Recommended Posts

Ok this is what I need. If you guys can post exact steps to reproduce memory leaks please post the exact steps to reproduce eg.. Url to the site, what you did on the site (like right clicked and opened 20 pictures in tabs or new windows, or right clicked and saved to my hard drive) and how much memory was being used. Please do not post if you are not using Firefox 1.5 or older because the bugs will not be fixed in those releases...need to make sure the leaks are in the current releases.

Please do not post here to complain about your memory issues! All I want is the steps to reproduce them

Helpful posts:

1) URL

2) What you was doing and steps to reproduce

3) Memory being used

4) Build ID via Help->About Firefox

Not helpful:

1) Not using Firefox 1.5 or newer (Newer=Branch builds, 1.5.0.1 test build, trunk builds)

2) Trolling saying firefox sux or the like (Will be reported)

3) No steps to reproduce, need at least the URL

Thanks!

EDIT: Forgot to mention why I need this. I got some tools to trace leaks in Firefox and hopefully I can disect these leaks and get em fixed.

Edited by supernova_00
Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/420311-firefox-memory-leaks/
Share on other sites

Embedded videos and flash use up more memory than they should. Firefox retains most of the files or plugin data even after the page is closed. Starting with 35mb, my memory usage went up to 100mb after playing a few embedded videos (putfile.com, video.google.com, etc) and flash movies. With the video pages now closed, no more movies loaded, memory usage is still 91mb with one browser window open (this reply).

The way Firefox retains certain data should definitely be looked at. I think it is one thing that contributes to the "memory leaks."

I've been trying out those sites all night and some of this morning and can't get firefox to leak. Do you have any extensions installed that interact with these videos in any way? Adblock, getflash, flashblock, and plugins for obscure players other then wmp.

Thing is, if the extensions are the ones leaking...we really can't do anything to fix those except the users can notify the extension authors.

EDIT: Managed to find memory leaking with software update and customizing the toolbar. :) Sofware update memory leak is when you upgrade and select 'Later' to restart later after upgrading and you continue to surf.

Customize bug is just opening the customize pallet and closing it.

No leaks there. High memory due to fast back navigation. Go through all 8 pages (i have neowin show me 40 posts per page) then look at memory useage, then go to yahoo, google, msn, hotmail, ebay then look at the ram useage...it droped from around 117mb to around 30. Firefox makes use of fast back navigation where it caches last 5 pages shown in that tab.

I'd like to see someone who does see these ultra-high memory situations install the trunk and create a new profile and install the extensions they normally do, and then see if it still happens. If it does, then we can get them to log and see if what they're seeing really is a leak, or just memory usage.

Coz I sure as hell can't repo these OMG FIREFOX USES A GAZILLION MB OF MEMORY complaints.

Exactly! All these people complain but no one posts the site that they say happened on, or give steps to reproduce. Plus they have about 50 extensions so no wonder there is a leak somewhere from these half finished code extensions installed especially the people that bump the maxversions and the extension still use some old outdated code that slows stuff down and probably causes the memory leaks in the first place.

BTW the reason I did post link to the tools, build and steps to install of the stuff needed to check for leaks is because its too complicated for most to understand and a million bugs would be filed in firefox and they really wouldnt be true bugs because the user did not have a fresh clean profile, no extensions or themes, homepage set to about:blank, go to the website that they thing is leaking, then close firefox and run the perl script over the log. then try to reproduce if they think they found a link. All they would do is file a bug saying firefox sux because it used 100mb ram on XXX page and they have a list of 30 extensions installed, didn't clean the cache first, and was surfing all day before they ran the script.

Ya... think that the 1.5 have maybe a leek... not sure...

In normal time back in the 1.0.7 times it was using way less memory,

I didn't see that before since i'm actually with 1GB of RAM ratter than 512MB.

But when I was browsing Neowin normally I was about 70MB RAM.

Now at the time I write this message it take 187MB (176MB Virtual)

Build ID: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows AM 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8) Gecko/20051111 Firefox/1.5

Well, I will close FF and try to look where it use lot of memory...

It can't use that from the start heh?

