We live immersed in a war of navigators. There are many actors involved in it: some of them are known by everyone, such as Opera or Firefox, and then there are other alternatives besides the biggest ones. However the statistics do not lie: the most used is Google Chrome, long.

Now, if you’ve been using it for a while, maybe you’ve noticed that it does not work as smoothly as ever, or that maybe it’s consuming a lot (more) RAM. In this article we are going to offer you a series of tips so that Chrome can work efficiently again, and that does not damage your equipment.

Update Google Chrome

This may seem a truism, especially when Chrome is usually updated alone and without disturbing the user. However, to do that the program has to be closed . If it’s been a while since you’ve left Chrome open permanently, you may have missed an update.

To check if you have missed any, and install it manually, enter chrome://helpin the address bar. Then, follow the instructions given if the program is not up to date.

Remove unwanted extensions

In the address bar enter chrome://extensionsand disable the ones you do not want. You can uncheck the box to deactivate them, or click on the trash can icon to delete them completely.

Note that if you delete an extension, the data associated with it will also be deleted. If you limit yourself to disabling them, the data will be preserved until you activate them again.

Use extensions to manage tabs

Some time ago here we published an article on extensions to manage the tabs in Chrome and, incidentally, reduce the RAM consumption of the browser. Although Google promised to reduce it, it is still quite large.

Among these extensions we can find some as interesting as The Great Suspender, which suspends the tabs open once some time has passed without being consulted, or Tabs Outliner, which you can see in the video that presides over this section and that lists the tabs open in a hierarchical way.

Install Data Saver and save bandwidth

If your problems with Chrome have more to do with a poor Internet connection, than with a browser too much, a way to save bandwidth is installing an extension known as Data Saver.

Data Saver uses Google servers to compress and optimize web pages before they reach you through your browser.

We repeat it: close your browser

It is not necessary for Chrome to be permanently open . Really not. In fact, you can customize the browser’s boot options so that it opens just where you left off. To do this, type chrome://settingsin the address bar, where you will see these three start options:

• Open the New tab page
• Open everything as it was before closing
• Open a specific page or a set of pages

We hope we are not discovering anything new. It is public domain that you can make the browser continue right where you left off, just as you can set a page or number of pages to open automatically each time you start the program.

Now, if you have different windows open, be careful: only the tabs of the last one that you close will be saved if you choose to open everything just as it was before closing.

Save resources with Chrome’s default appearance

Google Chrome is very customizable. You can even find visual themes to change their appearance in the Chrome Web Store. Now visual themes eat RAM, so if you want a more efficient browser, keep the default appearance.

Type chrome://settingsin the address bar to enter the options, and press the button that is highlighted in the image if you have changed the appearance of Chrome to return to the default.

Get a softer scrolling

Write chrome://flagsin the address bar and find the option “Quick closing of windows and tabs” . This option “accelerates” Chrome by allowing it to close windows regardless of any JavaScript code it may be running.

When you have enabled the quick shutdown, the browser will display a “Restart now” button on the screen. Click it to save the changes. It is worth noting that this feature is experimental, so proceed with care.