Google brings energy and memory saving mode to Chrome: Here’s how to enable it manually

As it turns out, Google is now rolling out a new power and memory saving mode for Chrome on Windows, Mac, ChromeOS, and Linux. The new feature helps reduce power consumption and system resource usage and will be enabled by default in upcoming versions of Chrome.

What is Google Chrome’s power and memory saving mode?

The Memory Saver feature resides in the new Performance tab on the Chrome settings page and unloads inactive tabs from memory. Once users navigate to the tab, it is automatically loaded back into memory. It also allows users to whitelist specific websites so they are not affected by the memory saver, a useful feature for websites that update information in real time.

On the same page you will also find the new feature “Energy Saver”. When it’s on, Chrome tries to save battery by limiting its background activity and disabling certain animations and video frame rates, and disabling the smooth scrolling feature. Users have the option to turn on Sleep mode when their computer is unplugged, or turn it on automatically when the battery level is less than 20 percent.

The new feature is available in the latest version of Chrome (v110), but it looks like Google is still rolling it out to some users, so you might want to wait a while if you don’t see it in Chrome settings .

How to enable power and memory saving mode in Google Chrome

If you can’t see the new feature in Google Chrome settings, there’s a quick way to enable it manually.

All you have to do is launch Google Chrome, type “chrome://flags/” in the address and press Enter. Once done, you’ll see a new page with a warning at the top stating that the features are experimental.

Here you will also see a “Search Markers” field where you can type “Enable battery saver feature in settings” or search for “#battery saver-available”.

Now change the switch from “Default” to “Enable” and you’re good to go. To enable memory saving mode, search for “Enable the high efficiency mode feature in the settings” or “#high-efficiency-mode-available”. Just change the toggle from “Default” to “Enabled” and the new “Performance” tab will now appear on the Chrome settings page.

Alternatively, you can also search for the flags by typing and changing “chrome://flags/#battery-saver-mode-available” and “chrome://flags/#high-efficiency-mode-available” in the address bar the corresponding switches are activated by default.