[Tip] Enable or Disable Memory Saver and Energy Saver Modes in Chrome

Original article posted on November 30, 2022:

This article will help you in enabling or disabling “Memory Saver Mode” and “Battery Saver Mode” features in Google Chrome web browser.

Chrome team has added 2 new performance related features to Chrome 108 and later versions. These new features are called Memory Saver and Batter Saver modes. Both modes have been introduced to improve Chrome performance as well as device battery life.

Memory Saver Mode is also known as High Efficiency mode. This mode has been developed to save user’s computer memory and keep active tabs running smoothly. It helps Chrome in freeing up memory by deactivating inactive tabs. This gives active tabs and other apps more computer resources and keeps Chrome fast. Inactive tabs automatically become active again when the user goes back to them.

Battery Saver Mode is also known as Energy Saver or Power Saver mode. This mode has been developed to extend user’s device battery. It helps Chrome in conserving battery power by reducing image capture rate, video frame rates and limiting background activities and visual effects such as smooth scrolling. When enabled, this mode works automatically whenever user’s device is unplugged or device battery is low.

Battery Saver or Energy Saver mode is only available on devices containing a battery such as laptops and tablets.

New Method to Enable or Disable Memory Saver and Energy Saver Modes in Chrome

If you want to enable or disable the new Memory Saver and Battery Saver modes in Chrome, following steps will help you:

1. Open Google Chrome web browser, click on 3-dots menu (Main Menu) and select Settings option. Alternatively, you can directly open the Settings page by typing chrome://settings/ in Chrome address bar.

2. In left-side pane, click on “Performance” option or tab.

3. In right-side pane, you’ll see dedicated toggle options to enable/disable both Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes in Chrome.

Just set the toggle buttons to ON or OFF for desired mode and it’ll immediately enable/disable the selected mode in your web browser.

Old Method to Turn On/Off Memory Saver and Energy Saver Modes in Chrome

This method was required to enable/disable both features in older versions of Chrome.

These performance features are being rolled out in phases. Some Chrome users have already received the new modes in their browser and some are still waiting for it.

Now there might be two types of Chrome users:

• One who received the new performance modes in Chrome but didn’t like them and now want to disable them.
• Second who haven’t received the new performance modes yet and want to activate and enable them right now.

Fortunately, Google Chrome team has provided a hidden secret preference/flag which can be used to enable or disable the new performance modes in Chrome browser.

1. Open Google Chrome web browser and type chrome://flags/ in address bar and press Enter. It’ll open the advanced configuration page.

2. Now type performance settings in the “Search flags” box.

Look for following options in the results:

3. To activate and enable the new performance modes in Chrome, select Enabled from the drop-down box for the above mentioned options.

To disable the new performance modes in Chrome, select Disabled from the drop-down box for the above mentioned options.

PS: For High Efficiency Mode, extra options are also available to select from the drop-down box: Enabled with 5 seconds/30 seconds/2 minute/1 hour discard.

4. Google Chrome will ask you to restart the browser. Click on “Relaunch now” button to restart Google Chrome.

That’s it. You have successfully enabled/disabled new performance modes in Chrome.

PS: In future, if you decide to restore default setting in Chrome, select “Default” option from the drop-down box for above mentioned options and restart the browser.

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