Fix Firefox high CPU or Memory usage on Windows 10

High CPU or memory usage slows, blocks, or freezes the systems on which Windows 10 is installed. This high CPU utilization can be caused by many processes and applications. If your system displays high CPU usage because of the Firefox process, this article will help you.

High usage of Firefox memory or processor

The main causes of high CPU usage due to Firefox are as follows:

1. Extensions and buggy themes
2. Faulty hardware acceleration
3. Corrupted file content-prefs.sqlite
4. Insufficient RAM in the system
5. Heavy processes running on Firefox.

It is suggested to update Firefox to the latest version as a prevention before troubleshooting. Then you could do the following:

1. Kill the Firefox process and restart it
2. Disable buggy extensions and themes
3. Update the drivers for your system's graphics card
4. Stop heavy downloads and close resource-intensive Web sites
5. Enable hardware acceleration
6. Delete the corrupted content-prefs.sqlite file
7. Reset / refresh Firefox.

If you encounter the problem under discussion, proceed sequentially with the following solutions to resolve it.

1) Kill the Firefox process and restart it

In the case where Firefox consumes a lot of system resources, it can be due to heavy processes or downloads in Firefox. In such a case, right-click the Firefox process in Task Manager and select End process.

Launch Firefox again. This will reopen your tabs.

2) Disable buggy extensions and themes

<img class = "ezlazyload aligncenter wp-image-195668 medium-size” alt=”Disable extensions” width=”400″ height=”213″ sizes=”(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px” src=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Disable-extensions-400×213.png” srcset=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Disable-extensions-400×213.png 400w, https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Disable-extensions-150×80.png 150w, https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Disable-extensions.png 600w”/>

Sometimes themes and extensions on Firefox consume a lot of system resources, even though they may not be visible. To isolate this cause, you can restart Firefox in safe mode and check the system usage in the task manager.

If this helps, try disabling the heavy and unverified extensions as follows:

1. Open the address about: addons in the Firefox address bar.
2. Right click and select deactivate for heavy and unverified extensions.

Restart Firefox.

This article will show you how to fix Firefox problems with add-ons and plugins.

3) Update the drivers for your system's graphics card.

<img class = "ezlazyload aligncenter wp-image-188038 full-size” alt=”Update the graphics card driver” width=”400″ height=”388″ sizes=”(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px” src=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Update-graphics-card-driver.png” srcset=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Update-graphics-card-driver.png 400w, https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Update-graphics-card-driver-150×146.png 150w”/>

The system's graphics card driver makes it easy to run content that contains a lot of graphics in Firefox, such as videos or games. In case it is obsolete, you might encounter problems like the one of discussion. The procedure for updating the drivers of your graphics card is as follows:

Press Win + R to open the Run window and type the command. devmgmt.msc. Press Enter to open the Device Manager.

Develop the list of Screen shots and right click on your Graphic card driver.

To select Update the driver and follow the instructions to update it automatically.

Restart the system.

4) Stop the heavy downloads and close the heavy websites

Firefox is not a heavy browser in itself, however, the use of the system depends on the processes that run it. It is therefore advisable to stop heavy downloads and close down heavy websites in order to reduce the system load. This is especially true for online gaming sites.

5) Enable Hardware Acceleration

Firefox hardware acceleration is enabled by default. It controls to some extent the use of memory when running an intensive graphics support on Firefox. So make sure that the hardware acceleration option is checked in the Firefox settings.

6) Delete the corrupted content-prefs.sqlite file

One of the main causes of Firefox's heavy use of the system is corruption. content-prefs.sqlite file. You can delete this file as follows:

Copy and paste the path about: support on the Firefox browser's address bar. Press Enter to open the Troubleshooting information page.

Under Basics of the applicationyou would find an option name Profile folder. Corresponding to that, there would be a named icon Open file. Please click on it to open the Profile folder.

<img class = "ezlazyload aligncenter wp-image-195669 medium-size” alt=”Open profile folder” width=”400″ height=”263″ sizes=”(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px” src=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Open-Profile-Folder-400×263.png” srcset=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Open-Profile-Folder-400×263.png 400w, https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Open-Profile-Folder-150×99.png 150w, https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Open-Profile-Folder.png 600w”/>

Once Profile folder is open, exit Firefox.

Now, in the profile folder, delete the content-prefs.sqlite file.

<img class = "ezlazyload aligncenter wp-image-195670 full-size” alt=”Delete profile folder” width=”400″ height=”482″ sizes=”(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px” src=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Delete-Profile-Folder.png” srcset=”https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Delete-Profile-Folder.png 400w, https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Delete-Profile-Folder-332×400.png 332w, https://thewindowsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Delete-Profile-Folder-124×150.png 124w”/>

Open the Firefox folder again and start browsing. The file would be recreated.

7) Reset / refresh Firefox

Many times the changed settings in Firefox are causing problems. If you can not find out what's causing you a problem, it's best to reset Firefox. Its also called Refresh Firefox.

If you need additional help, this article will help you resolve Firefox issues.