10 like shooting fish in a barrel steps to make Chrome faster and more secure

Looking to speed up Chrome? Give usa 10 minutes, and nosotros'll give you a noticeably better browsing experience.

Tabular array of Contents
  • one. Clean up your apps and extensions
  • ii. Put your remaining add-ons under the microscope
  • iii. Stride upwardly your tab management smarts
  • 4. Consider a script-blocking extension
  • 5. Let Chrome preload pages for you
  • vi. Switch to a better DNS provider
  • seven. Fill in the web'south security gaps
  • 8. Upgrade Chrome's built-in security system
  • 9. Clean upwardly your reckoner
  • ten. Give yourself a fresh start

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Gather 'round, kiddos — 'crusade information technology'south time for a story.

Once upon a time, Chrome was a lean, mean browsing machine. It was the scrappy lightweight child in a block filled with clunky sometime blobs of blubber. People had never seen a browser so fast, so thoughtfully synthetic! Information technology stripped everything down to the essentials and made the act of browsing the web both pleasant and secure — qualities that were anything simply standard dorsum in that prehistoric era.

Chrome was "minimalist in the extreme," as The New York Times put it — with "extremely fast" page loads and a "snappy" user interface, in the words of Ars Technica. Its sandbox-axial setup and accent on supporting web-based applications made the program "the first truthful Web 2.0 browser," as some other tech website opined.

Well, fast-forwards to today, and the fairy tale is over: More than a dozen years have passed since Chrome'southward debut, and the browser — only like that 1 higher buddy of yours — has grown considerably less lithe. These days, in fact, Chrome has earned a chip of a reputation for being somewhat swollen and, thanks to all the 3rd-political party software associated with it, non e'er entirely secure. My, how things have changed.

Notwithstanding, Chrome remains the de facto standard of mod web browsing, commanding a whopping 74% of the global market place, according to recent data from analytics vendor Net Applications. And it has plenty of positives to offer, not least its tight integration with the residual of the Google ecosystem — a particular boon for Google Workspace users.

So whether Chrome'due south feeling slightly too sluggish or y'all but desire to tighten upwards its security, take the time to become through these ten steps. They're all piece of cake to pull off and free from whatsoever pregnant side effects — and together, they're practically guaranteed to give your browser a much-needed fitness boost.

(Note that, except where specified, these tips revolve around the Chrome desktop browser and should work the same regardless of your operating system — even with Chrome OS, where the browser is built into the system software.

1. Clean up your apps and extensions

Chrome is basically its own platform at this point, and the apps and extensions that run within it can work wonders in customizing the browser and expanding its capabilities. Just every single one of those add-ons requires a certain amount of resources to operate — and the more than of 'em you take installed, the more than bogged downward and slothful Chrome can become.

Not merely that, just many Chrome apps and extensions crave access to at least some of your web browsing activity. That's why periodically looking over your list of installed apps and extensions and clearing out any items you no longer demand is one of the easiest and nearly effective ways to speed up your browser's operation while simultaneously strengthening its security.

So type chrome:extensions into your browser's address bar and carefully evaluate every app and extension you lot encounter. If in that location'due south annihilation you don't recognize or no longer demand, click the Remove button inside its box to get rid of it.

The more yous can articulate out, the meliorate.

ii. Put your remaining add together-ons under the microscope

For any apps and extensions that you didn't uninstall, look closely at what sort of access they're claiming to your web browsing data — and whether they really need to be privy to that much of your activity.

Get-go once more than by typing chrome:extensions into your browser's accost bar — but this fourth dimension, click the Details button associated with each remaining app and extension, and so wait for a line labeled "Site access." If you lot don't see such a line, the addition in question isn't accessing whatever of your browsing data. Bank check it off your listing and move onto the side by side ane.

If an app or extension is listed as having access "on all sites," meanwhile, it'southward able to see and even modify what's in your browser all of the time — without whatever restrictions. End and ask yourself if information technology genuinely needs that power. If it doesn't, switch its setting to either "on specific sites" or "on click," depending on which setup seems to make the most sense. (If yous choose "on specific sites," you'll and so accept to designate which specific sites the extension is allowed to access. If it'south an extension that modifies the Gmail interface, for instance, you lot might desire to set it to operate just on mail.google.com.)

