In today’s time and age, your web browser has become just as important as your operating system. Without it, your computer is as good as nothing for you, as you won’t be able to see your emails, surf through your social media, or visit important websites. So, among all this, if your Chrome starts working as a senior citizen, it just heightens your concerns.
Here we have listed a few things that will help you to speed up chrome on your device.
Check Your Internet Speed
First, you need to make sure that your internet is working fine. You can run a speed test from any of the speed testing sites on the internet. You can try Speedtest.net. It is very probable that you are just facing a network slowdown in your area. If your connection is inherently slow, you might think of getting a faster plan next time.
Update to the Latest Version of Chrome
There are newer versions of Chrome coming out all the time, with new features, security fixes, and improvements in performance. So, it is quite possible that, if you update your Chrome, your problems might be fixed automatically. Also, it will keep you safer from online threats.
As Chrome updates automatically, there are more chances that you are already updated provided that you have recently closed the browser. If you are not updated, Chrome will show a yellow or red arrow in the upper corner of the browser.
If this sign is there, then it means that your update is pending and you must do it immediately. All you have to do is close the browser window or click on the Arrow and choose Update Google Chrome. The difference in speed wouldn’t be drastic but still, it is a good place to start speeding up chrome.
Run a Malware Scan
A reason for the slowdown could also be the entry of some malware in your system. So, before you start digging through Chrome you need to check out your system for any malware. You can just scan your system using the anti-virus software and make sure that there isn’t any malware in your software. This malware can attract more ads to your system and acquire your data, thus slowing down your browser and your computer.
Run the Chrome Cleanup Tool
A program called Chrome Cleanup Tool was developed by Google to detect potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), like automatically installed extensions or some toolbars which the anti-virus cannot trace by itself.
Today this software has been integrated into Chrome and can be run by going to Settings, then Advanced, then Reset and clean up, and then Clean up computer. You just need to run this tool and it will automatically check for any software that might be slowing down your browser.
Uninstall Extensions You Don't Need
If the above tips solve your problem entirely, very well. But if they don’t, then I’m afraid some sacrifices have to be made. The best thing that you can you to speed up your Chrome is to reduce its baggage. The extensions and tabs are the biggest resource hogs. The lesser you have the better. So, if you want to make your Chrome faster, just filter out the less-used extensions and tabs.
In the extensions, you can first get rid of the ones taking up the most CPU and RAM, just by pressing Shift+Esc on your keyboard and bringing up the Task Manager for Chrome. Filter the ones which are hogging more space and getting a chunk of your data.
Then, you can uninstall the extensions by right-clicking their icon and clicking Remove from Chrome. Or you could just go to chrome://extensions and remove them one by one from there. The lesser the load on your browser, the faster it will get.
Close (or Unload) Tabs You Aren't Using
If you happen to be using 18 tabs at a time and leave them running for later, then chances are that your browser is getting slow because of the different sites open in the background. Chrome does discard tabs when it starts running out of memory, but then it isn’t very aggressive about it.
You should close the tabs that you don’t need and you can keep them bookmarked for later use. There are extensions like Auto Tab Discard that will help you to automatically unload certain on the basis of specified criteria. You can then reload the tabs later according to your convenience.
Wipe the Slate clean
If your browser speed still isn’t up to the mark, then it might be time to just reset the browser to its original defaults, which means no custom search engines, no bookmarks, no extensions, or other saved settings. Yes, this might be a little tough but if you consider how fast Chrome will become after resetting you might want to go through with this step.
To reset your computer, just move to Settings, then Advanced, then Reset and clean up, then go to Restore settings to their original defaults, and finally Restore settings.
Also, there is a possibility that it is not Chrome’s fault at all. In that case, you can check the guides to speed up your PC.
