Do you want to speed up your browsing experience and make Chrome run more efficiently? If so, then you need to enable the Chrome flags. These are experimental features that aren’t necessarily ready for prime time, but they can improve performance and make your browsing experience smoother. In this blog post, we will discuss 10 of the best Chrome flags to enable right now for enhancing your web browsing experience.
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What is a Chrome Flag?
Chrome Flags are a hidden feature in the Google Chrome browser. They are essentially settings that can be turned on or off to improve your browsing experience. Many of these settings are experimental, which means that they may change or break at any time.
The experimental settings also included the new feature that Google is currently testing and might release in the future updates if the testing goes right. So basically, if you enable and use any flag on your Google Chrome browser, you actually become a beta tester.
Apart from that, Chrome Flags also include a few advanced features for developers such as Javascript Debugging, GPU Accelerated Compositing, Experimental QUIC Protocol, and more. So, If you’re a developer or someone who simply enjoys experimenting with new under-cooked features, there are many amazing Chrome Flags available for you.
Best Chrome Flags to Enable for Improving Performance
To enhance your internet speed and get a better browsing experience, you can enable the following Chrome flags on your Windows, Mac, or Android device. Some of them might be specific for a particular device type.
Although, since these flags are by Google internal developers they are safe to use, still as already mentioned, these are experimental features so they might cause problems in your browser or even on your system. So use them with caution.
Back-Forward Cache
One of the lesser-known but nonetheless impactful flags is the Back-Forward Cache. The Back-Forward Cache allows Chrome to save a page so that when you click back, it doesn’t have to reload the entire page. This can be a significant time-saver, especially on slower connections. It’s a lovely flag for folks who frequently use social media sites like Reddit, Facebook, and others.
To enable this flag, search Back-Forward Cache on the Chrome Flags page and enable it from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, type chrome://flags/#back-forward-cache into your URL bar and press enter. Then, click the “Enable” button.
Once you’ve enabled the flag, restart Chrome for the changes to take effect. When you visit a site and then hit back, you should see that the page loads much faster than it did before.
Smooth Scrolling
If you’re tired of jerky scrolling, then you need to enable the “Smooth Scrolling” flag. This will make scrolling smoother and more fluid. Enabling this flag will allow you to scroll like you’re on a trackpad.
To enable this flag, type “chrome://flags” into your URL bar and hit enter. Then, search for “Smooth Scrolling.” Click on the drop-down menu and select “Enabled.” Restart your browser for the changes to take effect. You can also navigate to chrome://flags/#smooth-scrolling.
Parallel Downloading
Chrome’s default download manager is pretty good. However, you can make it even better by enabling the “Parallel downloading” flag. This flag enables multiple downloads to run in parallel, which can speed up your overall download speeds. The flag speeds up downloads by splitting them up into pieces like Internet Download Manager (IDM).
To enable this flag, type “chrome://flags” into your address bar and search for “Parallel downloading.” Alternatively, you can just copy and paste this into Chrome’s URL bar: chrome://flags/#enable-parallel-downloading
GPU Rasterization
If you’re looking for a way to improve the performance of Chrome, one option is to enable GPU rasterization. By default, Chrome doesn’t make much use of your GPU to examine pictures or data, but if your system has a powerful GPU, there are a few things you can do to offload some processing to it and speed up the browser. That’s what the GPU Rasterization flag does. This flag uses your computer’s graphics processing unit (GPU) to render web pages, which can help speed things up.
To enable it, open Chrome and type “chrome://flags” into the address bar. Search for “Enable GPU rasterization.” Click the “Enable” button next to this flag. Restart Chrome for the changes to take effect. You can also directly visit this link: chrome://flags/#enable-gpu-rasterization.
Override Software Rendering List
If you have an older computer or graphics card, you can enable this flag to improve performance. This option overrides the built-in software rendering and forces the GPU acceleration regardless of whether it is supported or not. By enabling this flag, you’re telling Chrome to use the GPU to render web pages instead of the CPU.
