension also offers an option to prevent pinned tabs from being unloaded, ensuring important tabs remain active.

Privacy is a priority: TabMemFree saves extension preferences locally with no personal data collection. It uses Chrome's Extension Storage API and newer Chrome APIs to park tabs securely. Be aware that unloading tabs may lead to loss of unsaved form data. Regular updates improve performance, bug fixes, and user experience to make managing browser resources effortless and effective.

Download

By:: Vitaliy Meshchaninov
Users:: 30,000+
Rating:: 3.70
(169)
Version:: 0.3.1 (Last updated: 2023-08-29)
Creation date:: 2020-03-08
Risk:: Very low risk impact Low risk likelihood
Permissions:: storage
Size:: 239.62K
Email:: gl*****@gmail.com
Full description:: See detailed description
Source:: Chrome Web Store
Updated:: 20 hours ago

Ranking

# 4,666 ▼ 310

Other rankings

#570 in Functionality & UI ▼ 1 #64 in prevent keyword 30 ▲ 4 #296 in icon keyword 22 ▲ #298 in tab keyword 81 ▲

User reviews

Users find TabMemFree helpful in speeding up browsing by unloading inactive tabs and reducing memory usage. However, many report significant issues such as automatic tab refreshing disrupting workflows, broken navigation controls like the 'Go Back' button, and occasional loss or inaccessibility of tabs. The lack of flexible exclusion options and compatibility problems with other extensions further complicate usage. While the core idea is praised, stability and feature enhancements are needed to improve user experience.

Pros

Effectively speeds up browsing by unloading inactive tabs and reducing memory usage.
Simple and straightforward to use without manual unloading of tabs.
Automatically parks unpinned tabs, improving Chrome's performance.
Minimal memory consumption when tabs are suspended.
Provides some level of user satisfaction as it addresses tab memory issues.

Cons

Tabs frequently refresh or reload without user action, interrupting usage.
'Go Back' button functionality is broken or unreliable, causing navigation issues.
Loss or inability to restore original tabs, leading to potential data or session loss.
Lack of proper exception or whitelist feature to exclude certain tabs or domains from unloading.
Incompatibility or conflicts with other extensions causing tabs to malfunction or become inaccessible.

Recent reviews

Really helps speeding up but somehow the tabs tend to refresh automatically over a certain time period which interrupted the meetings, videos and events that take time even when I pinned the tabs. Hope you can fix it soon.

Annie Chang, 2025-01-03

Request: exclude by domain feature would be nice to have

Elvin Agha, 2023-10-21

This is even better than what I was looking for, since I don't have to manually unload anything. Suggestion: Add exceptions by host, like do not park discord.com or web.telegram.com, etc. Sure I could just pin them, but then it would be a nice feature for those who heavily uses tab groups. For example, my tab group about communication has 5 different tabs, and I don't want any of them pinned.

Lucas C. Flores, 2021-09-25

View all user reviews

Extension safety

Risk impact

TabMemFree does not require any sensitive permissions.

Risk impact analysis details

Risk likelihood

TabMemFree has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

Risk likelihood analysis details

High This extension has low user count. Unpopular extensions may not be stable or safe.
Low **** ********* *** ******* **** **** * ****** **** ***** ******** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
Low **** ********* *** ***** **** **** * ****** **** ***** ********** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
Good **** ********* *** **** **** *******

Upgrade to see full risk analysis details

Instantly check and monitor your browser extensions' risks and permissions with Extension Guard.