NI3NOR: Firefox 1.5 will use more memory because of the new fastback cache feature. Caches last 5 pages you visited in each tab. Disable that feature if you think firefox is using too much memory and you dont normally or care about a little bit faster back/forward navigation

NI3NOR: Firefox 1.5 will use more memory because of the new fastback cache feature. Caches last 5 pages you visited in each tab. Disable that feature if you think firefox is using too much memory and you dont normally or care about a little bit faster back/forward navigation

heh? indeed this can be usefull but i'm a guy that like to have 15 tabs... you see and i'm browsing lot of Pictures sites...

Where I can disable this in about:config ?

I did not even have that preference in my about:config, so I had to add it. Hopefully this will cut down on the memory usage. At any given time, Firefox uses about 60MB of memory. It probably has to do with themes and extensions and such, but I only have a few extensions loaded (ForecastFox, Adblock, and a few other small ones for convenience tasks like Paste And Go).

-- OxygenOne

Eww...

Ya, this option wasn't here, so I had created it and put it at 0

now browsing like a RoadRunner on some sites to check the Ram and still high for me....

142MB RAM (131MB Vir)

Offtopic:

You should add a little guide to about:config in your site,

and finally put an option screen to your extention toolbar cleenup ^^ (I HATE to hide my searchbar... but the rest is nice...)

I put in the faq about high memory useage, which points to a great thread on mozillazine...should read that.

I really want to put an options menu in my extension but I've tried and failed to get it working. I've asked for help on mozillazine and here but no one voluntered :( but thats for another topic.

EDIT: btw make sure you restarted after you added that entry to about:config

I always forgot to mention to disable prefetch. It loads everylink into the cache incase you click on the link the page will load faster. If your on a page with links to lots of pics no wonder why your get high memory useage. I feel that people that use fastback cache + prefectcing are the ones suffering the most.

'network.prefetch-next' is the entry

I often do alot of browsing, and today i had 50+ tabs open at one time, each page holding multiple frames. Those pages holds alot of images and text but I often close them after 20 secs. The main problem is that Firefox keeps the stuff in memory instead of writing it to the cache. Clearing your private data seems to help alot on the memory useage, but doesn't unload it all. (today firefix suddently went up to 1GB+ memory useage but i only have 512 mb ram.)

I have prefetch disabled.

I don't know if this could be related to a memory leak, but Gmail notifier often crash Firefox just after you received a mail and click the button to open your gmail inbox (before the toaster window is gone)

Thanks for the FAQ link... reading about it right now...

Sorry to don't help you that mush with your search of memory leaks...

BUT! AdBlock is T3H **** MEMORY LEAKER! *yells at it*

Actually I think I have save 100MB ( !!! ) by reading the FAQ and of course REMOVE adblock in order to put Adblock Plus!

(And now i don't feel guilty... I have a White list for good site to just "hide" thiere Ads WOOT!)

Edit: Just to inform that it use actually 78MB (67MB Vir)

After another rought browsing in DA/NW - Desktop Thread/Some random search in Google Image...

it's really nicer...

supernova_00,

You have helped me too. :) Setting network.prefetch-next to false seems to help release memory and virtual memory after having employed the extension Browse Images, which uses a lot of those two. Curiously enough the memory and virtual memory do not get released after having loaded and gone away from a page with many images using only firefox, and not Browse Images. But I've read that firefox itself has issues with displaying images, so I suspected it. I'm sure the firefox team is looking into this, and I wish them (you?) good luck!

Again, thanks!

(Sorry for not providing an url, but it happens on every page with many images, and I also thought that my gratitude would make up for the lack of an url. :) )

? Artifex ?

