The Great Suspender alternative: unloading tabs safely in Chrome

The Great Suspender was one of the most popular Chrome extensions: it unloaded tabs you hadn't used so they stopped using memory. In 2021, after it changed hands, Google removed it from the Chrome Web Store and switched it off in people's browsers, flagging it as containing malware. Many people are still looking for a replacement.

First choice: built into Chrome

Chrome now does the core of what The Great Suspender did. Settings → Performance → Memory Saver: tabs you aren't using are unloaded and reload when you click them. Moderate, Balanced and Maximum set how soon. No extension, nothing to trust.

If you want control over when

WithFew (our extension) can unload tabs on the timing you choose. Its Memory saver workflow puts a tab to sleep after 30 minutes unused, in the same place, and reloads it when you click. Social timeout does it for social and video sites only. And its default cleanup goes a step further: unused tabs move into a collapsed Bin group, unloaded, and close days later if you never go back.

WithFew is free for 7 days, then $5 a month.