Why is Google Docs so slow?

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Why is Google Docs so slow?
Google Docs running slow

Have you ever wondered “Why is Google Docs so slow?” at times. Google Docs is a fantastic web-based editor.  With Google Docs you can create, edit and share word documents online. 

Why is Google Docs so slow? The reason could be a browser extension, Less CPU or RAM, Running the same instance of the Browser for a long time without restarting, Browser cache and cookies, using an older version of the Browser.

Google Docs provides many features that enable everyone to accomplish whatever task they want to. And it has some shortcomings as well. One of these is that it tends to be slow times

There are many reasons why is Google Docs lagging. Let’s dive deep into this article to know why Google Docs is so slow on your laptop/PC on your Chrome book. 

Why is Google doc so slow on my laptop?

You might often experience a slow down of Google Docs on your laptop. This occurs mostly when you have a long document and you might have a lag in scrolling or typing. When you type a letter, it might appear for a few seconds on the screen. Below are some of the reasons why Google Docs is slow on your laptop.

  • Google Docs save all your edits continuously so this may cause an issue. 
  • Another reason is nowadays, we people install a lot of extensions in our browser. The browser extension which is a small software module for customizing a web browser provides you with added functionalities. But you could try to disable those extensions to enhance the usage of Google Docs.
  • You may be using an older machine. If your laptop doesn’t have enough CPU or RAM all your applications will tend to run slow. So try to update your system’s RAM or try to get a new one that has more capacity. 
  • Google Docs runs in the browser, so running the browser faster will help you. Sometimes running a browser for a long time without restarting can slow down. 
  • Another reason is you might be heavily multitasking. If your browser has many open pages or tabs, it may be eating most of your computer’s memory. Other apps can use up both memory and processor resources. Try closing a few and see if the browser gets faster. 

Why is Google Docs so slow on my Chromebook?

Chromebooks have the capability for running most of the apps and different tools from the cloud. This helps you to save your expensive device from doing heavy lifting locally and adds a quick speed boost. Let us take a look at some common problems being faced on Chromebooks. 

  • First, make sure you’re using the latest version of chrome, if not try to update the latest version. And Chromebooks have limited local storage capacity as your device is stored more it becomes bogged down. 
  • Before accessing Google Docs check whether your internet connection is strong or not. This could be boiled down to a few things. 
  • Extensions can add very handy capabilities to your browser. But they consume resources. Now you can re-enable your extension one at a time. It might be necessary to do this if apps or extensions you installed changed your setting without your knowledge. Delete any apps or extensions that you don’t need.
  • The more tabs you have open, the more RAM you’re using and the slower your Chromebook will be. So make sure you close all the other tabs when accessing documents
  • Google drive notifications should become your concern. It indicates that you have too many documents on Google drive and it possibly causes the Chromebook to slug. This happens because Google is trying to sync the documents for offline use. 
  • And the last thing is when your browser stores more caches and cookies it could be slowed down. Caches and cookies can add more weight to your device, causing the browser and system to slug. So try clearing cache in chrome and then reboot your device.

Google Docs freeze while writing

Google Docs has a size limit for files. The average page of text contains about 3,000 characters. If you have vastly exceeded the limit it could be slowed down. Google Docs can become slow to edit when using it with large content.  If you have very large documents, you may experience a lag in typing. When you type a letter, it might appear a couple of seconds later on the screen. Why this happens means when you have documents upwards of 50 pages. This would be the major problem while writing. 

You can’t expect the speed of a dual-core Intel Pentium 1.9Ghz with 2Gb RAM to compete with an octa-core intel core i7 3.0Ghz with 16Gb of RAM. The core i7 would be faster with Google Docs than the Intel Pentium.

Note: The above is the major reason we people have experienced while accessing Google Docs. Here is a solution for how to fix a problem in an easy way. 

Step 1: Check the user’s browser to close tabs that you aren’t using, click close which is on the top right corner.

Step 2: Navigate to the Google chrome -> more options -> help -> about Google chrome. Check whether Google Chrome is up to date or not. If it shows the update option in the blue button, Kindly Update the browser.

Step 3: Open Google chrome -> more -> more tools -> extensions. If you found any unwanted extensions then just turn off extensions and plugins

Step 4: Navigate to the Google chrome -> more tools -> clearing browsing data -> basic -> time range -> all time -> Clear caches and cookies 

Step 5: Open windows defender firewall to check Firewall settings  -> advanced settings -> check whether the Google chrome inbound and outbound connection is not restricted.

Step 6: Open the “Network & Internet settings” to check the network issues-> change adapter options-> Right-click on this & open the properties-> enter the correct DNS and save it.

Step 7: Open Google chrome-> more setting-> advanced-> Reset and clean up-> then reset.

Step 8: Navigate to the window settings. Check your windows update from here and it always is up-to-date with your windows.

Step 9: If you are using the Mozilla browser Update the Mozilla browser. Move to the “Mozilla Firefox” and open it-> open Mozilla Firefox settings-> More options-> Search-> enable use the Address bar for search-> remove all the other search engines-> then navigate to the Privacy & Security-> Now delete Cookies & Sites Data-> always up-to-date your Mozilla browser.

Step 10: Check the user’s computer and now restart your PC, then it will be solved.

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And that’s it. The above are some major reasons “why is Google Docs so slow?” or Google Docs running slow. Now you have learned how to fix a lag in Google Docs by the above steps. If you’re experiencing any of the issues mentioned, then it’s time to follow the easy steps and get it resolved.