How to stop Google Docs and Sheets from eating up RAM

If your computer slows down when using these applications, there are some easy ways to reduce RAM usage and improve performance.

Restart your computer

Restarting your computer can help reset your browser's state by clearing all resources used while running Google Docs and Sheets. This can free up physical memory (RAM) and other system resources used by these applications.

Turn off offline mode for Google Docs and Sheets

When you enable offline mode for Google Docs and Sheets, your browser will cache files locally for quick access without an internet connection. This can increase RAM usage, especially if you have a lot of offline documents.

That's why disabling offline mode for apps can free up some RAM since documents will now be accessed from Google Drive instead of locally.

To turn off offline mode for Google Docs, click the three-line icon in the upper right corner and select Settings. In the pop-up window, turn off Offline and click OK.

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The process of turning off offline mode on Google Sheets and Slides is similar as their home pages have similar interfaces.

Optimize large documents and spreadsheets

The more complex a Google document or spreadsheet is, the more RAM it will need to process, display, and sync properly. By optimizing, you can reduce the physical memory needs of your document or spreadsheet. This can be helpful if your document or spreadsheet is large or you have a limited computer.

To optimize your Google Docs documents, try these steps:

1. Remove or reduce any unnecessary or complex text formatting.
2. Limit the number of media elements inserted into a document, such as images, videos, and audio files.
3. Break large documents into smaller, more manageable documents.
4. Resolve comments and suggestions in documents immediately to avoid overloading RAM.

To optimize your Google Sheets spreadsheet, try these steps:

1. Remove any complex or unnecessary cell formatting.
2. Limit complex formulas and conditional formatting.
3. Split data across multiple worksheets and files to distribute the load fairly.
4. Use volatile functions sparingly, as their constant updates can consume a lot of RAM.
5. As with offline documentation, optimization is key.

Uninstall unnecessary add-ons

Any add-ons you have installed for Google Docs and Sheets can cause them to use more RAM than necessary. Check your installed add-ons and remove any you don't need.

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1. To remove an add-on, click Extensions > Add-ons > Manage Add-ons.
2. Click the 3-dot icon in the top right corner of the add-on card and select Uninstall in the menu.
3. Click Uninstall App in the menu that appears to remove the add-on from Google Docs and Sheets.

Clear Google Docs and Sheets cache

As you use Google Docs and Sheets, temporary files and data can build up in your browser's cache. This cached data can cause these apps to use too much RAM.

Clearing your browser cache can remove redundant data. This can reduce Google Docs and Sheets' memory usage as your browser works with fresh data.

In addition to clearing your cache, you should also try to improve your browser's overall performance so it works well with Google Docs and Sheets. For example, you can optimize Google Chrome by updating it, closing any unnecessary tabs and extensions, and turning on memory saver mode.

Micah Soto

Update 22 November 2024