Google to lower Chrome memory usage with probability distributions

Google is testing a new Memory Saver feature that will hopefully free up even more memory for Chrome users on desktop. The new feature, labeled “Probabilistic Memory Saver Mode,” uses probability distributions to estimate which tabs to keep or discard.

Google first introduced the Chrome Memory Saver feature in December 2022. The mode frees up memory from inactive tabs to provide a smoother browsing experience for the active ones and lower overall Chrome memory usage.

The Probabilistic Memory Saver Mode builds on the existing technology. It estimates the chance of users revisiting tabs based on observations about the tab’s state (via Windows Report).

Chrome desktop browser will get even better at memory management

The tool is designed to keep Chrome tabs with a high chance of revisiting and discards tabs with a low chance, thus saving system memory.

This new probabilistic mode is now available in Chrome Canary version 121. Chrome is offered in four channels: Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary, with the latter being the most experimental.

With that in mind, there’s no release date yet on the Probabilistic Memory Saver Mode for the Stable Chrome browser. Again, Canary is an experimental version and using it can lead to data loss, so, keep that in mind if you want to try out the new Probabilistic Memory Saver Mode.