A Firefox User Accumulated Nearly 7,500 Tabs In A Single Session Over 2 Years
A Firefox User Accumulated Nearly 7,500 Tabs In A Single Session Over 2 Years
There are two types of web browser users: one that keeps their tabs tidy and clean, and one that keeps tens, if not hundreds of tabs sitting behind. But this software engineer who goes by the name of Hazel didn’t just keep hundreds of tabs open – she has managed to accumulate a total of 7,470 tabs opened on her browser of choice, Firefox.
However, this was only revealed when she initially posted on X (Twitter) stating that all seven thousand-plus tabs she had kept open for over 2 years were lost when the browser refused to restore the browsing session. Thankfully, she managed to bring back all 7,470 tabs via a Firefox profile cache, and despite the seemingly huge number of tabs involved – the restore process took “no more than a minute”, she told PCMag.
Image: Hazel (@sodiumPen) on X/Twitter
As for why she opens this many tabs in the first place, it comes down to nostalgia. “I like to scroll back and see clusters of tabs from months ago – it’s like a trip down memory lane on whatever I was doing/learning about/thinking about,” she says.
It’s reasonable to assume that having this many tabs open may have a significant impact on memory usage. However, Hazel said in a subsequent post that “the memory impact is marginal”, and the session file that contains the information of 7,470 tabs is “only about 70MB.” Firefox’s efficient memory management has allowed the system to function normally, as only the recently opened tabs will load into the system memory.
Mozilla has confirmed to the publication that opening large amounts of tabs consumes “practically no memory whatsoever.” In stark contrast, Google Chrome can consume up to 2GB with just 10 tabs open, according to the publication’s tests. The browser maker plans to roll out a new feature focusing on tab organization later this year.
Pokdepinion: That’s quite an achievement to keep this many tabs in a single session.
