Google Chrome slow on your PC or Mac? Here's the ultimate fix, and it's easy
Google Chrome has been my browser of choice for many years. I switched to it because my previous daily driver -- Internet Explorer -- had become slow, bloated, and kludgy. Now it's Google Chrome that has become slow, bloated, and kludgy.
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Over the years I've worked on tweaking and tuning Google Chrome to get as much performance out of it as possible. Having too many tabs open can bring the most powerful system to its knees. There is also a good selection of chrome extensions that can help to make Google Chrome more of a platform than a browser.
But the truth is that despite all that work and effort, Chrome is still slow, bloated, and kludgy.
But it's time to stop whining because there's an easy fix.
Switch to another browser.
A few weeks ago -- feels like a millennia ago thanks to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic -- I played with Firefox for the first time in years.
It's great. It's fast, very functional, and packed with great features.
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And all it took was installing a new browser. No tweaks. No new extensions. No messing about.
And if you don't want to download another browser, use the one that comes with your system. Microsoft's Edge on Windows is a fantastic browser, as is Apple's Safari on the Mac.
These alternatives may not have all the bells and whistles and cross-platform integration that Google Chrome offers (although to some extent they both do have a lot in these areas), our desire to have a browser become an operating system is the problem.
If you are displeased with Google Chrome -- and many increasingly are, if my inbox is any indication -- then try a different browser. If you can't or don't want to make a complete switch, load some of your tabs into the new browser (I stared with Firefox by loading YouTube into a tab, then Google Mail, and things sort of snowballed from there).
Start the new month by trying out a different browser. But don't feel like you have to make a total leap; it's OK to just dip your toe in and see how the new browser feels.