Mountain View is supposed to offer with every copy of Google Chrome the optimal configuration to achieve its maximum performance, but in reality it prioritizes stability. That means there are some options under the chrome://flags section waiting to be activated. Today we are going to review several of them, including support for parallel downloads, autoplay blocking, and the use of experimental protocols.
With a market position exceeding 60 percentage points, the dominance of Google Chrome is overwhelming. Its direct rivals are still losing ground, and even Microsoft is working on moving its main browser to the Chromium code. Maybe at that point the competition becomes interesting, and most importantly, users should have (at least in theory) advanced configuration options.
How to optimize Google Chrome via flags
Until that happens, our recommendation is to optimize Google Chrome through flags. You only need to enter chrome://flags in the address bar, change the configuration of the desired entries, and restart the browser to apply the new parameters. Today we are going to recommend a total of seven flags that might interest you.
Block autoplay of videos
Few things are as annoying as videos that start playing on their own at maximum volume. If they wanted to get attention, they succeeded, because now we are going to block them. Type #autoplay-policy and change its value from Default to Document User Activation Is Required.
Sleep or close inactive tabs
A very useful resource for systems with a limited amount of RAM. Instead of letting background tabs consume memory, enter #proactive-tab-freeze-and-discard and experiment a bit. Enabled Freeze Only is a good starting point.
Smooth scrolling for the mouse
Historically one of its weak points, Google Chrome has improved a lot in terms of scrolling smoothness. If you are not convinced of that, modify the #smooth-scrolling flag to Enabled and restart.
Prevent hijacking of the Back button
It is not the smartest decision in the world, but some sites take it anyway, and they block the Back button from working. To prevent that modification, use the #enable-history-entry-requires-user-gesture flag in Enabled mode.
Enable parallel downloads
One of the things I miss most from Firefox that never came to Chrome is the DownThemAll extension. However, with the #enable-parallel-downloading flag we can enable a similar parallel download feature. If you frequently download Windows ISO images or other large files, this should be useful to you.
Enable HDR
If your monitor supports HDR, why not try it in Chrome? It is very simple: Type #enable-hdr and change its value to Enabled. Colors should be deeper and more vibrant, especially if you use the browser to play video. Only on Windows.
Enable the QUIC protocol
QUIC is a protocol that Google has been working on for more than half a decade, which aims to improve the performance of web applications and reduce latencies. It still retains an experimental profile, so you will need to change its #enable-quic flag to Enabled.
And that's all for now. In case there is a problem, the "Reset all to default" button will allow you to undo the changes easily. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that Google Chrome adds and removes flags overnight, so some of these options could disappear in the future. Do you have a Google Chrome flag to recommend? Leave a comment!
