Chrome running slowly

Question

Google Chrome, a web browser built for speed, runs terribly slowly if I leave it on for a several hours. It's like it is using a lot of memory though it is not. Tabs are very slow to load or switch between. CPU and RAM usage both appear to be normal. If I reboot Ubuntu entirely and then open Chrome, it runs fine.

Editing /etc/nsswitch.conf made no difference. Hardware acceleration is on. Google Chrome Version 47.0.2526.106 (64-bit).

Anecdotally, I noticed Chrome ran a lot faster when a switched from X to Wayland. — Owen, Mar 29 '20 at 16:02

score 61 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 29 '24 at 07:39

61

Disabling "Use hardware acceleration when available" in

chrome://settings/system

Fixed the problem.

edited Feb 29 '24 at 07:39

Bryan Contreras

7

answered Dec 22 '15 at 20:32

Buford T. Justice

1,524

This should be marked as the correct answer. The newer answers are saying the same as this one. Now chrome works like a snap for me. ubuntu 18.04. chrome 70.0 – oma Nov 01 '18 at 10:54
Enabling hardware acceleration solved the issue on my Thinkpad laptop – Cameron Sima Sep 02 '19 at 23:33
3

We're now in 2019, and it seems Google fixed this issue ; I wouldn't follow this advice anymore.\ – Déjà vu Sep 08 '19 at 01:36
2

It's still valid in Chrome 79 and Debian stretch – javsmo Dec 30 '19 at 12:58
1

This was a problem for Linux Mint 2021 as well - very long startup. – easyrider Jan 23 '21 at 17:25
1

It is now June 2021, and I can confirm disabling this option fixes the slowness and long-lag between key strokes. I am using AMD CPU and Nvidia GPU, on Ubuntu 20.04. – Joshua T Jun 03 '21 at 10:54
Looks like this bug is back in Chrome 91.0.4472.101. – khatchad Jun 14 '21 at 20:18
thanks. still valid on 2021SEP for Xubuntu 20.04 – Max Sep 29 '21 at 05:11
1

Seems like problem is still valid for Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS and Version 97.0.4692.99 (Official Build) (64-bit). Disabling hardware accelaration fixes it. – Suvarna Pattayil Jan 29 '22 at 15:17
Solution is still valid for 113.0.5672.126 (Official Build) (64-bit) on Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS – ethaning May 24 '23 at 09:47
Still valid 2023 :) - Version 115.0.5790.110 (Official Build) (64-bit) Thank you! – user1383029 Sep 13 '23 at 07:50

score 14 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 29 '24 at 15:02

14

This seems to a bug with hardware acceleration and you can see the slowness when tab switching.

go to chrome://settings/system

Disable hardware acceleration since it doesn't help:

edited Feb 29 '24 at 15:02

Bryan Contreras

7

answered Dec 20 '17 at 21:44

Asher

267

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 21 '18 at 17:33

7

Once I also faced the same problem. I searched for why Chrome is slow. My situation:

Chrome is not updated
Newly installed Ubuntu
Hardware acceleration is enabled

Here is a solution to this problem:

Update your Chrome

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Disable hardware acceleration chrome://settings/?search=hardware

edited Dec 21 '18 at 17:33

Zanna

70,465

answered Feb 18 '18 at 12:11

husnain kazmi

81
1
5

Thanks for the solution. I use Linux Mint 19.3 in an old Toshiba satellite A-200. Chromium browser was very slow until I disable hardware acceleration and it became much faster. – Nikos Geropoulos Nov 26 '20 at 09:38

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Feb 29 '24 at 15:34

@Seth! First of all, kudos to you for providing such a helpful answer to the slow Chrome issue!

Disabling "Use hardware acceleration when available" in Chrome's settings (chrome://settings/system) was indeed the key to fixing the problem. It appears that this option, while beneficial for many, can sometimes lead to slowdowns on certain systems, especially when there are GPU driver compatibility issues.

I would like to add a bit more information for users who might be facing similar problems. Chrome has introduced a Performance section in newer versions (110 and onwards), which offers two features: Memory Saver and Energy Saver. The Memory Saver feature automatically suspends inactive tabs to free up memory, significantly improving the browser's responsiveness. On the other hand, the Energy Saver feature is particularly useful for laptop users as it limits background activity and visual effects to conserve power.

Here are screenshots of the Performance section in my Chrome settings, where you can enable these features:

To check if you have the Performance section available in your Chrome settings, ensure you have the latest version of Chrome installed. Google frequently updates the browser to address performance issues and introduce new features.

It's quite amusing to note that despite Chrome being known for its speed and simplicity, it seems to have struggled with this issue for Ubuntu users for over seven years now. Sometimes, technology just loves to keep us guessing.

Happy browsing!

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 16 '24 at 06:06

My issue was very unstable youtube - page took x10 slower then usual to load, page itself was flaky, responsiveness was poor. Strangely it was working fine on same PC in firefox, but chrome was just unusable.

Year after i managed to fix it by enabling

chrome://flags/#ignore-gpu-blocklist
chrome://flags/#enable-vulkan

(also don't forget to install vulkan and mesa drivers!)

After latest release same issue reappear. After trying same fixes over and over again i managed to find the culprit - it was adblock chrome extension. I guess its somehow related with recent youtube wars with adblock community.

Chrome running slowly

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