Keep Chrome’s memory use in check with Tabs Limiter

Tabs Limiter with queue is a browser extension for Google Chrome that has been designed to limit the number of open tabs in the browser.

Google Chrome is not well suited for large numbers of tabs. Not only are tabs displayed as icons without any identification means when the tab counts reaches a certain threshold,  the browser's memory use is extreme and slowing down operations once the threshold is crossed.

The only option that Chrome users have to deal with those issues, apart from never opening more than ten or so tabs, is to use browser extensions that help mitigate the issue.

Tabs Limiter with queue is a free browser extension for Google Chrome that limits the number of open tabs in Chrome windows automatically.

Tabs Limiter with queue

The core idea behind Tabs Limiter with queue is simple: limit the number of open tabs in any Chrome window by moving excess pages to a queue and loading pages from the queue when tabs are closed.

The default tab limit is set to 10, but you can change it in the preferences and need to know that internal pages and pinned pages don't count against the limit.

Any page that gets opened in a new tab, for instance by middle-clicking on links, is checked against the limit and then either opened directly or added to the queue.

Items are loaded from the queue whenever the tab limit falls under the set threshold.

It is still possible to load more than ten tabs in any Chrome window, as the extension won't interfere if you open a new tab page and use it to load URLs (because opening a new tab manually opens an internal URL).

Tabs Limiter with queue's icon displays the number of pages that are in queue currently. You can click on the icon to display queued pages, and may use drag and drop to reorder them, remove individual pages, or all of them from the queue.

An option to disable the functionality, and to mane saved queues is provided there as well.

The preferences list several interesting options to customize the experience. You may change the tab limit there for instance, disable the extension's context menu entries, or enable slow network mode which sets a maximum number of loaded tabs (which may be difference from the tab limit).

Closing Words

Tabs limiter with queue has been designed to keep Chrome's memory use in check, and to make sure that all open tabs are identifiable in the browser's tab bar.

It is ideal for situations where you want to open a large number of links, for instance multiple image links on Reddit, different YouTube videos, or search results.

It takes some getting used to time as websites may not be opened directly anymore in Chrome once you have installed the extension.