6 useful tips for speeding up Google Chrome

In one of our past articles, we've already covered how to combat the problem of slow page load times. But since technology, as well as Google Chrome, does not stand still, we decided to complete the series of suggested ways and collected fresh useful tips for you.

Improve tab management

If you're one of those people who keeps a lot of tabs open, you should know that this leads to slower browser performance: the more tabs open at the same time, the slower Chrome runs. So the obvious solution is to stop leaving open the tabs you don't need.

But if you absolutely need to keep more than a few tabs open at any given time, we suggest using an extension that will prevent the browser from running idle. One such tool is Workona. This extension allows you to create custom workspaces to organise tabs, pause them when they are not needed, and make it as easy as possible to find and load them when you do need them.

Consider using an extension that blocks scripts

The Internet is slowed down by the excessive use of scripts (tracking, loading adverts, playing videos, etc.) by some websites. A script-blocking extension called uBlock Origin will prevent such scripts from running, and as a result you will be able to browse the web much faster. With its help you will be able to manually whitelist sites as you wish.

Address security gaps

Today, most websites already use HTTPS, a secure protocol that displays a padlock icon in the browser's address bar and lets you know the following:

• the site really is what it declares itself to be;
• everything you send to the site is encrypted.

But some sites still stick to the older and far less secure HTTP protocol. In this case, there's a way out: there's an option in Chrome that allows you to automatically switch outdated sites to HTTPS if possible and warn the user before loading a site that can't use the more secure protocol. To activate this option, you need to go to Chrome settings, click «Privacy and security» — «Security» and find the option «Always use secure connections» at the bottom of the screen.

Chrome's in-built security system has been updated

The browser's built-in Safe Browsing system detects and alerts you when you try to use dodgy sites, and notifies you if you try to navigate to an unsafe site. This gives Chrome a strong defence against web threats.

But not everyone knows that with just a couple of mouse clicks, you can upgrade to an even higher level of browser protection. It's all thanks to Chrome's «enhanced protection» option, which adds a more proactive system for predicting dangerous events before they happen, as well as alerting you when you enter a password related to a known data breach. Just go to Chrome's «Privacy and security» section of settings and select «Enhanced protection» from the on-screen options.

Chrome preloads pages for you

Chrome has a feature that allows you to selectively preload the pages you're most likely to open. It looks at every link on the page you're viewing, predicts which links you're likely to click on, and then preloads the relevant pages before you click on them. This feature is available in both the desktop browser and the Chrome app on Android and iOS.

To activate on desktop, type chrome:settings into the address bar, select «Privacy and security» from the menu on the left side of the screen, and then click «Cookies and other site data» in the main area of the screen. At the bottom of the next screen, find the «Preload pages» option and click the toggle switch next to it.

On Android, open the Chrome app settings, tap «Privacy and security», then tap «Preload pages» and select «Standard preload». On iOS, open the Chrome app settings, tap «Bandwidth», then tap «Preload web pages» and select «Always» or «Wi-Fi only» from the options that appear.

For even faster speeds, you can use the FasterWeb extension, which will preload a page when you hover your mouse over a link for at least 65 milliseconds.

Reset your settings back to their original values

And you can also start fresh by resetting your Chrome settings to the default state. We don't recommend this method for everyone, but if your browser is severely glitchy or has other unsolvable problems, this drastic solution will help.

Type chrome:settings in the address bar, click on «Reset settings» and then «Restore settings to their original defaults». Click on it and confirm that you want to proceed. After that, all that is left to do is to wait until everything is ready.

Now you know how many different Chrome speeding up options there are, and they are available to everyone. Take note, use them, and work in your browser without waiting.