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YouTube Bug Reportedly Freezes Browser Tabs, Increases CPU and Memory Usage

YouTube Bug Reportedly Freezes Browser Tabs, Increases CPU and Memory Usage

The trouble starts when YouTube checks whether all the buttons in its player menu can fit on screen.

Written by Sucharita Ganguly, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 4 May 2026 13:04 IST

YouTube Bug Reportedly Freezes Browser Tabs, Increases CPU and Memory Usage

Photo Credit: Reuters

The loop reportedly consumes CPU and memory, leading to freezing tabs

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Highlights

YouTube UI issue affects Firefox Brave and Edge
YouTube lag issue spreads across multiple browsers
YouTube bug forces constant page recalculations

YouTube seems to be behind a wave of browser slowdowns, with users reporting heavy lag, stuttering videos, and unusually high memory usage while watching content. The issue affects multiple browsers, including Firefox, Brave, and Microsoft Edge, and in some cases pushes a single tab to consume more than 7GB of RAM. What appears to be a small glitch in YouTube's interface is having a much bigger impact, often maxing out CPU usage and making browsers sluggish or completely unresponsive.

YouTube Bug Triggers Layout Loop, Causes System Slowdowns

According to a Mozilla Bugzilla thread (via PiunikaWeb), developers investigating the reports say the problem lies in YouTube's flexible menu just below the video player, where buttons such as like, dislike, and share are located. This part of the interface adjusts automatically based on the available screen space.

YouTube Discussion

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The trouble reportedly starts when YouTube checks whether all the buttons in its player menu can fit on screen. If there is not enough space, YouTube hides one of the buttons. But removing a button changes the container's width, which makes YouTube think there is room again. It then adds the button back, only for it to overflow once more.

YouTube Brings Picture-in-Picture Mode to Non-Premium Users

This constant back-and-forth on YouTube is said to create a rapid loop where the layout keeps changing. As a result, the browser is forced to repeatedly recalculate the YouTube page layout, which quickly eats up processing power and memory. Over time, this can cause a YouTube tab to freeze or even slow down the entire browser.

Reports of the YouTube issue have been spreading over the past few days, with users sharing their experiences on forums and Reddit. Some initially thought a recent browser update or ad blocker issue was behind the YouTube lag. However, since the problem is appearing across different browsers, it is more likely tied directly to YouTube.

YouTube's 'Ask YouTube' AI Chatbot Offers Smart Replies With Videos, Shorts

Mozilla's developers are currently said to be looking into the YouTube issue, but there is no confirmed fix yet. Since the bug appears to come from YouTube's own code, resolving the problem may depend on changes from YouTube before performance returns to normal.

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Further reading: YouTube, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Google

Sucharita Ganguly

Email Sucharita Ganguly

Sucharita is a writer with Gadgets 360 and is mostly found playing with her cat in her free time. She has previously worked at breaking news desks across organizations. Powered by coffee, The Beatles, Bowie, and her newfound love for BTS, she aims to work towards contributing to a better media environment for women and queer folk. More