How to Make Chrome Use Less Battery on MacBook

If you are wondering how to make Chrome use less battery on your MacBook, you are not alone. Many MacBook users notice that Chrome drains battery significantly faster than other browsers, and it can be frustrating when you need your laptop to last through a long workday or a flight. The good news is there are several practical steps you can take to reduce Chrome’s battery consumption and get more time out of each charge.

Why Chrome Uses So Much Battery on MacBook

Chrome is a powerful browser with many features, but those features come at a cost. The browser runs each tab as a separate process, which means multiple tabs use multiple sets of resources. When you have many tabs open, Chrome continues running content in the background, playing animations, updating live feeds, and keeping connections active even when you are not looking at those tabs.

On a MacBook, this becomes particularly noticeable because Chrome does not take full advantage of Apple’s hardware optimization the way Safari does. Apple builds Safari to work closely with MacBook hardware, using efficiency cores and hardware video decoding. Chrome, being a cross-platform browser, cannot optimize as deeply for Apple silicon, so it relies more on software processing, which uses more energy.

Another factor is extensions. Many extensions run constantly in the background, checking for updates, monitoring page content, or tracking your activity. Each extension adds to the overall battery drain, and if you have several installed, the cumulative effect can be substantial.

Close Unused Tabs

The simplest and most effective way to reduce Chrome’s battery usage is to close tabs you are not using. Every open tab consumes memory and CPU resources, even when sitting in the background. If you tend to keep dozens of tabs open for later, consider closing the ones you do not need right now and using bookmarks to save them instead.

You can also use Chrome’s built-in tab suspension feature. When enabled, Chrome can automatically suspend tabs that have been inactive for a while, freeing up resources. To find this option, go to Settings, look for Performance, and enable the memory saver feature which includes tab suspension.

For more control over tab management, consider using Tab Suspender Pro, a Chrome extension designed specifically to automatically suspend inactive tabs and reduce battery usage. It works intelligently to suspend tabs you have not looked at in a while, bringing them back to life with a click when you need them again. This is one solution that many MacBook users find helpful for extending battery life without changing their browsing habits.

Manage Chrome Extensions

Extensions are useful, but they can be battery drainers. Take a few minutes to review which extensions you actually use regularly. Open Chrome and go to Extensions, then click Manage Extensions to see the list. Remove any extensions you have not used in the past month.

For the extensions you keep, check if they have options to reduce their activity. Some extensions run continuously in the background, while others only need to work when you click them. Look for extension settings that let you control when the extension is active, and consider disabling extensions that do not need to run on every website.

Use Chrome’s Energy Saver Mode

Chrome has a built-in Energy Saver mode that helps reduce battery consumption. When your MacBook is running on battery, Chrome can limit background activity and reduce visual effects to save power.

To enable this, open Chrome Settings and look for the Performance section. Turn on the Energy Saver mode when battery is below a certain level. You can also manually enable it whenever you need to extend your battery life. This feature is particularly useful when you know you will be away from a charger for an extended period.

Disable Unnecessary Background Processes

Chrome often runs processes in the background even after you close the browser window. To prevent this, go to Chrome Settings, find the System section, and make sure the option to continue running background apps when Chrome is closed is turned off.

You can also check what Chrome is doing at any moment by opening the Chrome Task Manager. Right-click on the browser window title bar and select Task Manager, or use the keyboard shortcut Command + Escape. This shows you which tabs and extensions are using the most resources. If you see something using unexpectedly high CPU, consider closing that tab or disabling the related extension.

Keep Chrome Updated

Google regularly releases updates that include performance improvements and bug fixes. Some of these updates specifically address battery efficiency. Make sure Chrome is set to update automatically, or check for updates regularly by going to Chrome Settings and looking for the About Chrome section.

An outdated version of Chrome may be less efficient and could have bugs that cause excessive battery drain. Keeping it updated ensures you benefit from the latest optimizations.

Consider Your Tab Habits

Beyond the technical settings, your browsing habits play a huge role in battery consumption. Try to develop the habit of closing tabs you are done with rather than leaving them open. Use bookmarks or a read-later service like Pocket or Instapaper to save articles you want to read later. This way, you keep your active tab count low without losing access to content you want to return to.

When you need to research a topic, try opening just a few tabs at a time rather than dozens. If you find yourself frequently opening many tabs, Tab Suspender Pro can help automate the process of suspending the ones you are not actively using, making it easier to keep your workflow while still saving battery.

Use Dark Mode

Using dark mode in Chrome and on websites can help reduce battery consumption on MacBooks with OLED displays. While most MacBook models use LCD screens, dark mode still reduces the brightness of white elements, which can help extend battery life slightly. Chrome’s appearance settings let you force dark mode on websites that support it.

Make Sure Hardware Acceleration Is Enabled

Hardware acceleration allows Chrome to use your MacBook’s GPU for certain tasks rather than the CPU, which can be more efficient. Make sure this is enabled in Chrome Settings under the System section. If it is disabled, enabling it can sometimes improve performance and reduce battery usage.

Wrapping Up

Reducing Chrome’s battery usage on your MacBook is a combination of adjusting settings, managing extensions, and developing better tab habits. Start with closing unused tabs and disabling extensions you do not need. Enable Chrome’s Energy Saver mode and keep the browser updated. Consider using Tab Suspender Pro as a helpful tool to automatically manage inactive tabs and extend your battery life.

With these changes, you should notice a meaningful improvement in how long your MacBook battery lasts during browsing sessions. Small adjustments add up, and the cumulative effect can give you an extra hour or more of productive use before you need to reach for your charger.

Tips from the team behind Tab Suspender Pro and the Zovo extension suite at zovo.one