Fix Google Chrome slow loading, YouTube slow

Fix Google Chrome slow loading, YouTube slow

Chrome Browser is the ultimate and the most accessible browser to surf. Still, sometimes, Chrome might be running slow due to some minor issues such as internet instability, older browser versions, inflicting extensions, lack of storage, etc.

To fix the slow chrome browser, we can try out significant fixes such as updating the browser, clearing the cache, disabling extensions and blockers, upgrading storage, etc.

Some of the common problems which users are facing when using the Chrome browser are:

• Lags while searching in the search bar and switching between tabs.
• YouTube keeps buffering and displays white space.
• The web page is prolonged to render fully.
• Frequent receiving a snap! Something went wrong while displaying this webpage.

Update Google Chrome to the latest

It’s essential to keep the Chrome browser updated. If you are running the latest stable version of Chrome, then consider half of the problem is already solved.

Generally, there are performance improvements and bug fixes with the latest software releases. If you’re running the older version of Chrome, there are high chances for any security or program bugs that affect the performance. It may cause Chrome to become unstable and impact page loading speed.

All you need is to upgrade the Google chrome browser to the latest available build to eliminate slowness.

You can check the latest version and update Chrome by following these steps:

1. Launch Chrome browser on the computer.
2. Hit on More for options and settings.
3. Hover and navigate to Help > About Google Chrome.
4. Google Chrome will automatically check the latest official builds.

If any new version is available, then Chrome will start updating and ask to relaunch once the update is completed.

Navigate to Help > About Google Chrome section until you see the message “Google Chrome is up to date“.

Disable Chrome Extensions and Blockers

There is a high possibility of any extension inflicting the network connection and page loading. I have an article written about a page loading issue because of an ad blocker extension.

Disable all the extensions and check if the loading issue persists. You can temporarily disable the Chrome extensions from settings.

Follow these steps to disable or remove the chrome extension:

1. Launch Chrome Browser on the computer
2. Open Chrome Settings from the More menu list.
3. Select the Extensions tab from the left sidebar on the Settings page.
   OR you can also visit the chrome://extensions/ in your Chrome browser.
4. Switch the toggle button against each extension to disable it.
   
5. Relaunch your Chrome browser.

Defer Apps and Software Updates

We might have left the software and application update in the background, which is eating up all the bandwidth. It leaves less room for Chrome to use the internet, hence loading the web pages relatively slowly.

The typical macOS and Windows OS updates are in a few GBs, which can use up all the network data. Or even if there are any software program updates like Microsoft Office or Final Cut Pro are also bulky in size and may cause Google Chrome to slow.

In this case, disable the updates temporarily until you need good bandwidth for browsing. You can defer the updates overnight so that your work is not hampered in the daytime.

Just check the network monitor to understand where the bandwidth is used.

• For Windows OS, you can check the Task Manager > Network Utilization.
• For macOS, you can check the Activity Monitor > Network.

Clear Cache and Memory Storage

It is the first and fundamental thing that every chrome browser user would have suggested to you. And of course, this works at times but not every time. Browser caching is a technique for improving the browsing speed of a frequently visited site.

Unless your Chrome is heavily loaded with obsolete cache and storage, it’s a good idea to remove waste to improve the chrome speed.

Follow these steps to clear cache and memory storage from Chrome:

1. Launch your slow Chrome browser.
2. Hit on More for options, and select Settings from the list.
3. Lookup for the Clear browsing data option; you can even use the search bar within the Settings page.
4. Open Clear browsing data and switch to the Advanced tab.
5. From the Time range dropdown, select All time.
6. Select the checkboxes against — Browsing history, Download history, Cookies, and other site data, Cached images and files, Site settings, and lastly, Hosted app data.
7. Do not select the Passwords and other sign-in data and Auto-fill form data option unless you want to delete these data completely.
8. Finally, hit on Clear data command button.

Upgrade the Storage and Hardware Support

Let me share my personal experience here.

I have a Windows PC running on the HDD (the good old mechanical hard disk) with 8 GB of RAM. Whenever I used to start my Windows PC or even open any application, it would take a lot of time. Imagine the startup time of 28 seconds!!

Whenever I check the Task Manager for performance, I encounter disk utilization is 100%.

I thought of upgrading the HDD to SSD (Solid State Drive) storage. It was expensive but worth upgrading the hardware. Now my booting time is 4 seconds. Heavy software programs and even the chrome browser are launched in a snap.

I still use the old HDD as an external hard disk and backup if anything goes wrong with Windows 10 OS. You can watch this video tutorial about migrating Windows OS from HDD to SSD.

Improve Slow Chrome browser

Here are a few other tips that are worth mentioning to improve the Chrome loading speed:

• Run through Anti-virus and Anti-malware scans.
• Check your ISP fluctuations and network problem, if any.
• Verify if the downgraded version on Google Chrome works.
• Reinstall Chrome on your Machine to notice any changes.
• Toggle “Use hardware acceleration when available” under Chrome> Settings > Advanced > System to check which mode is better, either OFF or ON.

• Turn off Experimental QUIC Protocol by navigating to chrome://flags and search for QUIC and disable it from the dropdown.

• You can download the Chrome Canary for the unstable version of Google Chrome built for developers; however, the updates are frequent and nightly.
• Update Operating System to the latest version.