What hardware acceleration does and why you might disable it

Hardware acceleration tells Chrome to use your graphics card instead of your processor for certain tasks — mainly video playback and scrolling through web pages. This usually makes Chrome faster and smoother. But if your graphics card drivers are outdated, buggy, or incompatible with Chrome, hardware acceleration can cause crashes, freezing, visual glitches, or black screens instead.

Disabling hardware acceleration forces Chrome to use your CPU for these tasks. It runs slower, but it often fixes display problems that acceleration causes. This is a troubleshooting step, not a permanent setting most people need.

Key Takeaways

  • Hardware acceleration uses your graphics card to speed up Chrome, but outdated or faulty drivers can make it cause crashes or display problems instead.
  • You can turn it off in Chrome Settings under System, and the change takes effect after you restart Chrome.
  • If disabling acceleration fixes your problem, the real solution is usually updating your graphics card drivers, not leaving acceleration off permanently.
  • Some websites may run noticeably slower without acceleration, especially video sites and pages with lots of animations.

How to disable hardware acceleration in Chrome

Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Select Settings from the menu that appears.

On the left side of the Settings page, click System. You will see a toggle switch next to "Use hardware acceleration". Click it to turn the switch off — it will turn gray instead of blue.

Chrome will show a message saying you need to relaunch the browser for the change to take effect. Click the Relaunch button that appears, or close Chrome completely and open it again. Hardware acceleration is now disabled.

How to turn hardware acceleration back on

Follow the same steps: three dots, Settings, System, and toggle the "Use hardware acceleration" switch back on. Relaunch Chrome again.

Before you turn it back on permanently, check whether your graphics card drivers need an update. Outdated drivers are the most common reason acceleration causes problems. Visit the website of your graphics card manufacturer — NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel — download the latest driver for your card, and install it. Then re-enable acceleration and test whether the problem returns.

What to expect after disabling acceleration

Scrolling through web pages and switching between tabs may feel slightly less smooth. Video playback on YouTube, Netflix, and similar sites will work, but your CPU will do more of the work, which can make your fan run harder or drain your battery faster on a laptop.

If you were seeing black screens, crashes, or visual corruption, those problems should stop. If they do not, the issue is probably something other than hardware acceleration — try clearing your browser cache, disabling extensions one at a time, or checking whether Chrome itself needs an update.

When to update drivers instead of leaving acceleration off

Disabling acceleration is a quick test, not a long-term fix. If it solves your problem, your next step should be updating your graphics drivers. Running without acceleration uses more power and makes Chrome slower than it should be.

To find your graphics card model, right-click on your desktop and look for an option like "NVIDIA Control Panel", "AMD Radeon Settings", or "Intel Graphics Settings". If you see one of these, that is your card manufacturer. Visit their driver download page, enter your card model, download the latest driver, and install it. Then turn hardware acceleration back on in Chrome.

Troubleshooting if disabling acceleration does not help

If you still see crashes or display problems after turning off hardware acceleration, the problem is not acceleration-related. Try these steps in order: first, clear your browser cache by going to Settings, Privacy and Security, Clear Browsing Data, and selecting "All time". Second, disable your Chrome extensions one at a time to see if one of them is causing the issue. Third, check that Chrome itself is fully updated by clicking the three dots, About Google Chrome, and letting it update if needed.

If none of those work, try opening Chrome in Incognito mode (Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows, Cmd+Shift+N on Mac) to see whether the problem happens there. Incognito mode does not load your extensions or saved settings, so if the problem goes away, an extension or setting is the culprit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will disabling hardware acceleration make Chrome much slower?

You will notice a difference mainly on video sites and pages with lots of animations. Regular browsing, email, and text-heavy sites will feel nearly the same. The slowdown is usually small enough that most people can work around it while they update their drivers.

Do I need to disable acceleration on other browsers too?

No. Firefox, Safari, and Edge have their own hardware acceleration settings, and they use different code. A problem in Chrome does not mean the same problem will happen in another browser. You can disable acceleration in other browsers separately if you see the same symptoms there.

What if I do not know what graphics card I have?

On Windows, right-click the desktop and look for NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel options. If you do not see any, open Device Manager (search for it in the Start menu), expand "Display adapters", and look at the name listed there. On Mac, click the Apple menu, About This Mac, and look under Graphics.

Can I disable hardware acceleration for just one website?

No. The setting is global for all of Chrome. If one website causes problems, try opening it in a different browser, or disable the extension that might be interfering with that site specifically.

Should I leave hardware acceleration off if my computer is old?

Older computers often benefit from acceleration because their CPUs are slower. If your graphics drivers are up to date and acceleration is not causing crashes, leave it on. The speed gain usually outweighs the power use on older machines.