Show HN: PSA – Stop Chrome unloading inactive tabs by toggling one setting
1. Put this in your address bar: chrome://settings/?search=memory+saver
2. Hit enter.
3. Turn that setting OFF to prevent chrome unloading tabs.
Two notes:
1. Chrome defaults to unloading inactive tabs. But it can be distracting having to wait for page reloads and pause autoplay content, especially if you have lots of tabs.
A fast way to do this: hold opt + cmd and tap right arrow to cycle tabs (then pause autoplay audio/video; and repeat for each instance of chrome). Chrome sometimes asks for a captcha to be solved. A bit fiddly. It's a relief to finally find a setting that avoids this (it's at the cost of a few gb of memory, but that's a small price IMO).
2. In chrome jargon, unloading tabs is called 'tab discarding'. In the past it could be disabled via a chrome 'flag', which is not there any more. It's also possible to disable it via a chrome addon, but I prefer to use the native chrome setting, it's just a little difficult to discover unless you know what to search for.