What is Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)?
Chrome splits its work into many processes. Each tab, extension and web app gets a Google Chrome Helper (Renderer), and other helpers handle the GPU, network and plugins. That's why you can see dozens of them in Activity Monitor.
Activity Monitor doesn't tell you which tab each helper belongs to, but Chrome does.
Why is Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) using so much CPU?
- A heavy tab: video, web apps, games, or a page stuck running scripts.
- An extension running on every page you visit.
- Lots of open tabs, each with its own helper.
How to fix high Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) CPU usage
- Confirm it in Activity Monitor. Press ⌘ Space, type Activity Monitor, open the CPU tab and sort by % CPU. Watch
Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)for a minute: short spikes are normal, only steady high usage needs fixing. - Open Chrome's Task Manager from Window › Task Manager in Chrome's menu bar. Sort by CPU to see exactly which tab or extension is busy, then click End process.
- Turn off heavy extensions at chrome://extensions.
- Turn on Memory Saver and Energy Saver in Chrome's Settings › Performance, so inactive tabs stop using resources.
- Update Chrome and restart it if it stays busy.
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