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For the last 6 weeks or so, I get occasionally really high CPU usage when viewing YouTube on Firefox (v 46, v47). When this happens, FF ignores user input like switching tabs.

This is on a Mac, OSX 10.9.5. I have Use hardware acceleration when available checked.

I have had Flash disabled for years, but this new problem seems to be coinciding with the arrival of true HTML5 video support for YouTube on Firefox. Things were fine before.

When it happens, FF tends to pretty much ignore any user input for a long while. Even though it eventually gets around to it. For example, I can click on x to close the tab, but it won't happen till much later.

Once the video is shutdown, the CPU usage drops off quickly.

Thing is, even with a high CPU count, Firefox doesn't always ignore user input.

Any ideas? Anyone else having this problem?

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  • I've been having a similar problem on Ubuntu. What I see is that physical memory gets pegged, FF freezes (but the video continues to play) for a minute or two, then memory usage plummets by about 30% and FF unfreezes.
    – Darwin von Corax
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 3:48
  • This does happen when Firefox fills a CPU core and if you have more than one core, you might benefit from using a different browser, although the Firefox model usually makes the machine more stable in case of overload.
    – Julie Pelletier
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 3:57
  • What happens if you disable hardware acceleration?
    – user3169
    Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 4:55

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Although my case might not be related as the question is very old, I am hoping my experience might be useful to anyone viewing this question.

In my case for Windows with Firefox 115, the CPU usage is significantly reduced after disabling the "Ambient Mode" in YouTube. This option can be accessed from the Setting of YouTube player. Please note that this issue is only for the dark theme. For light theme, this is not an issue.

Ambient Mode | YouTube

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