When it comes to memory management, Google Chrome is pretty capable. In order to make way for fresh tabs, it intelligently disables inactive tabs. However, if your computer’s RAM is limited, this might result in tabs refreshing repeatedly every time you visit them. This entire procedure has the potential to destroy your browsing experience.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to avoid this. We’ll provide a few remedies that should assist with the problem, whether Chrome is refreshing tabs to manage memory or due to a bug of some sort. So, let’s have a look at them.
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1. RESTART CHROME
If Chrome keeps on auto-refreshing tabs despite having ample memory, it might be due to some glitch. Restarting Chrome often resolves such issues. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager.
Step 2: Under Apps, select Google Chrome process and click on the End Task button.
Alternatively, you can also restart Google Chrome without losing any of your open tabs. To do that, type chrome://restart in the address bar and press Enter.
2. TURN OFF AUTO DISCARDABLE
When your computer’s memory is low, Chrome will immediately delete any inactive tabs, resulting in frequent refreshes. If the auto-refreshing problem is restricted to one or two tabs, you can manually delete those tabs to prevent them from reloading. Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Launch Google Chrome, type chrome://discards/ in the address bar, and press Enter.
This will take you to the Discards page, where you’ll find a list of active tabs and their details.
Step 2: Find the Auto Discardable column and click on the Toggle option to disable it.
Repeat these instructions for any other tabs you don’t want to load automatically. It’s crucial to understand that the set preference only applies to one tab. You’ll have to repeat this step if you close and reopen the same tab.
3. RUN SFC SCAN
Your computer’s auto-refreshing issue might be caused by damaged or missing system files. Running an SFC (System File Checker) scan will replace all of those system files with cached versions in such circumstances. This is how you do it.
Step 1: Press Windows key + S to open Windows Search, type in cmd, and click on Run as administrator to launch Command Prompt with admin rights.
Step 2: In the window, type or paste the command given below and press Enter.
sfc/scannow
You should get a notice that says ‘Windows Resource Protection discovered corrupt files and successfully fixed them’ if it discovers and repairs any issues. You can now restart your computer to see if the auto-refresh problem has been repaired.
4. DISABLE EXTENSIONS
Third-party extensions are probably the biggest reason why people choose Chrome over its alternatives. But not all of them are built well. The auto-refreshing tab issue you’re facing may be due to one of those malicious extensions on Chrome. Thus, you can try disabling them momentarily to see if that helps with the issue.
To disable extensions on Chrome, type chrome://extensions/ and press Enter. Find and disable all the extensions.
TIP: You can also use Chrome’s task manager to find extensions that are hogging up a major chunk of memory.
If disabling extensions solves your problem, go ahead and enable them one by one to find the malicious one.
5. USE THE GREAT SUSPENDER
While deactivating Tab Discarding fixes the auto-refreshing problem, it might cause your PC to use more RAM, slowing it down. To take control of things, the next best alternative is to employ a third-party addon like The Great Suspender.
You may pick how long to wait before suspending a tab using The Great Suspender. Tabs that are pinned, have unsaved input, or are playing audio can also be prevented from being suspended. You can also whitelist specific URLs or domains to avoid the suspension. This way, you won’t have to separately suspend tabs every time.
6. RESET CHROME
If the above solutions don’t work out, then you can consider resetting Chrome and start from scratch. Doing this will purge all extensions, cache, and history on Chrome.
To reset Chrome, type chrome://settings/reset in the address bar up top, and press Enter. Under ‘Reset and clean up,’ click on ‘Restore settings to their original defaults.’
On the confirmation pop-up box, click Reset Settings to confirm.
Once reset, Chrome should work normally again.
STOP AUTO REFRESHING
Depending on how you look at it, Google Chrome’s memory management may be a blessing or a curse. However, the remedies listed above should prevent Chrome from needlessly refreshing web pages.