At times, Firefox may require significant system resources in order to download, process, and display web content. If you are experiencing periods of sustained high resource usage while using Firefox, this article presents some options for you to review.
If you
send performance data, Mozilla will gather data including memory and CPU usage, which will help make Firefox better for future versions.
Update to the latest versionThe latest Firefox version may include performance improvements. Update Firefox to the latest release.
Restart FirefoxFirefox may use more system resources if it's left open for long periods of time. A workaround for this is to periodically restart Firefox. You can configure Firefox to save your tabs and windows so that when you start it again, you can start where you left off. See Restore previous session - Configure when Firefox shows your most recent tabs and windows for details.
Restart your computerFirefox may grind to a halt due to operating system issues, such as a pending Windows update, that can be resolved by restarting your computer.
Disable resource consuming extensions and themesExtensions and themes can cause Firefox to use more system resources than it normally would.
To determine if an extension or theme is causing Firefox to use too many resources, start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode and observe its memory and CPU usage. In Troubleshoot Mode, extensions and themes are disabled, so if you notice a significant improvement, you can try disabling or uninstalling extensions.
Many web pages have content you don't need, but which still use system resources to display its content. Firefox's built-in content blocking can help save resources by preventing third-party tracking content from loading. See the Enhanced Tracking Protection article for details.
Some extensions allow you to block unnecessary content; for example:
Please reach out to the add-on developer directly, if you need help with a specific add-on.
Use fewer tabsEach tab requires Firefox to store a web page in memory. If you frequently have more than 100 tabs open, consider using a more lightweight mechanism to keep track of pages to read and things to do, such as:
Some websites use scripts that use a lot of memory and/or CPU to keep them up to date, such as online mail client pages. If these scripts are not optimized, they can lead to the use of too many system resources. You can see which tabs are using the most system resources by opening the Firefox Task Manager (about:processes page). If you do not need these tabs open all the time, you can close them to reduce system resources usage.
Check Firefox hardware accelerationFirefox hardware acceleration eases memory and CPU usage in many cases. Check in Firefox's performance settings that hardware acceleration is turned on. Also make sure that your graphics drivers are up-to-date.
Close other applicationsHaving many applications running simultaneously may cause your computer to run slowly and other applications to do so as well. By closing down some of the unnecessary applications, system usage will be reduced.
Delete content-prefs.sqlite fileFirefox stores your data in various files in your profile folder. The file used for saving individual website settings might be corrupt. If you delete (or rename) that file, your zoom level settings will be reset but it could decrease CPU usage.
The Refresh Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring your Firefox profile to its default state while saving your essential information. See Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings for details.
There are a variety of troubleshooting tools that can be used both in Firefox and on your operating system to troubleshoot elevated system resource usage.
top
command in the terminal will display a list of all the running processes and their system resource consumption.WARNING: There are a variety of third-party programs that promise to increase your computer's performance. You should exercise caution when installing third-party software and only use reputable software provided by an official source.
Add RAM to your computerIf you exhausted all tips in the previous sections and your memory usage is still close to the maximum, maybe it's time for you to add more memory to your computer. Adding RAM will provide a huge performance boost.
Upgrade your computerIf you exhausted all tips in the previous sections and you are still experiencing high system resource usage, it may be time to upgrade your computer. As technology progresses, software is becoming more advanced and requires more powerful computers to run effectively.
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