While you might be relying on Gmail to view and respond to your important emails all day, it can be annoying when Gmail takes forever to load them. Thus, to help you out, we’ve compiled a list of solutions that’ll help you fix slow Gmail. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get started.
1. Check for Browser Issues
If Gmail takes longer than usual to load your messages, you can start by ruling out any browser issues first. For starters, Gmail works the best when you’re using it on a supported browser. Chrome is an ideal candidate here. Further, you can try clearing your browser cache and updating it to its latest version. If your browser is slow in loading all the websites, consider going through our dedicated guides on fixing slow Chrome, Edge, and Safari.
2. Reduce the Number of Emails per Page
By default, Gmail shows you 50 emails per page. But you can configure it to load fewer emails per page to speed things up. Read on to learn how. Step 1: Open up Gmail in your web browser. Step 2: Click on the gear icon in the top right corner and select See all settings.
Step 3: Under General, use the drop-down menu next to the Maximum page size to reduce the number of emails per page.
Step 4: Scroll down to click on Save Changes.
3. Use Fewer Filters and Labels
If you’re using too many filters and labels in Gmail to organize and find your important messages quickly, then Gmail will load slower than usual. While Gmail allows you to use as many as 500 labels and 500 filters, you should use fewer of them to avoid any sluggishness.
4. Reduce the Number of Tabs
Gmail uses machine learning to separate your Inbox into five categories that appear as tabs. These categories include Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums. You can uncheck the tabs that you don’t use to speed up Gmail further. Here’s how. Step 1: Click on the gear icon in the top right to select See all settings. Step 2: Navigate to the Inbox tab. Uncheck the categories that you don’t use and hit Save Changes at the bottom.
5. Disable Chat Feature
Google Chat is one of those half-baked features in Gmail that is hardly useful. It use more resources, and slows down Gmail while loading. Thankfully, disabling it is quite straightforward. Here’s how to do it. Step 1: Open up Gmail in your web browser. Click on the gear icon to select See all settings. Step 2: Switch to the Chat and Meet tab and turn off Google Chat. Then hit Save Changes.
6. Avoid Using Too Many Extensions
If you’ve been taking advantage of any third-party extensions to block ads, track your emails, or enhance your Gmail experience in any other way, then it could be the reason why your Gmail is slow. Hence, it’s best to avoid cluttering your Gmail with too many extensions. Try disabling browser extensions for Gmail and see if that reduces the loading times in Gmail.
7. Use Offline Mode in Gmail
Offline mode in Gmail is a handy feature that lets you view, delete and even respond to your messages without an active internet connection. So, if you’re ever in an area where internet connectivity is unreliable, then Gmail’s offline mode can help you access your Inbox quickly. Although, it’s only available on Google Chrome for now. To use the offline mode in Gmail, you’ll need to enable it first. For that, open settings in Gmail, head over to the Offline tab, and tick the box that reads Enable offline mail.
Your Gmail inbox and outbox will get updated automatically after you connect your PC to the internet. Likewise, if your internet or PC is particularly slow, then you can also try using Gmail’s HTML version to fetch and respond to your emails. Since the HTML version only carries essential features, your Gmail will load faster even with a weak internet connection.
Speed Up Gmail
Aside from the above, you should also avoid doing bulk operations like deleting too many messages at once or emptying your trash. Plus, sticking to the default theme and using fewer add-ons can also speed up Gmail. The above tips should help you declutter and speed up your Gmail experience. As always, if you’ve found any other way to speed up Gmail, share it with us in the comments below. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
