Google’s latest Chrome browser modes can boost battery life and free up memory

New Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes can extend battery when a device is low on power and reduce memory being hogged by tabs.

by Jess Weatherbed

Dec 8, 2022, 5:00 PM UTC

An illustration. On the left, a representation of a computer chip is linked to a power gauge, while on the right, a leaf with a lightning bolt is connected to a seemingly drained battery.

Google is introducing new Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes to its Google Chrome web browser.

Image: Google

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Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.

Google’s Chrome desktop web browser has two new performance modes — Memory Saver and Energy Saver — available starting today. The new modes allow users to reduce Chrome’s memory usage by up to 30 percent and extend battery life when a device is running low on power, according to Google.

Memory Saver mode frees up memory from tabs that aren’t currently in use, which should provide a smoother browsing experience. You can also mark important websites as exempt from Memory Saver to keep them operating at max performance.

A gif showing Google Chrome’s new Memory saver mode in action. The gif zooms into the taskbar and provides an example text box.

Memory Saver mode uses up to 30 percent less memory when active.

Image: Google

Energy Saver mode optimizes potential battery life by limiting background activity and visual effects (such as smooth scrolling) on websites with animations or videos when a device running Chrome is reduced to 20 percent battery. Although it’s not clear how long the battery life could potentially be extended, every minute counts when you forget your charger.

A gif of Google Chrome’s new Energy Saver mode. The gif zooms into a desktop taskbar on Chrome, showing a text box that says “Background activity and some visual effects like smooth scrolling, may be limited.”

Energy Saver mode restricts power to website effects running in the background when your device hits 20 percent battery, extending how the remaining power can be used before charging.

Image: Google

Both of the new modes started rolling out today as part of the latest Chrome release for desktop (m108) and will be globally available sometime in the coming weeks. When Memory Saver and Energy Saver arrive on your device, you can locate them under the three-dot settings menu in Chrome. Both features can be enabled or disabled independently.

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