Firefox Memory Optimization

If you want to reduce the amount of memory used by Firefox in Windows here’s a little trick:

Firefox Memory Optimization

Open Firefox browser, go to address bar, type about:config and hit enter
You’ll see a page full with text under 4 columns: Preference Name, Status, Type, Value
Right-click anywhere on that page and select New -> Boolean
You’ll get prompted to enter a Preference Name - enter this: config.trim_on_minimize and hit enter
You’ll be prompted for a value - select True and hit enter
That’s it - close Firefox and open it again!

Now, whenever you minimize your Firefox, the amount of memory used will be reduced to approximately 20%.

If you want to test it yourself, follow these steps:

Open Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL)
Load several pages into Firefox and watch the memory usage (going up)
Minimize Firefox and see what happens!

Enjoy!

Tags:firefox , Internet , tip

Popularity: 20% [?]

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Information: June 14th, 2007; 5 Responses; Disclosure Policy
Categories: Internet; Tips & Tricks

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Reader Comments

Comment Number:: 1
Written by:: sandeep
Posted on:: December 5, 2007 at 9:08 am

Very useful on windows. works like a charm.
Must have been default configuration on firefox.
Thanks for the post.
Regards
Sandeep

Comment Number:: 2
Written by:: nicusor
Posted on:: December 5, 2007 at 11:45 am

I noticed that in latest versions is only working for a short period of time

Thanks for stopping by!

Comment Number:: 3
Written by:: yannlh
Posted on:: August 1, 2008 at 11:09 pm

You may want to try this tool as well, called Minimem: http://minimem.kerkia.net. It does the same but more:
- Can optimize other apps too
- Reduces memory not just when minimized
- User-defined frequency of memory reduction
I use it on my old computer and it works like a charm with Firefox and a few more apps.

Comment Number:: 4
Written by:: Vinidog
Posted on:: July 29, 2009 at 12:29 am

Work very nice!!!
Tks

Comment Number:: 5
Written by:: Dennis
Posted on:: July 18, 2011 at 7:30 am

The config.trim_on_minimize setting (Windows only) does not reduce the amount of memory used, it just swaps memory from RAM to disk. This may make Firefox slow to “wake up”. If config.trim_on_minimize is left set at the default value (false), the memory will be swapped to disk only if it is needed by another application. Therefore, for most purposes the default value is recommended.

Nickoo Shore