Google Chrome hangs? Here are some cleanup (speedup) tips - AZCentral

Ken Colburn | Especially for the republic

QUESTION: I love Google Chrome but it seems to get stuck a lot lately. No suggestions?

ANSWER: Whatever browser you use, things can get stuck over time, especially if you like having many websites open at once.

Tabbed browsing

There was a time when you could only have an active session in a browser and using the back button was like jumping to something you had previously open.

That all changed with the introduction of tabbed browsing in the early 2000s, which allowed you to add web pages without closing the current page.

This incredibly useful feature has led to what many refer to as the "tab hogging problem" which can lead to a range of problems including slow browser performance.

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Each browser session that you open via a new tab consumes additional random access memory (RAM), which in extreme cases can exhaust this valuable resource for everything on your computer.

Many websites have active video sections as content or as advertisements, which can free up even more space for something you're not watching.

If you see a lot of open tabs when things slow down, try closing as many as you can to see if that helps the slowdown.

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Buzz60

Check memory requirements

Chrome has a "Task Manager" tool that lets you see how much memory each open tab is using and close it when it's full of memory.

You can open Task Manager by using the Shift+Esc keyboard shortcut or by clicking the three dots in the top right corner of Chrome, then More Tools, and then Task Manager.

To see which tabs are using the most memory, click the Memory Usage heading until you see a black down arrow showing memory usage in descending order.

Look for anything that starts with "Tab:" to start evaluating memory hogs so you know which ones to avoid keeping open in the background.

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chrome cleaning tool

Google includes a basic tool for removing any harmful or malicious software that may have gotten onto your browser.

To open the tool, click on the three dots in the upper right corner of your browser window, then on "Settings" and then on the "Advanced" tab.

Locate the Reset and Cleanup option to access the Cleanup Computer feature.

Get rid of extensions

A major reason to choose Chrome as your browser is the plethora of add-on tools, better known as "extensions," that can dramatically improve functionality.

But just like with tabs, too many tabs can add unnecessary overhead to Chrome, which can contribute to slow performance issues.

Extensions often look like smartphone apps that look like something you use often but only use when you first install them.

Look for an icon that looks like a puzzle piece in the top-right corner of Chrome to access the "Manage Extensions" option, which allows you to disable or remove extensions that you don't use regularly.

alternative browsers

If these tips didn't help, try alternative browsers like Firefox, Opera, Brave, Safari (macOS), or Edge (Windows).

Ken Colburn is the founder and CEO of Data Doctors Computer Services, datadoctors.com . Ask technical questions at facebook.com/DataDoctors or on Twitter @TheDataDoc .

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