When you visit websites, your browser stores elements like images and scripts in the cache for quicker access. Similarly, cookies store information about your browsing sessions. Over time, if you have a large number of open tabs or haven’t cleared your browsing data, the accumulation of cached files and cookies can consume significant memory.
This increased memory usage may lead to performance issues and, in extreme cases, trigger the “out of memory” error, especially on systems with limited RAM. To address this issue, you try clearing the browser cache and cookies, which free up memory resources and, hopefully, fix the issue. However, it is important to note that clearing cookies may sign you out of websites, and you may lose some saved preferences on websites.
To clear browser cache and cookies:
- In Chrome, click on the three vertical dots in the top-right corner to open the menu.
- Select Settings.
- Scroll down and click on Privacy and security in the left sidebar.
- Click on Clear browsing data.
- In the popup window, select the “Cached images and files” and the “Cookies and other site data” options.
- You can also choose the time range for which you want to clear the cache. If you want to clear all, select All time.
- Click Clear data.
Once done, try loading a website to check if the memory error is fixed. You can also turn off third-party cookies in Chrome to prevent such issues in the future.
