# Tab Suspender — Free Chrome Extension

> Free Chrome tab suspender: auto-suspend inactive tabs on a timer, protect audio and pinned tabs, and see exactly how much RAM you've freed.

- Canonical: https://www.superchargebrowser.com/features/tab-suspension/
- Extension: performance
- Published: 2026-03-13
- Updated: 2026-05-12
- Source: SuperchargeBrowser (https://www.superchargebrowser.com)

**Looking for a comparison?** See our [Tab Suspender vs Chrome Memory Saver: Real Data (2026)](/library/tab-suspender-vs-chrome-memory-saver/) head-to-head comparison with real RAM benchmarks.

Tab Suspension automatically unloads tabs you haven't touched in a while, freeing the RAM those tabs were holding. When you return to a suspended tab it reloads instantly — you lose nothing except the memory cost of keeping it alive in the background. For anyone who works with dozens of open tabs, this is the single most impactful setting for reducing Chrome's memory footprint.

## How It Works

SuperchargePerformance calls Chrome's native `tabs.discard()` API to unload inactive tabs. Discarding a tab releases the renderer process — the part of Chrome that actually runs the page's JavaScript and holds its rendered content in memory. The tab entry stays in your tab strip, but the process behind it is gone until you click the tab again.

A background timer tracks when you last interacted with each tab. Once a tab has been idle for longer than the configured threshold, it is discarded automatically. Tabs that are actively in use — or that match exemption rules — are never touched.

## Settings

| Level | Inactivity Threshold | Availability |
|-------|----------------------|--------------|
| Low   | 15 minutes           | Free         |
| Med   | 5 minutes            | Free         |
| PRO   | Custom (in seconds)  | PRO          |

The default is **Med (5 minutes)**. PRO users can dial the threshold to any value in seconds, allowing aggressive suspension for memory-constrained machines or a looser schedule for workflows where tabs need to stay warm longer.

### Automatic Exemptions

Certain tabs are always protected regardless of the threshold:

- **Pinned tabs** — kept alive because they often run persistent web apps
- **Tabs playing audio** — never suspended mid-playback
- **Whitelisted sites** — any domain you add to the whitelist is always exempt

## When to Use This

- You regularly have 20+ tabs open and notice Chrome consuming several gigabytes of RAM
- Your machine slows down during long browsing sessions
- You want finer control over Chrome's memory than the built-in Memory Saver provides
- You use a machine with 8 GB of RAM or less

## Privacy

Tab suspension runs entirely on your device. No tab URLs, titles, or activity data leave your browser. The inactivity timer is stored locally and is cleared when you close Chrome.

---

Canonical URL: https://www.superchargebrowser.com/features/tab-suspension/