Why is Google Docs so slow?

If you’re a “Docs” user, you may be wondering why is Google Docs so slow at times. Well, this free word processor is increasingly becoming the number one choice of writers, bloggers, journalists, and anyone who needs a good document editor.

Gone are the ages when Microsoft Word used to be the only viable option. Google Docs provides a whole slew of features that enable everyone to accomplish whatever tasks they wish to.

Plus, since Google Docs is a web-based application, it enjoys all the benefits that come with it.

However, nothing in the world is perfect. And Google Docs certainly has its shortcomings as well. One of these is that it tends to be slow at times.

Even if you have a powerful system, you may experience lags or below-par performance from Google Docs.

There may be many reasons why that happens. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones.

Why is Google Docs so slow?
Wrap Up

Your document may be very long

This is perhaps the most common reason why Google Docs starts to suffer in performance. When you have a very long document, you may experience a lag in scrolling, or delay in typing.

For instance, you might type a letter, and it might appear a couple of seconds later on the screen. This is a concern that a lot of people experience, especially when they have documents upwards of 50 pages.

One reason why this happens is that Google Docs saves all your edits and changes continuously.

Over time, this can lead to bloat in the back-end software and the document may get corrupted.

In such a case, one way that might solve the problem is copying all the text and pasting it to a new Google Docs document. Although there is no guarantee that this will entirely work.

Your browser has a lot of extensions

Google Docs is a web-based application. It means that you are essentially working inside of a website. Nowadays, most people have a lot of extensions installed in their browsers.

A browser extension is a small software module for customizing a web browser. It provides you with added functionalities.

One browser extension that has been known to slow down Google Docs is Grammarly.

Grammarly is a popular digital writing assistance tool based on artificial intelligence and natural language processing. It helps writers avoid grammatical mistakes and enhances their writing experience.

However, when your document starts getting longer, Grammarly tends to slow down things. That’s because it has to actively monitor everything you type.

If this is the case with you, you might try disabling Grammarly and see if it improves the speed.

Too many apps open on your computer

Another reason why Google Docs may be running slow is that you might be heavily multitasking.

Although this is not typically likely because when you are writing, you are most likely to be working on that only.

However, there may be times when there are other applications running in the background and eating up precious CPU and RAM resources.

There are a few instances when this can happen. It could be that a video is being rendered in the background while you are working on Google Docs.

It could also be that Windows is downloading updates to your system.

Virtually any heavy task might be the culprit. If that is the case, you might want to wait for it to finish before continuing with your document.

You may be using an older machine

This is perhaps the most common reason. If your laptop doesn’t have a powerful enough CPU or if it’s low on RAM, all your applications will tend to run slow.

In such a case, if you are trying to work on a Google Docs document, you are bound to experience extreme lags. The performance will be very sporadic.

If this is your situation, you might want to update your system’s RAM. That should help a lot.

And if it is possible to get a new, more capable machine, well, that would solve the problem altogether.

Wrap Up

Google Docs is a fantastic web-based document editor that is loved by many. It provides a simple and clean environment for everyone to just write their hearts out.

But although it works flawlessly most of the time, performance lapses may arise.

There are many reasons why this happens. Your document may be too long, or a browser extension might be interfering with the back-end process.

It might also be that you have a slow computer or you are heavily multitasking.

Whatever the reason, you need to figure out what’s making your Google Docs slow and then you can try and fix it.

Check out some of our other awesome articles:

Table of Contents