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Microsoft launches Godot Sample to streamline Xbox PC game development on the engine by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Microsoft today announced a new endeavor that aims to make it simpler for Godot developers to get their products into the Xbox PC ecosystem. Dubbed the "XBOX Godot Sample," this is a new public reference for developers using the open-source engine. This is set to serve as an example of how Microsoft GDK, Xbox Services, and PlayFab can be integrated into their projects. The sample is available now on GitHub as a working example. This covers key features in gaming projects that developers may need to release their projects on Xbox PC, with everything from matchmaking and game sign-in to gamepad compatibility with Godot being covered. This release is being called the first step in giving Godot developers the tools to bring their games over to Xbox PC, with more changes to come based on feedback and issue reports. However, the company was clear that this is not related to bringing Godot projects to Xbox consoles. The engine's open development model stops it from accessing console SDKs due to the requirement of NDAs and legal contracts. Here's how it explained this Godot sample project's focus: This is a source-only sample, not a product. It's MIT-licensed at the wrapper layer; the GDK and PlayFab dependencies still require their own installs and license acceptance, consistent with our other XBOX samples. There is no set update cadence for support or maintenance. We’ll watch the repo, monitor issues, and iterate where it makes sense, but this isn't a commercial release. That said, we’re excited to hear your feedback and see any community PRs, as we evolve this together. This is the first step in bringing Godot for XBOX on PC. We plan to evolve it over time based on what the community tells us is most valuable. This sample is built specifically for XBOX on PC. It doesn’t include support for XBOX Series X|S or XBOX One. If you’re already building for XBOX Series X|S or XBOX One, please talk with your XBOX representative. If not, you can get started by signing up here. Game developers can find the XBOX Godot Sample by heading to GitHub over here. Documentation on how to get started with Godot for building an Xbox PC project can be seen here.
    • I don't understand the vision. Do people really want to buy a new computer from Dell with 6 browsers installed? We all keep asking for Microsoft to stop having so much junk on their OS, and adding a bunch of browsers seems to go against that. Ideally, we would just be asked what browser we want during OOBE but Google is just going to pay Dell a bunch of money to include Chrome. Additionally, would you want your phones to start including all the browsers too when you get them? The only thing I ever wanted was to be able to uninstall IE or edge and I believe you are now able to. I do agree that microsoft needs to chill with their "are you sure you don't want to try edge before you install chrome" ads when going to download chrome.
    • It is notable that around 70% of web browser users choose Google Chrome. However, it is puzzling why anyone on Windows would opt for Chrome when Microsoft Edge is often superior in many aspects and comes pre-installed. Edge collects less data, uses less RAM, and is more optimized for Windows as a native Microsoft product. While some may point to bloat in Edge, much of it can be removed with simple tools, requiring no more effort than installing Chrome. Meanwhile, Chrome reportedly downloads large amounts of AI data (4 GB) without explicit consent. I'm sure you Chrome users love that, or? Although Microsoft’s aggressive promotion of Edge may be questionable, the browser’s current advantages make it a preferable choice over Chrome today, even if Chrome may have been better in the past.
    • JetBrains rolls out IntelliJ IDEA update with Markdown preview fixes and more by David Uzondu Image via JetBrains IntelliJ 2026.1.3 from JetBrains has landed, bringing several highly requested bug fixes that target common UI glitches and terminal rendering issues. If you run tmux inside the integrated terminal, the IDE no longer renders the cursor above the active line. The Markdown preview bug, which was fixed in this release, had annoyed developers for quite some time, as the preview pane failed to render images saved outside the project directory. Instead of displaying the actual image, the IDE simply showed a broken image icon, a problem that stuck around for two years before this update. Over on Windows, developers running WSL can now use wsl.exe to spin up their environments without losing terminal functionality. In previous builds, launching a terminal shell with something like wsl.exe -d ubuntu inside a Windows-based project broke both shell integration and active process detection. Other bug fixes in this release include: An issue where Gradle sync incorrectly reported success as a failure on WSL when using Gradle 9.5.0. A syntax highlighting bug that flagged valid Java for-loop initialization blocks with multiple statements as incorrect. A warning bug that triggered a false non-null local variable alert when using JSpecify annotations. A database generation bug that hid the option to use a DELETE statement instead of a TRUNCATE checkbox. A Kotlin highlighting failure where an assertion error in the Gradle redundant library inspection broke error highlighting. A UI bug where the ComboBox popup lacked a maximum height restriction. A Snowflake syntax error where DataGrip failed to support the "create temp" command. A Svelte syntax parsing failure that incorrectly flagged quotes inside inline expressions. A VCS repository manager deadlock that triggered thread pool exhaustion. A memory leak where the LazyTree component kept all previous versions of a tree in memory. IntelliJ 2026.1.3 is the third bug fix release for the IntelliJ 2026.1 series. The first one landed back in April with a fix for the WSL Python interpreter freeze, another fix for guest participants using Emmet abbreviations, and corrected WildFly server deployment errors.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Collaborator
      Asgardi earned a badge
      Collaborator
    • Conversation Starter
      mobandz earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Apprentice
      fernan99 went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • One Month Later
      nothanks earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      B2Proxy earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      469
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      243
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      79
    4. 4
      FloatingFatMan
      73
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      60
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!