Why video slows down, and how to deal with it

Main causes of incorrect playback

In addition to the lack of sufficient resources to view video in Full HD (High-Definition) format, the following reasons for video slowdown are highlighted:

• after a global update of Windows, drivers for the video card (less often — sound) were not installed;
• hardware video acceleration was switched off;
• a large number of running extensions;
• overflowing cache.

5 steps to solving the problem

Step 1: check the drivers.

First of all, you should check the availability of drivers for audio, video card. If necessary, install the files manually by downloading them from the manufacturer's official website. To do this, specify the model of the video card, which can be found in the Device Manager. Right-click on the «My Computer» icon, select «Properties», in the window that opens, go to the «Hardware» tab. Select «Video Adapters» from the list, click on the «+», then you will see the manufacturer and model of the installed video card.

Step 2: speed up your graphics card

If you are using Google Chrome, try overriding the software rendering list (a procedure to speed up weak video cards). In the address bar, type the following: chrome://flags/#ignore-gpu-blacklist. Then activate the Override software rendering list function by clicking the «Enable» button under the description and reload the browser.

Step 3: disable hardware video acceleration

If the above options didn't work, disable hardware video acceleration. Enter the command chrome://flags/#disable-accelerated-video-decode. into the address bar. In the menu that opens, click on the «Disable» button next to hardware accelerated video decode and reload the browser.

Next, go to «Settings», select «Advanced Settings», in the «System» section deactivate the hardware acceleration function and restart the browser.

Step 4: disable unnecessary extensions

Google Chrome supports a lot of inbuilt extensions to make life easier for users. This is convenient, but a large number of active applications hampers the browser's performance. Such «stealing» of resources also worsens the quality of video playback, so try to enable only the extensions you need at the moment.

To deactivate, select «Advanced Features» and go to the «Extensions» category.

In the list that opens, deselect the functions that are not required for continuous operation.

Step 5: clear the cache

Another useful Google Chrome feature that can cause slowdowns is storing images from the pages you're viewing in the cache. This speeds up page reloads, but the accumulation of large amounts of data hinders performance.

To «unload» the browser, go to «Advanced settings» and select «Clear browsing data» (don't forget to deselect «Browsing history») and click on «Clear data».

After performing the described actions, the online video will play without problems. If the situation remains the same, we recommend a more detailed analysis of the reasons or change your tariff plan to a faster one.