Why is Google Drive So Slow?- Reasons and Solutions

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Why is Google Drive So Slow

Google Drive is one of the best cloud storage platforms to keep your important data safe and secure. Be it documents, sheets, databases, images, videos, or other kinds of media files; you can save them all on Google Drive.

Moreover, with password protection and encryption features, you need not worry about the safety and security of the documents either.

However, many times, it so happens that Google Drive takes forever to load and even causes speed issues as you try to upload some files or access the already existing files on the drive.

This is extremely annoying and frustrating and can delay your work. In fact, sometimes, you may feel so irritated that you just abort the entire upload process and start it over again, only to get frustrated once more.

While you’re getting irritated and frustrated at this, you may also be wondering why that’s really happening and how you could stop that and speed up your Google Drive.

Why is Google Drive So Slow
Why is Google Drive So Slow

Now, there can be many reasons for that, and once you know the reason, you can take action to fix the problem you’re facing.

So, let’s see the reasons as to why your Google Drive is slow in the first place and the ways to fix this issue.

Why is Google Drive So Slow? – Reasons and Fixes!

When you come across any issue in some application, you somehow believe that there’s some reason underlying the application itself. However, one thing you need to know is that’s not the case with Google Drive.

If your Google Drive is slow, it’s rarely because there’s a problem with the Drive itself. The real problem could be in your device or internet browser. So, that’s where you need to check for fixing the speed issues in your Google Drive.

This article will help you know and understand everything that needs checking and fixing. So, have a read further and fix up the speed issues on your Google Drive.

Also, read How to Backup Contacts to Google Drive

1. Issues with the Browser

As mentioned, your Google Drive could become slow if there are issues with the browser you’re using. This could be anything, the entire browser, or other problems such as too many tabs and windows, cache, cookies, or plugins and extensions.

Let’s address each of the issues and see how you can fix them.

Check Your Browser

The first thing you must check is the browser that you’re using. Google Drive works on almost every browser. However, not every browser provides all the Google Drive features.

The speed and upload time optimization is a part of these features. As such, Google Drive works fastest in Chrome, so that’s what you must be using.

In case you’re using Chrome and facing the issue, try switching to Firefox, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge, or Apple Safari.

Switching the browser might help fix the problem considering that every browser runs at a different speed.

Close Unnecessary Tabs and Windows

Are you in the habit of opening too many tabs and windows on your browser? The more the tabs and windows you open on your web browser, the more internet usage. The browser has to process more things simultaneously, and that considerably slows the speed.

So, just in case you’ve opened too many tabs or windows, just try closing the unused tabs and windows. Alternatively, press Ctrl+W and close all the tabs, and then try to use Google Drive. The speed issue shall be resolved in most cases.

If you’re worried about losing the tabs, you can just press Ctrl+Shift+T later, once you’re done with your work on the Drive, and all the tabs shall be restored. Alternatively, you can restore the tabs from your browser history.

Clear Browsing Data and Cache

When your browser has too much cache memory in its storage, it becomes slow, and the applications don’t function normally over it. So, clearing your browsing history and cache memory can be helpful to speed up your slow Google Drive.

Turn Off or Remove Extensions and Plugins

Many times, Google Drive acts up and becomes slow due to the plugins and extensions you’re using on your browser. You can try turning them off for some time and see if the issue gets fixed.

You can even remove the unused plugins and extensions from your browser. That’ll not only fix the Google Drive problem but will, in fact, make your entire browser faster.

Read 7 Best Chrome Extensions for Google Drive

2. Issues with the Device

If you’ve checked and tried every fix in the browser yet the problem seems persistent, you can move on to check your device. It could be that your device is not connected to the web or has a weak connection. That will make the entire browser slow, let alone Google Drive.

Many times, it also happens that your device has a lot of unwanted data, which makes it slow altogether, including the internet connection. So, you can try some fixes to make your device faster to speed up your Google Drive.

Here are some things that you could try.

Check Internet Connection

First and foremost, make sure that your device is connected to the web and has high-speed internet access. If not, try moving to a better network.

Reboot Your Device

Whether you’re using a mobile phone or PC, or laptop, you can try rebooting your device. This will help remove unwanted data from your device, and that might just help make the device, as well as Google Drive, run faster.

Check the Device’s Operating System

Google Drive for Desktop has different versions for different operating systems. If the application isn’t compatible, it will cause issues on your device. So, check the operating system and make sure that the drive is compatible with the same.

3. Other Reasons

Generally, the aforementioned methods solve your issue. However, at times, even Google Drive could be the reason for it being slow, for instance, when you’ve used up all your storage space.

In that case, you can free up some space from your Drive and see if it gets any faster.

Also, the opening and uploading of the files depend on the file size. If it’s larger, then you need to be patient for it to respond.

Besides that, you must also check your firewall and proxy settings. Often, Google Drive gets slow if these settings are not configured properly. What you can try is to remove firewalls and proxy servers. That may make the drive faster.

Alternatively, if you don’t wish to remove them, make sure that you’re connected to the proper and right hosts.

Furthermore, if you’re using some other accounts, make sure that the files sync together, else the Google Drive will become slow.

Related Google Drive tutorials:

Final Words

So, that was all to answer your question about why is Google Drive so slow. Hope that you found this article helpful and are now able to have better speed in running your drive and maintaining your files and database.