How To Fix a Memory Leak In Mozilla Firefox

Accounting for 23.6% of all Internet traffic in December 2014, Mozilla Firefox is the world’s second most popular web browser (source). It’s a fast, efficient, customizable browser that’s supported by an active community of developers. However, memory leakage is an all-too-common complaint reported by users. Mozilla Firefox may initially consume just a small amount of RAM when launched, but after a while, its memory usage can quickly rise to 2GB plus, bogging down system resources to a crawl.

So, how do you know whether or not Firefox is experience a memory leak? The easiest way to identify this issue is by running Windows Task Manager (assuming you are running a Windows OS). Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and look for Mozilla Firefox under the tab titled “Processes.” In most instances, Firefox will consume less than 1GB, which shouldn’t cause any issues. If it’s consuming 2GB or more, however, you are probably experiencing a memory leak.

The first step in solving this problem is to make sure you are running the latest version of Firefox. Older versions may appear to function properly, but they often have bugs and vulnerabilities that can negatively impact its performance. Visit https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-version to download the latest version.

How many extensions do you run in Firefox? Extensions will consume both memory and processing power, further slowing down Firefox. Click the open menu button at the top-right corner of your browser, select “Add-ons” and choose the tab labeled “Extensions.” You can then either disable or remove unwanted extensions from Firefox.

Mozilla offers a simple tool for fixing memory leaks and optimizing performance. The next time your browser slows down, type “about:memory” into the address bar and click enter. Under “Free memory,” choose GC for garbage collection, CC for cycle collection, and Minimize memory usage to plug up memory leaks. If all else fails, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing and re-opening it.

Mozilla also suggests upgrading your computer’s RAM to combat a memory leak. This isn’t going to technically fix the problem, but it can reduce the impact of such leaks. By installing additional RAM in your computer, a Firefox memory leak won’t have a significant impact on speed and performance. “If you exhausted all tips in the previous sections and your memory usage is still close to the maximum, maybe it’s time for you to add more memory to your computer. RAM is cheap and will provide a huge performance boost,” wrote Mozilla on its support page.