The Background Process Drain
Google Chrome features an API called “Background Sync.” This feature allows modern web applications to defer actions until the user has a stable internet connection. For example, if you send a message in a web-based chat app right as your Wi-Fi drops, Background Sync allows Chrome to hold onto that message and quietly send it in the background the moment your connection is restored, even if you have closed the chat tab.
While this sounds helpful for offline web apps, it means Chrome allows websites to quietly wake up and run background processes on your machine without your active involvement. For privacy-conscious users, or users trying to maximize laptop battery life by preventing rogue browser processes, allowing random websites to sync data in the background is undesirable. You can block this API entirely.
How to Disable Background Sync
You can revoke this permission globally within Chrome’s Privacy settings.
- Open Google Chrome.
- Click the Three Vertical Dots (Menu) in the top right corner and select Settings.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Privacy and security.
- Click on Site settings in the main pane.
- Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and click to expand the Additional permissions section.
- Click on Background sync.
- Change the default behavior from “Sites can ask to sync data” (or “Recently closed sites can finish sending and receiving data”) to the blocked option:
- Select “Don’t allow closed sites to finish sending or receiving data.”
Once disabled, when you close a tab, that website is dead. It can no longer execute code, send analytics, or sync data in the background. It will only consume resources when you actively have the tab open and in focus.