Troubleshoot Chrome browser performance issues

Applies to Windows users who sign in to a managed account on Chrome browser.

Are you having issues with how Chrome browser is running on your users’ computers? Is Chrome running too slow or using too much memory? Here's how to troubleshoot Chrome browser performance issues on Microsoft Windows devices.

Step 1: Check common issues

First, check these potential issues:

• Common browser issues
• Troubleshoot Chrome crashes

Step 2: Diagnose the cause

If you still need help, gather information to try and diagnose the cause. If you try the steps below and you’re still having issues, contact the Google Cloud Support Center. If you don’t have access to support, file a Chromium bug.

Determine when browser performance reduces

Write down the events that reduce Chrome browser performance.

• Do you experience reduced Chrome browser performance as soon as you start the browser?
• Does the Chrome browser run slower when you load more than one webpage? If so, how many webpages?
• Was the browser running continuously for a few days? If so, for how long?
• Do you run Chrome browser in a shared environment, such as Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Services, Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenDesktop, or Omnissa Horizon?
• In a shared environment, does browser performance depend on the number of users running Chrome browser at the same time?

Identify processes with high CPU usage

Use Windows Task Manager or another process manager, such as Process Explorer, to identify processes with high CPU usage.

Determine the type of process that makes Chrome browser run slower. In Process Explorer, you can see command-line parameters to verify the type of Chrome browser process that’s running. For example, the --type=renderer process is responsible for one or more tabs or extensions that are currently in use. If you don’t see the --type parameter, the process is responsible for all disk and network access and user interactions.

Common scenarios that reduce browser performance include:

• The main process slows down if disk access is slow or there’s not enough system memory available.
• CPU usage for the renderer process increases if you run web apps that aren’t well programmed. Isolate Chrome browser tabs and identify which web apps or webpages are reducing browser performance.
• The graphics processing unit (GPU) process slows down if there’s an issue with a particular graphics card driver. Or, Chrome browser is rendering a graphics-intensive page, such as a website with 3D images or YouTube videos.

Record browser traces using Perfetto

Option 1: Record browser traces using scenarios

Use this option to capture intermittent issues that cannot be easily reproduced on demand.

1. On a managed device, go to chrome://traces/scenarios.

2. (Optional) Filter sensitive data: Under Privacy filters, turn on Enable privacy filters to exclude personally identifiable information (PII) from the trace.
   Note: (Preferred) If Enable privacy filters is turned off, the trace can capture PII—such as visited URLs and installed extension IDs. While PII data can help support engineers understand issues, ensure that you share the resulting trace only with a limited number of trusted engineers.

3. Under Local scenarios, turn on AlwaysOnScenario and click Confirm.
   This preference is saved, even if you restart Chrome browser. You can now close this tab.

4. When the issue arises, at the top right of your browser window, click More HelpReport an issue...
   Alternatively, use the Alt + Shift + I shortcut.
   Opening the feedback window automatically captures the trace snapshot—You do not need to submit the feedback.

5. A new report appears at chrome://traces. Download the report and share it with your engineer or upload it to a Chromium issue.

6. (Optional) If you no longer need to record browser traces:

   1. Go to chrome://traces/scenarios.

   2. Under Local scenarios, turn off AlwaysOnScenario.

   3. Click Confirm.

Option 2: Record browser traces manually

Use this option to capture issues that can be easily reproduced on demand.

1. On a managed device, go to chrome://traces/recorder?trace_config=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
2. (Optional) Filter sensitive data: Turn on Enable privacy filters to exclude personally identifiable information (PII) from the trace.
   Note: If Enable privacy filters is turned off, the trace might capture PII—such as visited URLs and installed extension IDs. While PII data can help support engineers understand issues, ensure that you share the resulting trace only with a limited number of trusted engineers.
3. Click Start tracing.
   Do not close the chrome://traces browser tab.
4. Capture the action you want to trace.
5. Click Stop tracing to manually end the trace.
6. The report downloads automatically. You can share it with your engineer or attach it to a Chromium issue.

Data transparency and data collecting

All data collected is contained in the generated trace file that you share with your support engineer. You can see the actual data that the trace contains in Perfetto UI.

Collect and share ETW data

If you can’t identify the process that’s causing high CPU usage with a process manager, try recording performance event traces and sharing them with Chrome engineers. Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) collects performance information from all running processes during a specified time period. Traces might contain sensitive data, such as process names or parameters and DLL function names or filenames. You can securely share your trace with Chrome engineers by following the instructions below.

Step 1: Download the tool

You can use the open-sourced application UIforETW to record the trace files.

Note: The names of all files that are read or written during the trace will be included in the trace file. Also, anonymized input data is recorded. To protect sensitive data, all letters are replaced with A and all numbers are replaced with 1.

1. Go to the GitHub project page and download the latest release of UIforETW. It will have a name similar to etwpackage1.49.zip.
2. Extract the contents and run etwpackage\bin\UIforETW.exe to install the necessary versions of the Windows Performance Toolkit.
3. Wait for the installations to finish.

Step 2: Record ETW traces

1. On your local Windows machine, open UIforETW.
   1. Note: We recommend you turn on these extra options in UIforETW before capturing a trace. In settings, select these Chrome tracing categories: "input, toplevel, latency, blink.user_timing, disable-by-default-toplevel.flow". While investigating your issue, we may ask you to collect another trace with different categories selected.
2. Click Start Tracing. The tool starts recording the last 10–60 seconds of activity. You can leave the tool running indefinitely because it only records the last 60 seconds (approximately) of activity. The actual duration depends on system-activity levels.
3. When you’ve reproduced the slowdown, enter Ctrl+Win+R to save the trace buffers to the file.
4. In the Trace information field, enter a description of the problem and where in the trace it occured. Include as much detail as possible, especially what the problem was and user input around the time of the problem.
5. Right-click the list of traces and select Browse folder to open the documents\etwtraces folder, which contains the traces. There will be a .etl file and a .txt file for each trace.

Step 3: Share your trace file with Chrome engineers

1. Upload the .etl and .txt trace files to Google Drive. Learn more about Google Drive.

   Note: Don’t share the file yet.

2. Create a new Chromium bug and paste the link to the Google Drive trace file in the bug.
3. When Chrome engineers request access to the trace file, share the file in Google Drive.

   Important: Only share the trace file with email addresses ending with @google.com or @chromium.org. For added security, add a comment in the Chromium bug asking for contact information before you share the file. For more information about UIforETW, see this instructional video.

Related topics

• Chrome browser debug logs

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