Firemin Was Built for Firefox — But It Is Not Limited to Firefox

Firemin's name and original purpose are closely tied to Firefox. The "fire" in Firemin is a direct reference to Firefox, and the tool was initially designed to solve the notorious memory bloat problem that plagued earlier versions of the browser. However, the underlying technology Firemin uses — Windows' EmptyWorkingSet API — works on any Windows process, and Rizonesoft built that flexibility into the application from early on.

What Applications Can Firemin Target?

Firemin can attach to virtually any process running on your Windows system. Common use cases include:

  • Web browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave
  • Communication apps: Discord, Slack, Teams, Zoom
  • Media players: VLC, Spotify, iTunes
  • Office applications: Microsoft Word, Excel, LibreOffice
  • Development tools: Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs
  • Background utilities: Any process that accumulates idle memory over time

How to Attach Firemin to a Different Application

The process is straightforward:

  1. Open Firemin from your system tray or start menu
  2. In the process list, find the application you want to optimize
  3. Select it and click Attach (or Add, depending on your Firemin version)
  4. Set your preferred optimization interval
  5. Click Start — Firemin will now monitor and trim that process

You can add multiple processes simultaneously. Firemin will optimize each one at the interval you specify.

Is Firemin Effective on Chrome and Edge?

Chrome and Edge already include their own memory management systems. Chrome's Memory Saver feature (introduced in 2022) can put inactive tabs to sleep automatically. Edge has a similar feature called Sleeping Tabs. Because of this, running Firemin on Chrome or Edge often produces less dramatic results than on Firefox, which historically had fewer built-in memory management tools.

That said, Firemin can still be useful if you prefer not to use the browser's built-in sleep feature, or if you are on an older version that lacks it.

What About Discord and Slack?

Discord and Slack are Electron-based applications, which means they are essentially web browsers (Chromium) running as desktop apps. They are notorious for high memory usage. Attaching Firemin to Discord or Slack when you are not actively using them can meaningfully reduce their memory footprint, especially if you leave these apps running all day.

Are There Any Applications Firemin Should Not Target?

While Firemin can technically target any process, there are situations where you should avoid it:

  • Real-time applications: Audio recording or video rendering software may stutter if memory pages are moved to disk mid-operation
  • Database servers: Trimming the working set of a local database server can cause significant performance delays as it re-pages data
  • Games currently in focus: Do not attach Firemin to a game you are actively playing; it will cause frame drops

Firemin works best on applications that are idle or running in the background.

Conclusion

Firemin is not limited to Firefox. While it was built with Firefox in mind, its working-set trimming approach applies to any Windows process. For users who want a single lightweight tool to manage memory across multiple applications — particularly browsers, communication tools, and background utilities — Firemin is a flexible and practical choice.