6 Tips To Speed Up Google Chrome

Many years ago I used to love Internet Explorer but over time, and with various updates, it felt like it got slower and slower. I ditched it for Chrome which was super-fast. Lately, though, my Chrome browser feels like it’s being weighed down. So I went searching for solutions and fixes and here’s what I found worked for me.

Install Chrome Updates

If you’re the type then doesn’t reboot your computer much then you may need to update Chrome. Chrome will actually download updates automatically but doesn’t install them unless you tell it to or reboot your computer (or otherwise restart Chrome).

To update Chrome, look at the menu icon at the top right of the browser (it’s those three horizontal bars). If that menu is gray then you’re up to date. If it’s green, yellow, or red then an update is waiting. Click the menu icon and choose the Update or Restart option in the menu. Chrome will update and restart itself. That’s it!

Ditch Unneeded Extensions

You may have installed extensions that you no longer need so get rid of them. What’s an extension? It’s like an app that works inside of Chrome and something you would install to add features to Chrome. To see if you have these, click the menu icon, choose Settings, and then click Extensions on the left side.

You’ll have the option to disable an extension or remove (uninstall) it entirely. If you’re not using it then remove it. If you’re not sure, disabled it. Once done, close Chrome and re-launch it.

Remove Plugins

If you have plugins that you don’t need installed then remove these as well. To see what plugins are running you can type in chrome://plugins into the Chrome address (URL) bar at the top and hit enter.

Enable Prefetch

Chrome offers a neat Prefetch option that attempts to guess what links you’ll click on in any given web page. If it thinks you’ll click a link it will attempt to pre-fetch certain resources from that link. That way, when you click on the link the next page will load faster.

To enable this featured click the Menu button, Settings option, then “Show advanced settings…” link ad the bottom of the page. Now scroll down to the Privacy area and check the box next to the “Prefetch reosurces” option.

Adjust Flags

This one falls into the experimental category so if you’re not comfortable with tweaking these settings you can skip this one. In the address bar, type in chrome://flags/ and hit enter. You can now adjust certain flags / settings in Chrome.

The two most common adjustments for speed are to enable “Enable fast tab/window close” and “Enable tab discarding”.

Chrome Cleanup Tool

Download the Chrome Cleanup Tool which will remove software that may be causing problems with Chrome. It’s free and comes from Google.

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