Google Chrome “Stuck” Terminator: Restore Settings and Optimization Tips to Give It a New Life!
Hey, do you also feel that your Google browser has been a bit slow lately and gets stuck from time to time? Don’t worry, this is a common question! Today let’s talk about how to give your browser a “big cleaning” and make it run fast again. Mainly by restoring default settings and some minor optimizations, you can give your online experience a new look!
1. First find the “entrance” of the setting
To do a “physical examination” of the browser, you must first find its “command center” – that is, the settings page. It’s actually very simple, you have two ways to get in:
1. The most direct way is to open the browser and see if there are three dots (menu icons) in the upper right corner? Tap on it, then find the “Settings” option in the pop-up menu, just click on it.
2. Or, if you prefer a more “geeky” way, you can directly enter ‘chrome://settings/’ in the address bar, then hit the car, or you can jump to the settings page instantly. Isn’t it convenient?
2. Give the browser a “fresh start”
Sometimes, browser lag is due to various settings being unintentionally changed or accumulating too much “garbage”. At this time, restoring the default settings is like doing a “system reload” for it, but it is not so troublesome.
1. In the left sidebar of the settings page, you will see an option called “Reset and Clean”, click on it. Then, a button will appear on the right to “Restore settings to default settings”, click on it! Don’t worry, your bookmarks, history, and other important data will usually be kept and won’t be lost.
2. If you feel that your browser is really “terminally ill” and want to completely “break up”, you can click on the “Advanced” option and then check “Delete browsing data”. This way, all user data is erased and the browser is literally the same as when it was first installed. Remember to restart the browser after operation to make it look new!
3. Fine adjustment to make it run more smoothly
In addition to restoring the defaults, there are also small details that can help you further optimize the browser’s performance and make it run more smoothly.
1. We can go to “Privacy & Security”. You’ll find options for “Predictive web content loading” and “Keep running background apps.” If you feel that your browser is eating up a bit of memory, or there are always programs running silently in the background, you might as well turn them all off. This effectively reduces resource usage and makes the browser more “light”.
2. Also, in the System settings, you may see an option to “Use hardware acceleration mode”. This feature was originally intended to improve performance, but if your graphics card driver is older, it may become the “culprit” of the lag. So, if you find that your browser is still stuck, you can try closing it and then restarting your browser to see the effect. Sometimes, this kind of “reverse operation” works wonders!
Fourth, remove digital “garbage” and unload unnecessary “baggage”
Browsers accumulate a lot of “digital garbage” after a long time, just like our computer desktops—cache files, cookies, etc. There are also extensions that we may have only used once or twice, and they also quietly take up resources.
1. Clearing cache and cookies is very simple: on Windows, press the ‘Ctrl+Shift+Del’ key combination; For Mac users, it’s ‘Command+Shift+Del’. Then a cleaning window will pop up, choose to clear “Cached pictures and files” and “Cookies and other site data”. After confirming the cleanup, you will find that the browser has instantly “slimmed down”.
2. Next, let’s take a look at those extensions. Enter ‘chrome://extensions/’ in the address bar and press enter to enter the extension management page. Take a closer look, are there some extensions that you haven’t used for a long time, or don’t need them at all? Be bold and disable them! Keeping only the core extensions you really need and use every day can greatly reduce the burden on your browser.
5. Maintain “freshness” and consider the “special treatment” of old equipment
Software updates are like patching your phone, and each update fixes some known issues, including performance flaws. So, it’s important to keep Chrome up to date.
1. You can find the “About Chrome” option in the settings, click on it and it will automatically check and prompt you to install the latest updates. Don’t hesitate, just update, many times the lag problem is because the version is too old.
2. If your computer is an old device, you may also encounter the problem of low rendering efficiency of the graphics card. At this point, you can try adding a small tail to Chrome’s startup command. Right-click on the Chrome icon on your desktop, select “Properties”, and then add “–disable-gpu-sandbox” to the end of the original content in the “Target” box. This small operation may make rendering web pages smoother on your old machine, but note that this is mainly optimized for specific situations!
6. Network settings may also “mess up”
Sometimes, browser lag is not necessarily a problem in itself, it may be a network configuration “messing around”.
1. We can go to Chrome’s settings, find the “System” section, and click “Open Computer’s Proxy Settings”. If you don’t have a particular need to use a proxyserver, it is best to turn it off. Because unnecessary proxies can cause network latency, which in turn makes the browser look stuttering.
2. There is also a trick that can help you clear your DNS cache. Enter ‘chrome://net-internals/dns’ in the address bar and click on the ‘Clear host cache’ button on the page. It’s like clearing your brain of your internet connection, sometimes fixing some inexplicable network loading issues, and then restarting your browser to give it a try.
7. Give Chrome a “new home” (optional operation)
If you’ve tried all of the previous methods and your browser is still stuck, it’s possible that your user profile is the problem. It’s like a “portfolio” that records all your habits and data, and if it’s damaged, it can lead to all sorts of weird problems.
At this point, we can create a new, independent profile for Chrome. Here’s how: Create a new Chrome shortcut on your desktop, right-click on it, and select “Properties”. At the end of the “Target” column, add ‘–user-data-dir=”C:\\New Folder”‘ (note that ‘New Folder’ is changed to any new folder path you want, such as ‘C:\\ChromeNewProfile’). When you start Chrome with this new shortcut, it generates a completely independent configuration that does not affect the original. That way, if there’s really a problem with the original profile, this new home will allow you to experience smooth Chrome.
8. If it really doesn’t work, just “tear it down and start over”!
If you’ve tried all of the above and your Google browser still doesn’t work, then you have to use the “killer trick” – completely uninstall and reinstall. It’s like reinstalling a computer system, and although it’s a bit cumbersome, it usually solves most of the problems.
First, you need to uninstall Chrome in the Control Panel or Settings. Then, a very crucial step, is to manually delete its user data folder. This folder is usually hidden under the path ‘C:\\Users\\Your username\\AppData\\Local\\Google\\Chrome\\User Data’ (note that the ‘AppData’ folder may be hidden, you need to show the hidden files first). Delete this folder to ensure that all old, potentially corrupted configurations are cleared. Finally, go back to the official Google website to download the latest version of Chrome and install it. Trust me, after this “big surgery”, your browser will definitely be back to its best!
