First question is how are you checking your memory usage ?

• Have you tried keying into your address bar about:memory
• see also Firefox uses too much memory or CPU resources - How to fix

I've posted here:

http://community.webroot.com/t5/Webroot-SecureAnywhere-Antivirus/System-Analyzer-says-potential-leak/m-p/34134#M1565

and confirmed from

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/939920?esab=a&s=Firefox+memory+leak&r=0&as=s
https://support.mozilla.org/questions/942414?esab=a&s=Firefox+memory+leak&r=1&as=s
https://support.mozilla.org/questions/942869?esab=a&s=Firefox+memory+leak&r=6&as=s

Ok so you looked at

• /questions/939920
• /questions/942414
• /questions/942869

But none of them related to Firefox20, and not necessarily your OS. By all means read them and the links they contain but do not take that as an indication it is a general Firefox problem or that they have the same cause as your problem.

I am not sure how useful your post System Analyzer says potential leak! is. There will always be users of any and all browsers finding memory leaks. Firefox has near on 1/2 a Billion users, and is highly customisable.

Yes it has had memory problems, but we are improving on that and the tools available to sort out problems.

• I hope you have telemetry turned on
  Share data with Mozilla to help improve Firefox

Did you read the article I linked to ?

• Firefox uses too much memory or CPU resources - How to fix
• does using about:memory help pin down the leak ?
• also try about:compartments

Have you tried using Firefox in safemode with all plugins disabled?

• Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode

My post System Analyzer says potential leak! is very relevant. You see I've used Webroot System Analyzer. And it reported memory leak in firefox.exe.

Yes I've read the article.

1. Telemetry is enabled. 2. I'm using the latest FF version. 3. I don't use themes. I tried starting FF in safemode. No signficant improvement. 4. I already use ABP and NS to hide intrusive content. 5. My plugin is updated. Apart from Adobe flash every other plugin is disabled. 6. Hardware acceleration is enabled in flash player. 7. Windows UPdate says my graphic drivers are up to date. Firefox hardware acceleration is turned on. 8. I can't use fewer tabs. If I have to use fewer tabs I better change my browser. I don't open that many tabs. Sometimes 15 to 20 at a time.

I don't understand what the data in about:memory and about:compartments say. I'm not that tech savvy.

I am trying to point out that the important facts may not be

• that some utility says you have a memory leak

but

• what effects you are seeing
• and if it is a Firefox memory leak then about:memory and about:compartments should be useful in tracking it down.

I am also not trying to say: never open many tabs, or do not extensions or plugins,
but trying to determine which ones or which websites are causing the problems. You need to do some troubleshooting / testing.

I do not know anything about Webroot System Analyzer but presumably if you were to use Firefox in safe mode with no extensions or plugins enabled the results would be ok. If you discover otherwise maybe you and others can give details. Possibly of course the potential leak! is a false positive.

• How much memory appears to be being used, by Firefox ?
• How much memory (RAM) is available on your system ?
• Is this causing paging ?

Okay you may be right. I haven't faced any prob. Only the analyzer that reported it. I'll let the issue go now. Thank you for helping.

Thanks for posting back. Glad to hear that you are not currently having problems.

Someone may be interested in following it up if the analyser is showing problems, but it is much more important if it is causing problems. (Hopefully now that telemetry is in place and used by some users it should be difficult to miss any Firefox regression causing memory leaks)

If you are taking an interest in Firefox and the improvements being made you may be interested in this

• https://wiki.mozilla.org/Performance/MemShrink
• and especially the blogs https://blog.mozilla.org/nnethercote/about/
  • such as https://blog.mozilla.org/nnethercote/2011/05/23/a-better-aboutmemory-stage-1-75/

Okay thanks for the links. I'll check them out.

OS X 10.8.4, 4GB RAM

Firefox 21.0 (Latest) ZERO Add ons ONE TAB.

Memory marches up without fail to 3GB and then Firefox hangs forever and Force Quit.

This has been a problem for the last 17 versions!

Is the Mozilla team trying to alienate all their former champions?

Why hasn't this been addressed in 17 releases?

Hi curmudgeon,

By all means read other threads and follow any links or advice that may be useful, but if you have your own problem please start your own thread using /questions/new.
(Mention it in this thread once you have asked your own question. I will cross link it to ensure readers of this thread are able to find your question. )

This thread is considered solved, and does not even relate to the same OS.

John99,

  Thank you for bothering to reply.

  Are you saying that no one at Mozilla is aware of this memory leak that has existed since FF4? If I don't create a new post, it's going to continue? How has this been set aside for so long? Here's a fun test: google "Firefox memory leak" without a version number and you will see complaints about it going back years. Why has it been ignored?

Hi curmudgeon99,
Basically yes. That is what I am saying, is likely!

Please remember is that Firefox is highly customisable and multi platform. The userbase is something like 1/2Billion.There will always be some users with memory leaks, and that is in Millions of users even if 99% of users have no problem. New leaks will always be popping up, often relating to third-party software.

There is no point in just complaining that Firefox is bad for you. Let's see if there is anyone who can figure out what your problem is.

With Firefox 4 a regression was initially missed, but was long ago fixed. 

1. A telemetry option has been added so that similar issues are unlikely to be missed in future.
2. That is evolving into the Firefox Health Report (FHR) that will morph into a self diagnostic system
3. The current diagnostics in the form of about:memory will already enable you to see in excruciating detail where most of your Firefox Memory is used.

I am not saying you have no problem. From your description it is bad enough to make Firefox almost unusable. So bad in fact that if you can reliably recreate the issue a bug needs to be filed.

_{New thread /questions/962986}

I have been a professional software engineer for sixteen years, so I full well understand the issues with software quality, especially for an application written in C++.

I am using FF unmodified, with no add ons for the reasons you specified. I also grasp that this is a free product.

Thank you for attempting to help me. I am honestly grateful. I will report back on my testing. Thank you.

I am running Windows 7 with Firefox 23.0.1. Every Windows version of Firefox that I've run have had memory leaks, but this version of Firefox is the worst. Whether I have one tab open or several or whether I'm doing something, the memory use grows by about 300 Megabytes per hour, and eventually it gets much too slow. I use Task Manager to see memory usage.

The performance monitor add on is no use whatever.

You can use about:memory to both accurately monitor memory use, including masses of information, and also to actually reduce the memory use.

Please start a new thread of your own.

• use /questions/new

If you wish post back here to confirm once you have done so. Thousands of people view this thread and some may be interested in your question and progress but not in this thread please.

Note

• The OP is using a Mac you are using Windows.
• You will not get developer attention by posting in this forum.
• You may get an answer and solution to your own specific problem if you give enough information, and if necessary and a Firefox issue is discovered a bug may be filed for developers to investigate. We may be able to assist in doing that.

Hi johnrsharp37

Did you check for issues caused by extensions?

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes