Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Firefox feeling sluggish? AdBlock Plus may be slowing it, and your computer, to a crawl

Konrad Krawczyk
By
adblock plus legal to use german court 2
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The reason why ad blocking browser add-ons and extensions are so popular, aside from the fact that people generally don’t want to see ads, is that fewer ads means there are more system resources for your Mac or PC to take advantage of, right? For AdBlock Plus, that may not exactly be the case, at least when it comes to using it with Firefox.

Though add-ons like AdBlock Plus prevent a lot of ads from popping up, because of the way it goes about blocking those ads, your computer might be using more resources than it would be if you were to turn the add-on off. According to Nicholas Nethercote, a developer for Mozilla, AdBlock Plus blocks ads by swapping each iframe on whatever website you’re using with another (roughly) 4MB document in order to keep that ad from appearing. An iframe is an HTML document that allows multiple documents from different sources to appear on the same website; that’s how you can have one ad for Huggies, and another ad for Six Flags on the same page.

Recommended Videos

Multiply that by the number of ads that exist on your average Web page these days, and then factor in the number of browser tabs people usually have open. With this in mind, it’s easy to see how your computer could start to choke in a flash.

In Nethercote’s tests, RAM usage, with AdBlock Plus enabled, doubled in one case, and spiked even more drastically in another, though they were conducted using Firefox only. When we conducted our own tests, RAM consumption in Firefox dropped from roughly 630MB with the add-on enabled, to about 525MB when we disabled it.

However, when we tested this with Opera, RAM usage stayed the same, hovering between 152MB and 154MB. The same goes for Google Chrome, which stayed near the 50MB mark whether we had AdBlock Plus enabled or disabled, though ExtremeTech’s Chrome test results reflected a pattern of behavior similar to Firefox’s. Perhaps this effect applies to some browsers, but not others, and other variables that are unaccounted for may be playing a role here as well.

Nevertheless, it appears that, when it comes to AdBlock Plus and Firefox, it’s just not a good marriage.

Topics
Konrad Krawczyk
Konrad Krawczyk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…
The real reason so many laptops have moved to soldered RAM
The Intel 12th-gen Mainboard upgrade for the Framework Laptop.

The completely redesigned Dell XPS 14 and 16 came out this year as two of the most divisive laptops in recent memory. No, it wasn't just the capacitive touch buttons or invisible trackpad that caused an uproar -- it also moved to soldered RAM. This was a big change from the past, where the XPS 15 and 17 were both celebrated for their upgradability.

Of course, Dell isn't the first to make the transition. In fact, they're one of the last, which is what makes the decision so much tougher to swallow. Where soldered RAM was previously limited to just MacBooks and ultrabooks, it's now affecting most high-performance laptops for gaming as well. Even the fantastic ROG Zephyrus G14 moved to soldered memory this year.

Read more
How to check the storage space on your Mac
The About This Mac window showing storage usage, alongside a window offering suggestions on how to save storage spce in MacOS Monterey.

Upgrading storage on your Mac isn't always easy, or even possible, so knowing how much storage space you have, and how to free up more, is a great idea. Often when you buy a Mac, that's the storage you're stuck with -- although external drives and cloud storage are always an option.

Luckily, checking your available storage -- and then freeing up space for the things you want to keep -- is very easy to do. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of checking your Mac’s storage space, then show you a few quick ways of clearing out the junk you no longer need.

Read more
How to update your Gmail picture on desktop and mobile
A man holding a teacup staring at laptop screen.

There are lots of reasons why you'd want to change your Gmail profile picture. Maybe you have a great, new selfie you want to show off. Or you just want to update your work email with a photo that's recent and professional-looking. Whatever the reason, we can help you update your Gmail picture in just a few quick steps. We've also got you covered whether you choose to change your photo via Gmail's desktop website or through its mobile app.

Read more