How to Fix “Not Enough Memory” in Google Chrome 

What Is The “Not Enough Memory to Open this Page” Error? 

Google Chrome is a fast and versatile browser, but it’s also known as the most RAM hungry browser out there. It’s not uncommon for Chrome to hog up multiple gigabytes of RAM with only a couple of tabs open. That’s why it’s pretty common to run into the infamous “Not enough memory to open this page” error. While the most permanent way to fix this error is to simply just get more RAM, there are a number of ways to mitigate this problem before having to spend money. 

Why Is the “Not Enough Memory” Error Happening? 

There could be a number of reasons why Chrome’s memory usage is skyrocketing. Below, we will list the most common reasons: 

• Too many tabs open. Each Chrome tab runs as a separate process in the Task Manager. Depending on what resources they’re using, an individual instance can take anywhere from 10 to 500 MB on their own.  

• Extensions are consuming a ton of ram. While extensions are oftentimes the most useful part of a browser, if they’re too universal, they can run on every single tab and potentially add gigabytes of usage overall. 

• Memory leaks. Chrome has software problems that sometimes prevents it from dropping memory even when closed. 

• Corrupted profiles or caches. Damaged Chrome data can trigger error code: out of memory as well. 

• Cached data can fill up memory over time. As you browse Chrome 

How To Fix “Not Enough Memory”: 

Quick and Basic Fixes: 

Before we dive into more advanced methods, here are a couple of simple but effective fixes that you can try to just get things moving again. 

1. Close Unused Tabs and Windows 

Press Shift + Esc to bring up Google Chrome’s personal Task Manager. Then, you can click on “Memory footprint” to sort it so that the highest footprints appear on top. From there, you can close the websites with the highest memory footprint so that you can free up more RAM. 

2. Disable or Uninstall Unnecessary Extensions 

Extensions are a common reason for memory issues. Chances are that you’ve been installing a bunch of them for one reason or another and you’ve forgotten about a couple of them.   

To fix that, enter “chrome://extensions” without quotes into your address bar. Browse around and disable any extension that you don’t need, and uninstall any that are outdated or unverified. This should help clear up RAM usage. 

3. Use Chrome’s Memory Saver 

Chrome’s Memory Saver feature has been recently added to help combat its reputation as a memory guzzler. What this setting does is pause tabs that have been inactive for a while. This will reduce chrome’s memory usage and whatever extensions were running on it down to near zero. Follow these steps to enable it: 

• Click on the three dots in the top right and select Settings near the bottom. 

• Go to Performance. Scroll down until you get to Memory Saver, then turn it on. 

4. Clear Cache and Site Data 

Cached pages and temporary data can fill up your memory over time. To resolve this, go to Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Delete Browsing Data.  

From here, you can select certain options and then delete browsing data.  

Advanced Fixes 

Here are some more drastic fixes you can try if your Chrome is still showing error code: out of memory. 

1. Reset or Reinstall Chrome 

Chrome could have suffered a corrupted file or extension that causes it to constantly throw up the “Out of Memory” crash even if it’s not true. To fix this issue, type “chrome://settings/reset” into the address bar, then click “restore settings to their original defaults”. If that doesn’t change anything, try to completely uninstall Chrome and reinstall it. 

2. Increase Virtual Memory 

If you’re on Windows 10 or 11, increasing your paging file size can tell your computer to allocate more memory for programs outside of the operating system. Follow these steps to do so: 

• Go to your Windows search bar and enter “Advanced system settings”. Navigate to the “Advanced” tab, then under Performance, click “Settings”. 

• Navigate to the “Advanced” tab, then under Virtual memory, click on “Change”. 

• Increase the size to 1.5x your physical ram. To find your physical ram size, open your task manager, navigate to Performance, and look at the number on the right side of the / under Memory. 

This will help Chrome run faster at the expense of your OS having less resources to work with.

3. Disable Hardware Acceleration 

Your Chrome will shunt your computer’s computational tasks from your CPU to your GPU. While this speeds up Chrome most of the time, it can also cause occasional problems. Disabling it could be the key to fixing your problems. To disable it, enter “chrome://settings/system” and turn off “Use hardware acceleration when available”. 

Long Term Practices 

While these short-term fixes should get you going again, there are a couple of things you should get in the habit of doing in the long run to avoid the “not enough memory to open this page” error. 

• Regularly update Chrome to the latest version to fix the most common causes. 

• Avoid sites that constantly run scripts, as they will take up a ton of memory. 

• Keep as few tabs active as possible. Use bookmarks and suspend tabs as needed. 

Keeping Chrome Running Smoothly

Chrome’s memory issues can make even high-end systems feel sluggish. Thankfully, there are a number of ways for you to get around these problems.  

Generally, the problem usually boils down to two main reasons. The first is some of your tabs taking up a massive amount of memory due to the websites being heavy, in which case utilizing Chrome’s built-in task manager or memory saver can help you prune the worst offenders. The second is because you’ve installed extensions that are running a ton of scripts constantly. 

If it’s not one of these two problems, then you’ll have to start diving into the settings and use some more esoteric fixes like providing yourself with more VRAM, clearing your cache, and disabling hardware acceleration.  

Lastly, just switching browsers can help. There are plenty of Chrome alternatives out there that use less memory. Check out this article for a list of browsers that use less RAM.

Worst comes to worst, none of these fixes work, and the only method left is to simply go out and buy more RAM. However, we hope that this guide has helped you fix your problem before you reach this point.