How to Speed up Google Chrome

Table of Contents

• Chrome Extensions to Speed up Chrome
  • Ad Blocker
  • The Great Suspender
  • Reader View
• Manage Tabs to Speed up Chrome
  • Reuse Existing Tabs
  • Don’t Command+Shift+T to Search Recently Closed Pages, Use Chrome Search History Instead
  • Open Less Tabs
• Manage Installed Extensions to Speed up Chrome
• Bonus Tips: How to Keep Your Mac from Overheating

Awesome Tips about Chrome Series

Chrome Extensions to Speed up Chrome

Ad Blocker

• Adblock Plus
  • Able to enable/disable ads on specific sites
• AdBlock

The Great Suspender

• Use The Great Suspender together with Chrome Vimium, the Suspender reduces the memory usage, use Chrome Vimium to find and go to specific tab quickly.
• After restart Chrome, the suspended pages remain suspended, Great!
• Automatically suspend tabs after: 5 mins
• Uncheck Never suspend active tab in each window
• Uncheck Never suspend tabs that are playing audio
• Use Suspend/Unsuspend active tab and Suspend all tabs in all windows to suspend all pages not working on now.

Reader View

• it reduces the memory usage a LOT for pages that load a lot of flashes, ads.
• e.g. reduces this page from around 450+ mb to 87mb.
• read here for more info about Reader View.
  • The pros and crons, when to use it and the alternatives and other must-have google chrome extensions

Use Cmd+Shift+A to suspend all tabs in current window, Cmd+Shift+R to open the current tab in Reader View.

Manage Tabs to Speed up Chrome

• Kill tabs that uses a lot of memory at More Tools -> Task Manager, reload then if needed.
• Kill tabs not needed more aggressively
  • Install Chrome Vimium
  • cl to close left tabs, cr to kill right tabs, co to kill other tabs
  • count + x to kill right x tabs
• Use The Great Suspender to suspend pages aggressively

Reuse Existing Tabs

• In Chrome search tabs, click Switch to this tab
  • Unfortunately this doesn’t work with suspended tabs
• Use Shift+t the Chrome Vimium Vomnibar to search and go to existing tabs instead open a new one
  • Works well with suspended tabs

Don’t Command+Shift+T to Search Recently Closed Pages, Use Chrome Search History Instead

• Try to reopen one specific page (not the last one) after close the window, or multiple pages, don’t use Ctrl+Shift+T to reopen them then try to find it: reopening them would cause a lot of memory spike and may cause disk spin etc.
• Directly use Chrome Search history to find the page: search or scan last several pages.

Open Less Tabs

When you are Google search a topic, you know you are going to take times to read these pages: don’t open too many search results at once. Read the first few first, if still need, open more search results.

Manage Installed Extensions to Speed up Chrome

• Check memory used at More Tools -> Task Manager
• Uninstall extensions that are not used any more
• Temporarily disable that uses occasionally
  • like ModHeader, Search Plus, Screenshot
• Change “Allow this extension to read and change all your data on websites you visit:” to On click or On specific sites
• Kill the extensions that uses a lot of memory then reload them
  • Sometimes, Google Translate uses 600+ memory, just kill and reload it

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Bonus Tips: How to Keep Your Mac from Overheating

• Don’t wait to charge your mac till its power is too low.
• Close the lid to make Mac sleep as often as possible.
  • Enable and use Touch ID to quickly sign in again.
• Kill apps aggressively
  • e.g. kill iTerm if not going to use it in next 5 mins.
  • Configure the app to restore last session: like Restore last windows after restart for iTerm.
• Don’t put it Mac directly your lap, put a book underneath, as MacBooks vent from the back edge,