My PC has 16GB of RAM, but Chrome appears to use around 70% of the memory while it is open. Even after closing the browser, overall memory usage sometimes still shows about 53%. Is this normal, or should I add another 8GB stick? The computer does not necessarily feel slow, but I want to know whether the usage indicates a problem.
3 Answers
That usage can be normal, especially if you have many tabs or extensions open. Windows also uses available RAM for caching, so a high percentage by itself does not necessarily mean the system is running out of memory. Check whether the computer is actually slow or whether the Memory section shows heavy paging. Also try a full Restart rather than only shutting down, since that can clear software-related memory issues.
You can enable Chrome's Memory Saver feature to suspend inactive tabs. It may help, although it will not eliminate memory use from active tabs or extensions.
If Chrome is consistently using a large amount of memory, another browser may use less in your particular setup, but switching browsers is optional. The better reason to upgrade is if your system regularly runs out of usable memory, becomes sluggish, or starts heavily using the page file—not simply because Task Manager reports a high percentage.
Memory Saver is already enabled, so I will check the individual tabs and extensions next.