02 chrome browser permissions JR Raphael/IDG

Just considering an extension asks for access to your data on all sites by default doesn't mean you have to exit it that mode.

Y'all may see some extensions that stop working properly as a consequence of such a change, but information technology's worth giving information technology a whirl. And if an extension won't function with more than express access without any logical reason, well, it'southward worth because whether it'south really an extension you want to exist using.

3. Step up your tab management smarts

If y'all're the blazon of person who keeps tons of tabs open, listen up: Your hoarding habit is bogging your browser down. The more than tabs you go along agile at once, the slower Chrome volition run. It's inevitable.

The obvious solution is to stop leaving stuff open up that you lot don't actually need open — but if you absolutely need to accept more than than a handful of tabs running at any given moment, call up about snagging an extension that'll manage them more intelligently for you lot and prevent 'em from bringing your browser to a crawl.

Take a peek at a tool called Workona, which empowers yous to create custom workspaces for organizing your tabs, suspending them when they aren't actively needed, and making them as like shooting fish in a barrel as can exist to find and load when yous actually want to utilize 'em.

03 chrome tabs workona JR Raphael/IDG

Workona gives you an intricate system for organizing your tabs and keeping only the ones you actually need at any given moment active and open up. (Click image to overstate it.)

Workona is free in its base of operations form, with support for up to five unlike workspaces. Y'all tin can remove that limitation with either a Pro programme for $7 a calendar month or a team-broad Business plan for $15 per user per calendar month.

Fifty-fifty at its free level, though, the tool will go a long way in keeping both Chrome and your encephalon from getting overloaded.

iv. Consider a script-blocking extension

You lot know what really slows the spider web downwards, more than anything connected to your ain local browser? It's certain sites' overuse of scripts — tracking scripts, ad-loading scripts, video-playing scripts, y'all name it. (Not that, uh, we'd know anything almost such matters 'round these parts. Insert bad-mannered whistling hither.)

A script-blocking extension like uBlock Origin will keep such scripts from running and make your web browsing experience feel infinitely faster every bit a result. You tin can even manually whitelist sites within the extension equally you see fit — whether to continue legitimate scripts, such as video players you actually want to use, from being blocked, or mayhap just to go on sure unnamed writers from being shackled in their publication's basement for having encouraged readers to block acquirement-generating scripts.

Erm, let'southward move on, all right?

5. Allow Chrome preload pages for you

Waiting for a page to load is the worst part of spider web browsing, simply Chrome has an out-of-the-way feature that can take at least some of that pain away by selectively preloading pages y'all're likely to open.

Information technology works by looking at every link inside a page that y'all're viewing, using some Google voodoo magic to predict which links y'all're likely to click on, and and so preloading the associated pages before yous actually click 'em.

This one'southward available in both the desktop browser and inside the Chrome app on both Android and iOS:

  • On the desktop, type chrome:settings into your address bar, click the "Security and Privacy" pick in the left-of-screen menu, and then click "Cookies and other site data" in the main area of the screen. Look for the option labeled "Preload pages for faster browsing and searching" toward the bottom of the next screen, and click the toggle next to information technology to activate it.
  • On Android, open up the Chrome app's settings, tap "Privacy and Security," and then tap "Preload pages" and select "Standard preloading." (Yous could also try "Extended preloading," if yous want, though that may cease upwardly being overly aggressive and preloading pages you don't really intend to open.)
  • And on iOS, open the Chrome app's settings, tap "Bandwidth," and then tap "Preload Webpages" and select either "Always" or "Simply on Wi-Fi" from the options that pop upwards. (Going with "Always" will consequence in speedier browsing even when y'all're using mobile information, but it'll also burn through more mobile data as a result.)

If you desire to take this same concept even further, the 3rd-party FasterWeb extension will preload a page anytime you hover your mouse over its link for at least 65 milliseconds. That style, when you're about to click something, the loading starts in the groundwork — and by the time you get there, the fourth dimension-consuming piece of work is finished and the page is ready to appear.

6. Switch to a ameliorate DNS provider

Every fourth dimension y'all type a web address into Chrome, the browser relies on a Domain Name System server to look upwardly that URL, find the IP accost where the site is located, and then take you lot to the right place.

