Is Adblock Plus Using Up So Much Memory?

Ad blockers are very popular today. Designed for laptops, smartphones, desktops, and tablets, these browser extensions and apps provide you with the web content you need while removing all those flashing, blinking ads.

One of the most popular ad blockers today is Adblock Plus. It is a free-to-download extension for Internet browsers that keeps pop-up ads and other sorts of interruptions from displaying. Despite its compatibility with almost all web browsers, many users have reportedly experienced problems with it. They are claiming that Adblock is using lots of memory.

So should you install it? Well, why not? Not only does it make your browsing experience faster and safer, it also declutters web pages. Now if you are concerned about the Adblock memory leak problems, fret not. There are ways to fix them. We’ll discuss the workarounds below.

High Memory Usage in Chrome

Do you think that AdblockPlusEngine.exe is possibly leaking memory, especially when Google Chrome is left open for quite some time with lots of tabs? Does Chrome with the Adblock Plus extension frequently crash? Here’s what you should know.

That probably isn’t a memory leak. Adblock Plus is not consuming more memory than it needs, and it is not hoarding any unused memory. It is an issue with how Google Chrome handles memory. As you open a tab or an extension, Chrome will allocate some of the available memory on your computer. When a tab or an extension is closed, it will no longer need the memory. It will be returned or reclaimed to the shared pool in a process called “garbage collection”.

In your case, it seems as if Google Chrome is delaying the entire garbage collection process. The memory that has been allocated to tabs and extensions just keeps adding up, causing Chrome to slow down, become unstable, or worse, crash. Once it crashes, Chrome will eventually free up the memory, but it will take a long time.

If you are experiencing high memory usage in Chrome, then we have possible workarounds for you. Follow the instructions below:

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Go to Adblock’s Options
3. Disable EasyList and Adblock Custom and enable them again.
4. Close Adblock’s Options
5. Restart Google Chrome.

High Memory Usage in Other Browsers

Filter lists play a vital role in how ad blockers block advertisements. Unfortunately, because of the high number of ads all over the web these days, the filter lists have grown to over 100 MB each.

Adblock Plus taps into these filter lists as well to do its job. However, aside from the readily available online filter lists, it also retrieves any custom filters you saved in your computer’s memory. So whenever you open a web browser, it’ll have an initial heavy impact on your computer memory’s resources. But eventually, it will lower down since Adblock only runs on a tab-to-tab basis.

While the creators of Adblock are continuously working to further minimize the memory usage of the extension, you can do something to minimize the initial memory usage of Adblock Plus.

Follow the steps below:

1. Launch Google Chrome.
2. Open Adblock’s Options
3. Disable any filter lists you don’t need.
4. Close Adblock’s Options
5. Next, close any unnecessary tabs. Remember that Adblock runs on every tab, so the more tabs you open, the more memory is used. If you need to open lots of tabs, consider installing an extension that suspends unused tabs so they don’t consume resources.
6. Unsubscribe from EasyList and subscribe again without element hiding. We’ll discuss this further below.
7. Restart Google Chrome.

What Is EasyList?

Aside from the online filter lists and custom filters you have on your computer, Adblock Plus also loads a style sheet that does two important things. First, it hides the ads that cannot be blocked. Second, it improves the look of web pages by hiding the unnecessary spaces where the ads are supposed to appear.

Since this style sheet is huge, it will need a lot of memory to load. This is where EasyList comes in. EasyList is a set of rules designed for Adblock that automatically removes unnecessary content from the web, including adverts, annoying banners, and cookies.

To disable the heavy style sheet that Adblock loads, users can subscribe to the EasyList without element hiding version instead. Although doing so will free up more memory, it will also result in seeing ads that cannot be entirely blocked and web pages that contain lots of empty spaces.

If you want to subscribe to EasyList without element hiding, follow these steps:

1. Launch your web browser.
2. Click the Adblock
3. Select
4. Navigate to the Filter Lists
5. Uncheck the EasyList option to unsubscribe.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter this into the URL box: https://easylist-downloads.adblockplus.org/easylist_noelemhide.txt
7. Click

You may also subscribe to EasyList Lite. It is a special, lighter version of EasyList that is designed to help reduce Adblock’s memory usage. However, this version only applies filter rules for the most frequently visited websites. That means if you visit a lesser known website, you can still see ads.

Wrapping Up

The sad truth is that advertising seems to be the only way to pay for web content right now. It’s like ads in magazines and newspapers. The revenue generated from these ads are used to pay people who create the content, and so on.

However, with tools like Adblock Plus, everyone can still enjoy distraction-free browsing. Just don’t be discouraged with issues associated with them. There are always workarounds like what we discussed above.

To further improve your computer’s memory and have a better browsing experience, you might want to consider installing Outbyte PC Repair. This tool optimizes your RAM, clearing the apps, processes, and cache leftovers you don’t need. As a result, you’ll have more memory for more important tasks, and your computer will work even faster.

Do you know other problems with Adblock Plus or do you know other ways to minimize the memory usage of your web browsers? Please let us know in the comments section.