Hibernate and memory saving
A hibernated tab stays in the tab strip with its title and icon, but stops using memory and processor. When you click it, it reloads.
Browsers have their own memory saver, but it is careful: it waits a while, and skips many tabs. SessionPaw lets you put whole windows to sleep right now.
Hibernate from the snowflake menu
Click the snowflake at the top of Side View.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Minimize other windows | Minimizes every normal window except the one you're in. Minimized windows stop drawing. |
| Hibernate other windows | Hibernates every tab in all other windows. |
| Hibernate other tabs in current window | Keeps the tab you're on, hibernates the rest of this window. |
| Hibernate all other tabs | Hibernates everything except the tab you're on. |
| FAQ | Opens a short explainer about how hibernation works. |
Pinned tabs and tabs already asleep are skipped.
Hibernate one tab or one window
- Right-click a tab → Hibernate.
- Right-click a window title → Hibernate (every tab in it).
Hibernated tabs show a green leaf on the right of their row. Click the tab to wake it up.
Open large sessions without freezing
Settings → Opening many tabs controls what happens when 8 or more tabs open at once. That includes opening a session, opening a bookmark folder as a window, the browser restoring tabs at start-up, or another extension opening tabs.
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Hold unloaded | One tab per window loads. The rest wait until you click them. |
| Pace loading | Like Hold, then loads the rest a few at a time. |
| Load all | Everything loads at once. |
Default: Load all (Firefox: Hold unloaded). Shift-click any open button to load everything this one time.
Hibernate or close?
| Hibernate | Save and close |
|---|---|
| Tabs stay visible in the tab strip and the list. | Windows disappear. They live in Session Manager. |
| Good for today's work you'll come back to in an hour. | Good for work you'll come back to next week. |
| Memory is freed, but the browser still tracks every tab. | The browser has less to track and starts faster. |
Things to know
- Some pages reload from scratch when they wake up. Unsaved form text may be lost.
- Hibernating a tab that is playing sound stops the sound.
- On some browsers the internal discards page shows details about memory. The FAQ page links to it.