The Cost of Browser Tab Hoarding

I like to consider myself somewhat of a tab minimalist. At any given time, I rarely have more than 3-5 browser tabs open. To me, this feels natural, organized, intentional. But it seems like most folks use quite a bit more.

Whenever I am on a video call with a coworker, I inevitably see a browser groaning under the weight of dozens (if not hundreds) of tabs. Some people have so many tabs open that the favicons disappear entirely, replaced by thin vertical lines that could represent anything. When I ask about their tab habits, I usually get something like “I know, I know, I should close some of these.”

But should they? I decided to dig into the research to understand what’s really happening when we keep dozens (or hundreds) of browser tabs open. What I found confirms what I suspected: there are real costs to tab hoarding—both technical and psychological.

The Great Tab Divide

Let’s start with the numbers. How many tabs does the average person actually have open?

The data reveals a fascinating polarization. According to a 2025 analysis of Chrome user habits, 52% of users are “light users” with just 1-5 tabs open at any time. On the opposite end of the spectrum, 45% of users in an Open Source survey reported having more than 20 tabs open, with many having too many to count.

There’s remarkably little middle ground. You’re either someone who keeps a few tabs open, or you’re someone drowning in them. The overall average sits at about 11.4 tabs per Chrome session, but averages can be misleading when you’re dealing with such a bimodal distribution. When I asked on Mastodon, the responses I got confirmed the data: you’re either a minimalist, or a hoarder.

The Memory Hunger Games

Here’s where tab hoarding gets expensive (literally). Your browser tabs aren’t just visual clutter; they’re actively consuming your computer’s resources and draining vital power.

Google Chrome (sadly, the world’s most popular browser right now) consumes about 1.4GB of RAM with just 6 tabs open. Scale that up to 20 tabs and you’re looking at 1.9GB. But the real shock comes when you hit typical “tab hoarder” territory: 50 tabs can easily push Chrome to consume 4-6GB of RAM.

To put this in perspective, that’s more memory than many entire applications use. For comparison, Microsoft Edge uses 2.5-4.5GB for the same 50-tab workload, while Firefox (what I currently use) sits at 3-5GB. Chrome’s memory hunger is real, and it scales almost linearly with tab count (source).

This isn’t just about numbers on a performance monitor. When your browser is consuming 4-6GB of RAM, that’s memory your other applications can’t use. Your computer starts swapping to disk, everything slows down, and you might find yourself wondering why your machine feels sluggish despite having “plenty” of RAM when you bought it.

The Psychology of Digital Hoarding

The technical costs are measurable, but the psychological impact might be even more significant. Research from Carnegie Mellon University found that participants with too many tabs open experienced “negative emotions and pressure.” It’s not just anecdotal: there’s a measurable stress response to tab overload.

But here’s the paradox: despite these negative feelings, 59% of users admit they keep unnecessary tabs open but can’t bring themselves to close them. According to the study, the likely culprit is “fear of missing out”. Those tabs represent potential research you might need later, articles you mean to read, tasks you don’t want to forget.

The psychological burden goes beyond just stress. Research shows that multitasking with tabs can reduce productivity by up to 40%, and it takes up to 23 minutes to regain focus after an interruption. When you have dozens of tabs open, each one represents a potential context switch, a mental bookmark that’s occupying cognitive resources even when you’re not actively using it.

There’s even a term for the relief people feel when their browser crashes: “tab bankruptcy.” Like financial bankruptcy, it’s a painful reset that eliminates overwhelming debt; in this case, the debt of accumulated digital intentions.

How Browsers Are Responding

Browser makers have noticed this problem and are fighting back with increasingly sophisticated tab management features. Microsoft Edge leads the charge with “Sleeping Tabs,” which can free up to 85% of memory and 99% of CPU usage for inactive tabs. By default, Edge puts tabs to sleep after just one hour of inactivity, though users can customize this from 30 seconds to 12 hours. I have little love for Microsoft, but I appreciate the attempt to save on CPU (and thus power draw).

Chrome has responded with “Memory Saver” and Firefox offers “Tab Unloading”; all variations on the same theme of suspending inactive tabs to preserve system resources. These features are essentially admitting defeat: instead of encouraging users to close unnecessary tabs, browsers are engineering around the assumption that people will keep everything open.

A Case for Tab Minimalism

Looking at this research, I’m more convinced than ever that tab minimalism isn’t just a personal preference: it’s a more sustainable approach to digital work. When I keep only 3-5 tabs open, I’m not just saving memory; I’m preserving mental bandwidth and reducing energy consumption.

Every open tab is a commitment. It’s saying “this is important enough to keep in my immediate working memory.” When you have 47 tabs open, you’re making 47 commitments simultaneously. That’s not sustainable (at least, it’s not for me!).

This doesn’t mean becoming overly rigid about tab management. There are legitimate use cases for having multiple tabs open: research sessions, comparison shopping, following complex workflows. But there’s a difference between intentional multi-tab work and digital hoarding.

Some Approaches to Tab Sanity

Use bookmarks intentionally. That article you’re “definitely going to read later”? Bookmark it. Your browser tabs aren’t a filing system.

Embrace the search bar. Instead of keeping documentation tabs open “just in case,” trust that you can find them again when you need them. Your browser history and bookmarks are searchable for a reason. If you’re worried about the documentation going away, maybe consider downloading the page (which is great for offline use too!)

Enable sleeping tabs. Whether you use Chrome’s Memory Saver, Edge’s Sleeping Tabs, or Firefox’s Tab Unloading, these features can help mitigate the technical costs of tab accumulation while you work on changing your habits. These also help draw less power which, in turn, should increase your battery length.

Practice tab hygiene. End each work session by consciously closing tabs you no longer need. Think of it like clearing your physical desk at the end of the day. Feels good.

Question tab persistence. Before opening something in a new tab, ask: “Do I need this alongside what I’m currently doing, or am I just avoiding a decision about whether to close my current tab?”

The Bottom Line

The research is clear: tab hoarding comes with real costs. It consumes memory, creates psychological pressure, and fragments attention. While browsers are working hard to engineer around these problems, the most elegant solution remains surprisingly simple: close the tabs you don’t need.

Your computer’s memory will thank you. Your stress levels will thank you. And you might just find that with fewer digital commitments competing for your attention, you can actually focus on the work that matters.

Author’s Note: I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me until I was mostly done writing this post to realize that, for many neurodivergent folks, the advice to “just close the tabs you don’t need” may not be as applicable. I myself am neruotypical and sometimes forget that everyone’s brain processes stuff differently. If this post resonates with you, that’s awesome. If not, that’s totally reasonable too! I certainly don’t want this to come off as “preachy”. If nothing else, I hope the research numbers are interesting!