Automatically discards all tabs at startup, before they load, reducing memory footprint and unnecessary bandwidth usage.

Latest Version

Version
0.5
Update
August 27, 2019
Size
25.24KiB
Developer
Category
Users
2,000+
Rating
4.36 ★
Manifest Version
2
Web Store Status
Languages Support
English (UK)
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Permissions
Tabs
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Sloth Extension

An open-source and light-weight chrome / chromium extension which ensures that tabs are lazily loaded.

Source code: https://github.com/hrj/sloth

Requires Chrome 54+.

## How it works

This plugin uses the discard API available since Chrome 54. All tabs except new tabs or \"special\" tabs are discarded. Discarded tabs are visible in the tab bar, but not loaded from the network nor kept in memory.

If a window doesn't have a new tab, it is created and activated. This prevents any tab from loading during startup, unless you explicitly select it.

Special tabs are those with chrome:// URLs, for example.

Note: Where there are hundreds of tabs open in the session, a couple of them sneak through and become active. This limitation is due to the design of the browser. See https://github.com/hrj/sloth/issues/1.

## History / Credits

I found an extension called Native Lazy Tabs here. It was distributed under the GPL license. I adapted it and added the \"new tab\" feature.

The icon is by Jaime Serra, distributed under the CC license.
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Source Manifest.json

{"update_url": "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx", "name": "Sloth", "short_name": "Sloth", "description": "Automatically discards all tabs at startup, before they load, reducing memory footprint and unnecessary bandwidth usage.", "version": "0.5", "permissions": [ "tabs" ], "background": { "scripts": ["js/eventPage.js"], "persistent": false }, "icons": { "16": "img/icon16.png", "48": "img/icon48.png", "128": "img/icon128.png" }, "browser_action": { "default_icon": { "16": "img/icon16.png", "48": "img/icon48.png", "128": "img/icon128.png" } }, "incognito": "not_allowed", "manifest_version": 2, "minimum_chrome_version": "54", "options_ui": { "page": "html/options.html", "chrome_style": true }}
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How to download and manually install Sloth extension for Chrome

Looking for a way to install Sloth extensions for Chrome, you can search for them in the Chrome Web Store, clicking the "Add to Chrome" button, and following the straightforward process.

However, you may need to install Sloth extensions manually, this article outlines two simple methods to effortlessly install Sloth extensions, whether they come as unpacked folders in compressed formats like .zip or as .crx files.

Method 1: Download Sloth extension and manually install through Drag &Drop

If you ever need to manually install a Sloth extension for Chrome, don't worry, it's a simple process. Just follow these easy steps, and you will have your extension ready to use in no time.

Step 1: Download the Sloth Extension by clicking the "Download CRX" button on the website.

Look for the Sloth extension you wish to install. Go to the website and download the Sloth extension package, which is usually a .CRX file and comes in a zipped file. Here ".crx" file is the format for Sloth extension that contains all the data.

Step 2: Extract &Arrange Files

Once the file is downloaded, extract that file into its own folder. Similarly, give that extension files a permanent home. In other words, keep it in a folder that you don't accidentally delete it because these files will be needed to make that extension work.

Step 3: Go to the Chrome Extensions Page

Open Google Chrome and in the address bar, type chrome://extensions; it will open the Google Chrome extensions page. Make sure that "My extensions" is selected in the sidebar.

Step 4: Drag and Drop the Extension

Now, go to the folder where you extracted the Sloth extension and drag &drop the extension file from there anywhere onto the extension page within Google Chrome.

Step 5: Complete the Installation

Once you drag and drop the extension file, follow the steps that Google Chrome takes you through. Similarly, if the extension file is of .crx file format, you will be required to review the permissions and then add the extension.

Now, you can manage that added extension as you would like to with any other Chrome extension that you added through Chrome Webstore. Its icon will also appear in the Google Chrome Menu on the right side of the address bar once you activate it.

Method 2: Download Sloth extension for Chrome and install in Developer Mode

This is another method to install Sloth extension manually, but the twist is that here, you install by enabling the developer mode option provided in Google Chrome. This mode is commonly used for testing extensions or running unpublished tools.

Step 1: Download the Sloth extension file

Select and download the Sloth extension by clicking the 'Download CRX' button on the website.

Step 2: Extract the downloaded contents

Convert the file to a ZIP file if it is in CRX format then extract the Sloth extension zip file or folder that you downloaded. Make sure you extract it using the same folder name and keep it safely in another folder, so you don't delete it by mistake. The extracted folder will be needed to keep your Sloth extension running.

Step 3: Open Chrome Extension Setting Page

In the address bar of Google Chrome, type chrome://extensions and open the Chrome Extension Page.

Step 4: Enable Developer Mode

After opening the Chrome Extension page, look at the top right side, and you will find the toggle option of "Developer mode."Simply enable that developer mode option.

Step 5: Load the Unpacked Extension

Once you enable the developer mode option, you will see the menu of Load Unpacked, Pack Extensions and Update. From that, select the option "Load unpacked."

Step 6: Select the Extension Folder

Once the pop-up opens upon clicking Load unpacked, select the Sloth extension directory and click on the "Select Folder "button.

Step 7: Confirm and Install

After you select an extension folder of a Google Chrome extension you're installing manually, confirm its installation for the final time and let the installation complete.

Conclusion

Here we've made a step-by-step guide on How to manually install Sloth extension in 2 ways. We hope this guide proves helpful.

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User reviews

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Xalomon (ID: 000000fce49f3da0) Voted 1 ★ - Updated 09/29/2023 I have 7 windows with more than 600 tabs opened total. The whole point of adding this extensions is to have a quick restart of the browser, and to have one with low memory usage as only the active tabs of those windows would be loaded. When looking at the task manager it seems this extension opens a gorillion of new tab pages in the background, each with their google.com subframe, even when told not to in options. Those are loaded instead of the pages I have opened, but this makes the browser slower to start up and those use 600MB memory which is more than the pages loaded from the background used. Completely the opposite of what one wants, and it's clear this wasn't tested with more than 500 idle tabs opened, which would be a reason to want an extension like this.

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Online ReD Settings (ID: 0000006e134e8301) Voted 5 ★ - Updated 04/27/2022 Simply perfect.

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Ashish Bisht (ID: 0000007549222641) Voted 5 ★ - Updated 12/13/2019 working awesome !

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(ID: ) Voted 5 ★ - Updated 03/03/2019 Funciona perfecto

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Taehl (ID: 000000ac37b17a34) Voted 4 ★ - Updated 02/05/2019 Finally, something that stops all of my tabs loading at the same time. However, your "new tab" option doesn't work - opening Chromium loads the last tab, waits a moment, THEN opens a new tab.