You’re probably using Chrome on your Android phone. Then the browser may sometimes be slower than usual. In this edition of Android tips, we walk you through the settings that make Chrome faster again.

Why is Google Chrome slower?

It’s hard to give a clear reason why Google Chrome is slow. It may have to do with the aging of your smartphone, but also with the optimization of web pages. To make sure the app itself isn’t the culprit, we’ve listed four settings for you to make Chrome on your smartphone faster.

Update Chrome

Before you start adjusting settings in Chrome, it’s a good idea to check if you have the latest version of the browser installed. Not only do updates provide better digital security, but new features and improvements to Chrome’s speed are also distributed through updates.

Chrome will likely update automatically on your Android smartphone. If you have any doubts about this, you can also manually check if the browser is running the latest version. To do this, go to the Play Store on your smartphone and search for “Google Chrome”. Then select the application.

If you see “Update” here instead of “Open,” you can install the latest version manually. Click the three dots at the top right of the screen, then select “Turn on automatic update” to have the app updated automatically in the future.

Close unnecessary tabs

When you click on a link on your mobile phone, it automatically opens in your browser. Google Chrome will then create a new tab for this purpose. Over time, these tabs can build up and slow down your Chrome browser. For this reason, it’s a good idea to monitor how many tabs you have open and some closed regularly.

You can do this using the icon at the top right of the screen. The box with a number shows how many pages are currently open. Click on it and you will see an overview of your pages. You can close the tab by clicking the cross at the top right. Click on the three dots above to select and close multiple tabs or to delete them all. Neat and tidy.

Clear your Chrome browser cache

What is cache? When you open a page, your phone downloads all the data on that page, including the site’s logo, links, and text. If you go to another page or app and then open the old page again, you won’t have to reload these banners, links, and text. After all, the data is stored in your cache.

This seems to make Chrome faster, right? certainly. Cache helps speed up your browser. The problem mainly lies in old cache data. This may become corrupted or not deleted automatically. After a while, this can cause significant delays. That’s why clearing your cache every now and then is not a bad idea.

You can do this as follows. Open Chrome and click on the three dots at the top right. Click “Settings” at the bottom of the pop-up window. Here you go to “Privacy and Security” and then “Clear browsing history”. At the top right, tap “Last Hour” and change it to “All.”

Select only “Cached photos and files” to avoid signing out of accounts and clearing your history. Then click “Clear Data” and confirm it by clicking “Clear”. Just wait a moment and your cache will be emptied.

Prepare pre-loaded pages

In Settings under “Privacy and Security” you will also find the “Preload pages” option. Google Chrome tries to use algorithms to load pages before you open them. When you open that pre-loaded page, it can improve your Chrome experience.

However, it can have the opposite effect, especially on older or less powerful devices. Chrome actually loads pages you might never open. It also costs more mobile data to use this feature.

In this case you can also disable the option. To do this, go to the “Privacy & Security” menu, select “Preload pages” and choose “Don’t preload.” Do you have a very fast phone? Then you can also choose “Extended Preload” to take greater advantage of the function.

Did you notice a difference after adjusting these settings? For example, did you have a large amount of cache or are you still using an older version of Chrome? Let us know in the comments below. For more Android tips, click the links below.

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