Enable this flag by navigating to the Chrome Flags page and searching for Override Software Rendering. Alternatively, directly visit this link chrome://flags/#ignore-gpu-blocklist and select “Enabled.”
Zero-Copy Rasterizer
One of the most impactful changes you can make to improve Chrome’s performance is enabling the Zero-Copy Rasterizer flag. This flag makes Chrome use a Direct Rendering Manager, which enables it to directly access your GPU. As a result, page rendering is significantly accelerated. If you have a device with less RAM, enabling this option would significantly improve the performance.
To enable the Zero-Copy Rasterizer, just search it on the Chrome Flags page, and enable it from the drop-down menu. Or you can visit this link to directly enable it: chrome://flags/#enable-zero-copy.
Experimental QUIC Protocol
The Experimental QUIC Protocol flag enables support for the Quick UDP Internet Connections protocol. This can improve page load times and reduce latency. The objective of the flag is to reduce bandwidth, latency, and congestion by reducing the number of round trips required when establishing a new connection.
To enable this flag, type “chrome://flags” into your Chrome address bar, then search for “Experimental QUIC Protocol.” Click “Enable,” then restart Chrome when prompted. Other than this you can directly enable it through this link: chrome://flags/#enable-quic.
Enable Reader Mode
This flag enables a reader mode in the browser that strips away unnecessary formatting from articles, making them easier to read. You can access Reader Mode by clicking the “Distill page” link in the Chrome menu.
To enable it, type “chrome://flags” into the Omnibox and press Enter. Then, search for “Reader Mode triggering.” Select “Enabled” from the drop-down menu. Or visit this link and enable it: chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode.
Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents
If you’ve ever been browsing the web late at night, you know how jarring it can be to have a bright screen in your face. Well, there’s a flag for that. Enabling “Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents” will cause all of your web pages to automatically switch to a dark theme at nighttime. This not only protects your eyes from strain but can also help improve battery life on devices with OLED screens.
To enable this flag, type “chrome://flags” into your URL bar, search for “dark mode,” and select “Enabled” from the drop-down menu. Or just navigate to this link and enable the flag: chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark.
Show Autofill predictions
If you’ve ever used a web browser, you know that typing in addresses can be a pain, especially if you’re constantly having to correct common typos or re-type entire URLs. By enabling this flag, Chrome will show predictions for what you’re trying to type, based on your browsing history. This can save you a ton of time and frustration, especially if you’re constantly typing in the same address or search query. It also greatly helps while filling out the online forms.
To enable this flag, open Chrome and type “chrome://flags” into the Omnibox. Search for “Show Autofill predictions” on the Chrome Flags page. Or follow this link to directly reach the flag and enable it: chrome://flags/#show-autofill-type-predictions.
What to do if Flags start causing problems?
If after enabling a flag the browser starts misbehaving, you can disable it in the same way you enabled it. If multiple flags are causing problem and you don’t know which one is the culprit then reset all the flags by navigating to the chrome://flags and clicking on the Reset all button next to the search box.
Conclusion
So there you have it, our top ten Chrome Flags to enable faster, more efficient browsing. We hope you found this list helpful and that you’ll start using some of these flags to improve your own browsing experience. If you have any other favorites that we didn’t mention, be sure to let us know in the comments.
A Chrome Flag is an experimental feature that can be enabled to improve performance, optimize loading times, and change the look and feel of your web browser.
To enable a Chrome Flag, type “chrome://flags” into your URL bar, then search for the flag you want to enable. Click “Enable,” then restart Chrome when prompted. Alternatively, you can often find direct links to flags by searching for them on Google.
Yes, there are some risks associated with enabling experimental features. These features are still in development and may not work as intended. Additionally, they may cause instability or other problems with your web browser. If you experience any issues after enabling a flag, try disabling it and restarting Chrome.
