How to Turn off Hardware Acceleration in Chrome
Hardware acceleration is a performance feature in Chrome that can improve the display of certain content, such as videos and games, by utilizing the computer's graphics processing unit (GPU). However, some users may experience compatibility issues or reduced stability with hardware acceleration enabled. In these cases, it may be beneficial to disable hardware acceleration in Chrome.
Steps to Turn off Hardware Acceleration:
- Open Chrome: Launch the Chrome browser on your computer.
- Click Menu: Click on the three vertical dots icon in the top-right corner of the browser window.
- Select "Settings": Choose "Settings" from the drop-down menu.
- Expand Advanced Settings: Scroll down to the bottom of the Settings page and click on "Advanced."
- Find "System" Section: Under the Advanced settings, locate the "System" section.
- Disable Hardware Acceleration: Uncheck the box next to "Use hardware acceleration when available."
- Restart Chrome: Click the "Relaunch" button to restart the Chrome browser.
After restarting Chrome, hardware acceleration will be disabled. You may notice a slight decrease in performance for certain content, but this should resolve any compatibility issues or stability problems you were experiencing previously.
When to Disable Hardware Acceleration:
- Display or graphical issues: If you encounter flickering, video freezing, or other display problems in Chrome, disabling hardware acceleration may resolve the issue.
- Stability problems: If Chrome is crashing or freezing frequently, disabling hardware acceleration may improve stability.
- Incompatibility issues: Certain extensions or websites may not be compatible with hardware acceleration, resulting in crashes or errors.
Note:
- Disabling hardware acceleration may reduce the performance of certain content, such as 3D games and videos.
- If you disable hardware acceleration and continue to experience issues, try other troubleshooting steps, such as clearing the browsing data, updating Chrome, or checking for malware.