7 Ways to Increase Your Web Browser Speed
Not many people realize how much the speed of their web browser actually affects them in daily life, but the truth is that being forced to wait around while your computer loads pages you need can have an enormous negative impact on your work and personal efficiency. Luckily, there are several simple things you can do to increase your web browser speed by leaps and bounds, helping you save time every day and improving your quality of life as well as your productivity at work. Here are 7 ways to increase your web browser speed that are worth checking out.
1. MINIMIZE HTTP REQUESTS
This is probably the most obvious change you can make in order to increase your web browser speed: simply minimize all unnecessary HTTP requests. While it may seem like an unnecessarily tedious process, this simple step can cut your web browser’s load time by up to 50% or more, saving you valuable seconds every day. The easiest way to do this is by finding the option in your web browser that allows you to set certain websites to load without images. This is usually called “view images” or something similar, and when activated, it makes sure that images are not loaded when you visit that website. You can check out how many HTTP requests you’ve made by going into your web browser’s settings, clicking on the “Advanced” button, and then clicking on “HTTP Requests” from there.
2. MINIFY AND COMBINE FILES
Similarly, by minimizing or even eliminating unnecessary external files that your web browser must load to view a page, you can save yourself a great deal of time and frustration. This is especially true for external JavaScript and CSS files, since most modern browsers are programmed to load these files on their own in the background in order to increase performance and speed. However, by combining them with HTML code or other relevant files instead, you can just as easily display the page without unnecessary HTTP requests. The same goes for media files such as images and videos, which can easily be reduced in size and then combined with their related HTML code.
3. USE ASYNCHRONOUS LOADING FOR CSS AND JAVASCRIPT FILES
This is a step that more advanced users may already know about, but for the general public it’s one of the most important things you can do to increase your web browser speed. By using asynchronous loading for JavaScript and CSS files (which are in turn used by your web browser to display a page or piece of content) instead of HTTP requests, you can save up to 43% on your web browser’s loading times. You can do this easily by creating a local storage folder on your computer and storing the files there, and then referencing that folder in the HTML fragment of your web page or website. The local storage folder will then load these files asynchronously, saving you time and resources.
4. DEFER JAVASCRIPT LOADING
In addition to the previous step, another way you can lower the load time of JavaScript files is by setting the timeout of their loading to a smaller time frame. This will cause them to load on their own and increase your web browser’s speed by as much as 50%, saving you time every time you visit a page that has JavaScript already loaded. The best part is that you can easily set the timeout in your browser preferences, and even completely disable JavaScript loading in cases where you don’t need it. You can find more about how to do this in our previous article, as well as a full guide to optimizing your JavaScript.
5. MINIMIZE TIME TO FIRST BYTE
When it comes to web browsers and their speed, everyone knows that time to first byte (TTFB) is the single most important factor in determining loading times. By minimizing this value, you can decrease your web browser’s load time by as much as 60%. The best way to do this is by ensuring that your web browser’s cache is as empty as possible, which will help clear the way for your web browser to quickly fetch and display the first byte of a file or page. You can do this by clearing your browser’s cache, or by downloading and installing a caching plugin or extension (such as W3 Total Cache) that can automatically clear it for you.
6. REDUCE SERVER RESPONSE TIME
If you’re interested in increasing your web browser’s speed even further, consider setting up your own private server. This will ensure that all of your pages load faster, and it will also save you the time and energy of downloading files from someone else’s server. This can definitely increase your web browser’s speed by as much as 50% or more. The only thing you need to do is set up a server with FTP, SQL, or other relevant tools. You can search for tutorials on how to do this using your preferred search engine.
7. CHANGE YOUR DEFAULT INTERNET BROWSER SETTINGS
While this may sound like a drastic step and it might not even be possible for some users to do so, there are actually several changes you can make to your internet browser’s settings that will cut down your web browser’s load time by up to 30%. This is another area that many people know about, but few actually use the power it offers. The most obvious things to change are the “download” and “save as” options in your browser’s settings. It is also a very smart idea to change your default font size to something smaller, such as 8 instead of 12.
Summary
Most people don’t realize that their web browser’s speed is one of the most important factors in determining how quickly they can get things done on a daily basis. In order to increase your web browser’s speed, all you need to do is take a few simple steps in order to optimize your settings, avoid unnecessary HTTP requests, and even save money by using a private server. Increasing your web browser speed is a great way to save time, improve your quality of life, and in many cases you can even make more money by improving your productivity. It doesn’t take much to do this, and the list above just scratches the surface of what’s possible.