Firefox - the memory hog

[elgrecomac]

I like Firefox as a browser. I find it easier to use than Safari. BUT....

Firefox CONSUMES memory and impacts performance much more that safari.

Yes...
* I am running the most current version of FF
* I do not have flash running all the time. It is run on-demand only.
* got rid of several plug-ins.
* I have done all that FF forums have said to do to improve performance

but its still a pig. It drains memory to ZERO and then my systems just locks. This never happens with Safari.

So, I'm back to Safari...or perhaps chrome.

 

[glenthompson]

I was a Firefox user for years but switched to Safari completely mainly for bookmarks syncing between my MBP and my idevices. It works well for my needs. I only use Firefox on Windows.

 

[DFWHD]

This seems unusual. I'm by no means an expert, but have been using Firefox since I switched to mac about 18 months back and have not encountered this. Right now I have about 12 tabs open end am only using 391 MB.

On the other hand, I'd love to use Safari, but it does not remember zoom level, which I use on all web pages due to my eyes.

 

[SaSaSushi]

I've been a Firefox user for many years now and also don't experience these problems. I rely on a set of extensions that are not available in any other browsers.

 

[phrehdd]

I like Firefox but admit that when I go to some sites, my computer strangely freezes up to the point it has to be re-started. I am unsure what causes it but I don't seem to recall the problem with Safari. I still use Firefox but am a bit more careful in keeping it tidy if it is open for more than 3 days.

 

[DFWHD]

I like Firefox but admit that when I go to some sites, my computer strangely freezes up to the point it has to be re-started. I am unsure what causes it but I don't seem to recall the problem with Safari. I still use Firefox but am a bit more careful in keeping it tidy if it is open for more than 3 days.

Is is possible that the web sites visited could be causing the issue? Maybe a script on the page?

 

[oldhifi]

The last time I used FF I had malware, and yes I know it only executes on windows.

 

[SaSaSushi]

The last time I used FF I had malware, and yes I know it only executes on windows.

Please define "had malware".

Visit the same sites you were accessing from Firefox with your other browsers and you can "have malware" with them too.

 

[barkmonster]

Never had any issues myself and been using it for years.

Maybe list your Firefox plugins and extensions to see if anyone has similar issues. It could be an add-on with a memory leak.

 

[oldhifi]

Please define "had malware".

Visit the same sites you were accessing from Firefox with your other browsers and you can "have malware" with them too.

I did a scan with ClamXv and it was there..I was using FF as my browser. I use Safari and Chrome with no problems..

 

[Praxis91]

I just switched from FF to Chrome. I always have at least 6-8 tabs open at any given time. My main plugins are Adblock Plus and Do Not Track... which uses almost 1gb of RAM.. doesn't matter if it's FF on Mac or PC.

The same stuff in Chrome uses 400-500mb.

 

[phrehdd]

Is is possible that the web sites visited could be causing the issue? Maybe a script on the page?

Yes, it is possible that something on the web page is causing the issue mentioned. It is peculiar that the entire computer freezes up. One would hope that browsers would be isolated enough to avoid a "take over" of the entire operating system functioning.

I like Safari but at times it too can have its own issues which are a bit different.

 

[DFWHD]

I just switched from FF to Chrome. I always have at least 6-8 tabs open at any given time. My main plugins are Adblock Plus and Do Not Track... which uses almost 1gb of RAM.. doesn't matter if it's FF on Mac or PC.

The same stuff in Chrome uses 400-500mb.

I'm running addblock as well and a bunch of others, so maybe it's the DNT plugin?

 

[matthewcornell]

long time Firefox user on Mac - verifing memory hogginess

It's always used a ton of RAM since way back. Here's a screen shot of it after only five minutes nad <10 tabs. It will quickly reach >1GB of ram until I have to restart. Also, it's a CPU hog. I really need to switch to Chrome or Safari, but equivalent plugins need to be found first. Oink!

(Unrelated, but what's also very upsetting is their arrogance re: yanking features out and at the same time making it nearly impossible to /not/ upgrade to the latest.)

 

[Remag1234]

Firefox 16.0

WOW, I never read so much "??". I'm using Firefox 16.0 with OSX 5.8- 4GB Ram, yes it's old and do not have any problems with Firefox. So I cannot understand all the "stuff" I have read here. I have used Safari, but prefer Firefox.

 

[2984839]

I'm really unhappy with the way Firefox is going. I have tested every release since 26.0 on the same hardware with the same OS and each one has gotten slower and has used more RAM. The codebase is so massive now that you can't compile it on a 32 bit system.

I don't even use Firefox on Fedora anymore and only tolerate it on OpenBSD because it's really the only choice for a Javascript enabled browser on the PowerPC. On my PowerBook right now FF 26 is using 191 MB of RAM. On Fedora, FF 30 is about twice that.

 

[matthewcornell]

WOW, I never read so much "??". I'm using Firefox 16.0 with OSX 5.8- 4GB Ram, yes it's old and do not have any problems with Firefox. So I cannot understand all the "stuff" I have read here. I have used Safari, but prefer Firefox.

Well, the main point is about newer versions. I tried to fight the forced upgrades for a while but gave up because developer arrogance made it so difficult to do so. So consider yourself fortunate.

 

[roadbloc]

Ever considered Firefox is simply taking resources because it can? I use TenFourFox (a PPC version of Firefox) on my G4 and it's running smooth on just under 200MB of RAM.

I mean, as long as FF isn't using ALL of your resources and is crippling your Mac, is there really a problem?

 

[matthewcornell]

Ever considered Firefox is simply taking resources because it can? I use TenFourFox (a PPC version of Firefox) on my G4 and it's running smooth on just under 200MB of RAM.

I mean, as long as FF isn't using ALL of your resources and is crippling your Mac, is there really a problem?

Yes, in fact there's a name for things that take all the resources they can ;-) Oink.

FF's poor programming and greediness causes ALL SORTS of problems. It bogs down and becomes slow. It freezes. It hits the disk constantly. It slows down other apps. It limits how many tabs I can use. And on and on. Incredibly disappointing.

 

[roadbloc]

Yes, in fact there's a name for things that take all the resources they can ;-) Oink.

FF's poor programming and greediness causes ALL SORTS of problems. It bogs down and becomes slow. It freezes. It hits the disk constantly. It slows down other apps. It limits how many tabs I can use. And on and on. Incredibly disappointing.

Never experienced any of this and I've used FF since version 2. Maybe FF isn't the web browser for you, you should change to another for a better experience? My experience with FF is that if you have plenty of resources free and available, it will take and use them. But if you don't, it won't. And things work fine anyway.

This is FF on the laptop I'm currently using (some Dell thing with core 2 duo and 2GB of RAM). It works fine and rarely peaks over 300MB of RAM. But my beefy gaming rig, FF often takes a good half a gig of RAM. Am I bothered about this? Not really. It has never become a problem in my eyes.

 

[elgrecomac]

Ok...

I have officially switch from FF to Chrome.