Slows down Google Chrome on Mac? Here’s how to fix it

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Google Chrome is a great web browser with lots of versatile features, extensions, and great performance. However, the Google browser can sometimes slow down and you want to abandon it and switch to another more productive browser.

If you are facing such problems and are tired of Chrome freezes, in this article we have collected all the possible solutions that can fix it and make your Internet surfing fast again!

1. Make Sure Your Internet Isn’t the Problem

Chrome and anything else that requires the Internet will be slow if your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection isn’t fast enough. So run a quick speed test on your Mac to check your download and upload speed.

If the internet is not working or is very slow, fix this issue first. However, if your internet connection is fine and Chrome is still not working properly, then the rest of the solutions will help.

2. Restart your Wi-Fi router

No matter how good or bad your Internet connection is, take two minutes to turn your Wi-Fi router off and on again.

3. Close Chrome Tabs You Don’t Need

Every computer has a limited amount of RAM, CPU, and GPU. Every new Chrome tab you open puts more pressure on your system resources, causing the browser to become slow and unresponsive. To fix this, simply close open browser tabs that you don’t need. Also, if you have another browser open, such as Safari or Firefox, make sure you close unnecessary tabs there as well.

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4. Pause background downloads and downloads

Whether you’re downloading a huge file in the background or downloading hundreds of files to disk, it’s bound to have a negative impact on your browser’s overall performance. One obvious way to fix this is to pause those activities. You can resume downloading or uploading when your computer is in perfect condition and you don’t need to use a browser.

5. Stop watching videos in 4K or 8K

If you watch YouTube, Netflix, or other videos in 4K or 8K, it can take up a lot of computer resources, which slows down your performance. Just lower the video quality to 1080p and your browser performance will increase.

6. Force close and reopen Chrome

Make sure you save all current work. Then click the Apple icon  > Force Quit > select Chrome and click Quit . Now wait 10 seconds and open Chrome again.

7. Close other Mac apps to free up resources for Chrome

If you have a lot of apps open on your Mac, then all of your computer’s resources will be shared among all your open apps, and as a result, Chrome may slow down. To resolve this issue, close other apps that you don’t use or don’t plan to use anytime soon.

8. Restart your Mac

Perhaps Chrome is slow because your Mac itself is not very stable. You can quickly fix this problem by restarting your computer (Apple icon  > Restart ).

9. Disable Chrome Memory Saver and Power Saver Modes

Chrome’s memory saver and power saver modes are designed to reduce battery drain when your MacBook’s battery percentage is close to zero. However, sometimes your browser may unload tabs from websites you haven’t visited in a while, forcing you to reload them or lose unsaved data. In other cases, in order to use less power, Chrome may slow down a bit.

If RAM and power don’t matter, you can disable these efficiency modes to keep Chrome running without limits:

  1. Open Chrome settings. You can do this by launching Chrome and clicking  Chrome  >  Preferences  from the top menu bar. Or click  the three dots icon  in the top right corner of the Chrome browser and select  Settings  .
  2. Select  “Performance”  and disable  “Memory Saver”  and  “Power Saving Mode”  .
  3. Close and reopen Chrome.

10. Don’t use themes in Chrome

While Chrome themes look nice, they can put a bit of strain on your browser and slow it down, especially if you’re using an older Mac. To fix this issue, simply stop using any fancy theme and use the default option:

  1. Open  Chrome settings   and click  Appearance  .
  2. Click  Reset next to  Theme  .
  3. Exit and restart Chrome.

11. Use Incognito Browsing

Incognito mode doesn’t store your browsing history, its session doesn’t sync, and by default all extensions are turned off on incognito tabs. So for quick casual browsing, you can use incognito tabs, which can feel a bit more responsive. To do this, click File > New Incognito Window on the top menu bar.

12. Update Chrome on Mac

Chrome usually updates itself. However, if you haven’t restarted Chrome (closed and reopened) for a long time, or haven’t restarted your Mac, it may not have had a chance to update. In this case, you can manually check for updates and install the latest version of.

13. Turn on page preloading for faster browsing and searching.

With page prefetching, Google Chrome can prefetch certain links it thinks you might open. This can speed up the display of sites. Here’s how to make sure this feature is enabled:

  1. Open  Chrome settings  .
  2. Select  Privacy & Security  .
  3. Click Cookies and other site data  .
  4. Activate the toggle switch “ Allow page preloading to improve browser and search speed ”.

14. Use the Chrome Task Manager to see and end the processes that are slowing down your browser.

Some extensions and websites can take up huge resources. You can see them all in Chrome’s built-in Task Manager and end them to make the browser run faster:

  1. Open Chrome and click  the three dots icon  in the top right corner.
  2. Select  More Tools  >  Task Manager  .
  3. Select the unwanted website tab or extension that is taking up the most memory and CPU and click End Process . This will close that tab or extension.

15. Use ad and content blockers

Ads and trackers can greatly increase the overall size of a web page, resulting in slower loading times and, not to mention, extra load on the browser. You can try using an ad blocker to improve your download speed and reduce the page size of your site.

16. Disable and Remove Unnecessary Chrome Extensions

A huge library of extensions makes Chrome the most popular browser in the world. However, if you have dozens of extensions installed and activated, all of them consume system resources, which can make your browser slow.

You can fix this problem by uninstalling Chrome extensions that you don’t need. You can always re-download them from the Chrome Extension Store.

17. Clear all browser data, cache and cookies

 

If you haven’t deleted your Chrome browser data for a long time, a huge pile of data, often outdated or corrupted, can cause your browser to slow down. You can remove all temporary data (caches, cookies, other data) from Chrome to do this:

  1. Go to  your Chrome settings  and click  “Privacy & Security”  >  “Clear History” .
  2. Go to the  “Advanced” tab  .
  3. Set  Time Range  to  All Time  .
  4. Check all boxes except  “Passwords and other login information”  .
  5. Finally, click  “Delete data”  .
  6. After that, force close Chrome and restart your Mac.

Note. After clearing your Chrome data, you will have to sign in to all websites again.

Warning: Don’t clear your Chrome data too often. If you do this, your browser will have to download all content from the site (including static content) every time you visit the site, making your experience even slower.

Also, if you are using an extension that clears all history when you close Chrome, disable that extension.

18. Reset All Experimental Chrome Features

You can try some experimental features in Chrome. They are usually still being tested and may not be optimized for stable performance, resulting in browser issues and poor performance. Here’s how about it:

  1. Type  chrome://flagsin the Chrome address bar and press enter.
  2. Click  “Reset all”  at the top.

19. Turn Chrome Hardware Acceleration On or Off

Google Chrome’s hardware acceleration shifts some resource-intensive tasks, such as playing games or watching videos, from the CPU to the GPU, which helps improve performance. However, people’s opinions about this feature are mixed.

It’s enabled by default, but you can disable (or enable) it and see if you notice any improvements to your workflow in Chrome:

  1. Go to  Chrome settings  and click  “System”  .
  2. Turn on or turn off the ” Use hardware acceleration (when available) ” option.

20. Reset all Chrome settings to default

If you’ve changed multiple Chrome settings, there’s a chance that some of them may conflict or unintentionally slow down your browser. One way to fix this is to reset all Chrome settings to their default state, which will also disable all extensions and clear temporary data such as cookies. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open  Chrome settings  and click  Reset Settings  .
  2. Click  Restore Default Settings .
  3. Click  Reset Settings to return Chrome to its default settings.

1 COMMENT

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