Microsoft Edge launches ‘sleeping tabs’ feature, says memory usage drops by 32%

The software giant said it aims to deliver better browser performance with enhanced speed and responsiveness, while using fewer system resources.

Microsoft Edge launches ‘sleeping tabs’ feature, says memory usage drops by 32%. | Picture by special arrangement.

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Microsoft has released ‘sleeping tabs’ feature for its Edge browser in beta. It is designed to improve memory (RAM) and central processing unit (CPU) usage of the browser.

The software giant said it aims to deliver better browser performance with enhanced speed and responsiveness, while using fewer system resources.

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Microsoft claims the new feature reduces memory usage by 32% on average, and also increases battery life as it uses 37% less CPU on average than a non-sleeping tab. However, the performance varies “depending on configuration and usage,” it added in a blog post.

The feature uses Chromium’s ‘freezing’ technology, which pauses a tab’s script timers. When sleeping tabs is enabled, the inactive background tabs “go to sleep,” after a specific time period, freeing up system resources.

The sleeping tabs can be resumed by clicking on them, and users can also prevent certain sites from going to sleep, by adding them to a block list in settings. Besides, they can set the time after which an inactive tab goes to sleep or turn off the feature as well.

People can try the feature in Microsoft Edge Beta 88, and send feedback to help improve it. Although, the company noted that “some sites might not work as expected after they go to sleep.”