More often than not, your net provider is the ane responsible for doing that job — and suffice it to say, it doesn't tend to practise it particularly well. By switching yourself to a third-party DNS provider, y'all tin can seriously speed upward the time it takes for a web page to come up after you type in its address, and you can also proceed your internet provider from collecting data nearly what websites you visit and then using that information to make even more money off of you.

Cloudflare and Google both offer DNS provider services for gratis, and both are generally considered to be amid the fastest and most reliable options bachelor — and, what's more, both promise not to store whatsoever identifiable info nigh you or to sell any of your information. You can switch to either of them as your DNS provider past changing a setting in your router'south configuration or by adjusting your settings on a device-past-device ground. This like shooting fish in a barrel-to-follow guide has specific steps for doing that on a diverseness of different products.

7. Fill up in the spider web's security gaps

By now, you lot probably know that nigh websites should exist using HTTPS — a secure protocol that puts a lock icon in your browser'south address bar and lets y'all know (a) that a site actually is what information technology proclaims to be and (b) that everything you send to the site is encrypted.

But while near sites have come around to the standard, some withal inexplicably cling onto the older and far less secure HTTP protocol.

Well, here's the gear up: Chrome now offers an option to automatically upgrade dated sites to HTTPS whenever possible and warn yous earlier loading a site where the more than secure setup can't exist achieved. To actuate it, go back into your Chrome settings, click "Security and Privacy" followed by "Security," so look for the "Ever use secure connections" pick toward the bottom of the screen.

8. Upgrade Chrome's congenital-in security system

Chrome offers a fair flake of protection confronting spider web-based threats from the second you install it. The browser'south Condom Browsing organization detects and warns you against shady stuff sites might be trying and lets you know whenever you're trying to go to a site that's known to be unsafe.

With a couple quick clicks, though, you tin can pace up that system to an even college level of native browser protection via Chrome's "enhanced protection" option — which adds in a more proactive organization for predicting unsafe events before they happen and also warns you if you ever blazon in a password that'southward associated with a known information alienation.

To bump yourself upwards to that college level of protection, simply head back into that same "Security and Privacy" surface area of Chrome'southward settings and select "Enhanced protection" from the options on the screen.

08 chrome enhanced protection JR Raphael/IDG

Chrome's "Enhanced protection" option gives the browser actress powers for protecting you every bit yous wade your manner around the web. (Click image to enlarge it.)

ix. Clean upwards your computer

If you've tried all these steps and your Chrome browser is withal struggling, it might exist worth checking to see if something funky is going on with your computer that could be affecting Chrome'south performance.

If y'all're using Windows, Chrome has its ain uncomplicated-as-can-be tool for seeking out and removing whatsoever malware or other programs that might be interfering with Chrome's proper functioning: Just type chrome:settings into your address bar, click "Avant-garde," and so click "Reset and clean upwardly." Click "Clean up calculator" on the next screen, then click the Find button and wait while Chrome scans your system and walks you through the process of removing anything harmful it uncovers.

If you're using a Mac or Linux system, look through your listing of installed applications and see if there's annihilation present that y'all don't recognize — or try a 3rd-party malware checker if you want to dig deeper. (You lot can find some specific scanner recommendations for Mac here and for Linux here.)

On Chrome Bone, meanwhile, malware isn't really an issue, cheers to the software's unusual compages, but it tin can never hurt to take a look through your launcher and make sure nothing unusual or unexpected catches your eye.

10. Give yourself a fresh start

Terminal simply non least, you can always reset Chrome to its default land — eliminating all apps and extensions, restoring all settings to their out-of-the-box defaults, and giving you a completely clean slate on which to get-go over.

This isn't something that'southward advisable for anybody, simply if your browser is actually poky or having other problems and nothing else is making a difference, information technology'south a final footstep worth attempting. Blazon chrome:settings into your address bar, click "Advanced," then click "Reset and clean up" and await for the "Restore settings to their original defaults" choice. Click information technology, confirm that you want to proceed, and then sit back and wait for the deed to exist done.

With whatever luck, your demand for speed will finally exist fulfilled — and you can commencement getting around the web with optimal security and without all the waiting.

This article was originally published in November 2019 and updated in March 2022.

Copyright © 2022 IDG Communications, Inc.