Browsers are notorious for hogging system resources. Open dozens of tabs on a laptop or PC with low RAM and be able to stare at an empty wall for a few minutes. It slows you down and can be quite annoying if it happens often. Microsoft’s Edge has solved this problem with the Sleep Tab feature.
This feature helps you optimize system resources by putting inactive tabs to sleep, quite like sleeping apps on your Android phone. So quite naturally, it reduces the load on the CPU and in the process, allows you to have a distraction-free routine.
So, if you use Microsoft Edge or plan to switch to it soon, here’s how you can enable Sleep Tab.
How does the sleep tab work?
Browsers tend to eat up system resources, and this happens if you have dozens of tabs open together. Even if you don’t actively use those tabs, they still use up resources which can degrade browser performance.
Putting tabs to sleep can reduce memory usage by about 32%
Sleep tabs help prevent that. It puts inactive tabs to sleep and thus frees up CPU resources. According to Microsoft, putting tabs to sleep can reduce memory usage by about 32% on average. At the same time, it also puts less pressure on your laptop’s battery life.
As you might have predicted, you can’t choose which tab goes to sleep. The system automatically recognizes inactive tabs and takes action based on your browser settings.
The opposite can also happen. For example, if you want a tab to never go to sleep, you can whitelist it.
How to enable sleep tab
Enabling the sleep tab is simple and only takes a minute to set up.
Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge and click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner. Now, select Install.
Step 2: Scroll down and select Settings from the left panel. Under Performance Optimization, toggle the switch to Save Resources.
Step 3: Next select the period of inactivity. The default is set for 2 hours, but you can choose a duration as low as 10 minutes.
Step 4: Once done, tap the little Add button to whitelist the sites you don’t want to put to sleep. For example, if you use the web versions of apps like Slack and Basecamp, you can add them to this list to avoid missing notifications and alerts.
And that’s it. You have enabled the sleep tab on your Microsoft Edge.
So how do you recognize a sleeping tab? The color of the tabs will disappear. To wake up a tab, just click on it and that’s it.
Bonus tricks:
Start-up acceleration
Another handy feature of Microsoft Edge is Startup Boost. This is especially useful if you use Edge as your default browser. When enabled, it makes Edge launch quick even when the system is loaded.
According to figures from Microsoft, enabling Startup Boost shows an improvement in time from 29% to 41%.
Like the Sleeping tabs, you can find this feature in the settings. You can navigate through the same path as mentioned earlier.
Or, you can simply type the following in the address bar.
edge://settings/system
Now, all you need to do is flip the switch for the same.
Customize new tab
When you open a new tab on Microsoft Edge, it will give you a lot of options. But honestly, some elements can be a bit distracting. If you often find yourself clicking on the news section (and falling into the rabbit hole), then the best option is to tailor the page to your needs.
Currently, Edge gives you three options—Focused, Inspirational, and Informative. If you want an easy way out, you can simply choose the Focus option. This will remove the background image and add a simple background with just short links below the search bar.
If you are still not satisfied with it, you can customize it to your liking. For example, you can choose to keep the image for the day and remove the quick links and content.
All you need to do is turn off the switches, as shown below.
Last but not least, go to Settings > Appearance, to change the theme to Dark (if your system default theme is not dark).
Activate your browser
The way you customize your browser—bookmarks, new tabs, or extensions—plays an important role in enhancing your productivity and keeping you focused. The idea is to cross the fine line between minimalism and browser overload. Quite useful when working a lot on online tools.
With Sleep Tab enabled, you can rest assured that neither you nor your work will slow down.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
