If you like playing online games in your browser but keep running into performance issues, chances are you haven’t optimized your browser to run games as smoothly as possible.
With the right tips and tricks, you can get your browser ready and prepped to make the most of your next online gaming session without having to deal with lags or other disruptions.
Playing games in your browser
Before we jump into how to optimize your browser for gaming, let’s quickly establish what type of games you’re optimizing your browser for. Unlike the most common PC games, browser games run (as the name suggests) directly in your browser and don’t require you to download and install any additional software. Because of this, you can easily run these games even on low-spec and older devices without any issues.
No matter if you’re playing on an old laptop or even on your mobile device, as long as it has a browser and an active internet connection, you’ll be able to play most browser games easily.
Even in today’s technologically advanced age, browser games are still very common and available in a large variety. Most of the more casual and classic games will require less performance from your browser, such as Candy Crush Saga, Slither.io, or mini-games.
Classics and board games like chess and online slot machines are also easily accessible in your browser, with platforms such as Vegas Slots Online CA offering a large library of free online slots. You can usually get these games started in an instant without having to worry much about your browser’s performance. Other more demanding web-based games, such as Elvenar, Game of Thrones, or Forge of Empires, for instance, need more resources to run smoothly.
But no matter what type of game you’re playing, if your browser is cluttered with temporary files, has faulty extensions, or has the wrong settings, you might run into issues during your browser gaming session. Let’s go through the best ways to optimize your browser to play games.
Pick the best browser
This should go without saying: To play browser games, you need a browser. But which one is the best one? The good news is that you can essentially play browser games in almost any browser, although some browsers have some advantages over others. Opera and Google Chrome are two of the most popular browsers available, and both offer a fast and smooth browsing and gaming experience online.
With Chrome being the most widely used browser out there, almost all browser games support it. Google’s browser has, however, been known for taking up a lot of resources, which can slow down gaming experiences.
A favorite among online gamers is Opera’s specialized gaming browser, Opera GX. It comes with a whole list of features specifically geared toward gamers. It lets you adjust your CPU and RAM usage and make many other adjustments and customizations to get the most out of your online gaming session.
Adjust your browser settings
Once you’ve decided on a browser, it’s time to have a look under the hood and adjust the settings to your gaming needs. Especially when you’re using Opera GX, you’ll have plenty of toggles and settings available that you can use to turn your browser into a gaming powerhouse. Start by opening “GX Control” and checking the RAM and CPU limiters. For web-based gaming, these should be switched off to make sure your browser is getting the most resources possible for your game.
In Chrome and other browsers, it can be a good idea to enable the override software rendering list flag by typing “chrome://flags” in your URL bar and enabling the function. It lets you force the use of GPU acceleration.
Under “Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data,” select the “Preload pages” feature and select “Extended preloading”. This allows your browser to preload websites using cookies to increase speed. Many browsers also have a hardware acceleration feature that you can use to boost their speed. So, make sure to have this enabled as well.
Shut down background processes
In order for your browser to be able to focus the maximum amount of resources on your game, you need to close any tabs and windows you’re not using. Tabs with especially resource-hungry content, such as high-res videos on YouTube, video editors, or other games, can take up an exorbitant amount of resources and should be closed when playing. You can press “Ctrl” and “W” together to get all tabs shut down in an instant. Opera GX has the “Hot Tabs Killer” that highlights the tabs that are hogging the most RAM and CPU and lets you kill these with one click.
Your browser’s task manager tool can help find and kill any background processes that might be using too many resources. You’ll find it in Chrome under “More tools > Task Manager”. It shows you all the running tabs and tasks, including add-ons, and lets you stop them easily. Also, make sure to pause or cancel any downloads you might be running when playing, and disable or delete any extensions you don’t need.
Clean up your browser
Is your browser cluttered with endless cookies, cache, and a history of years of browsing? Then it’s time for spring cleaning. If you haven’t cleared your history in a while, this can severely affect your browser’s performance and speed. Remember to clean up your browser data regularly to keep it fresh, light, and running smoothly.
Open your browser’s privacy and security settings and select “Clear browsing data”. Select “Browsing history,” “Download history,” “Cookies and other site data,” and “Cached images and files”, then set the time range to “All time” to get everything cleared. However, don’t select “Passwords and other sign-in data,” as this would also delete all the sign-in information you have saved in your browser for your convenience.
After going through all these steps, restart your browser and enjoy the feeling of having a fresh, clean browser to enjoy a lag-free and seamless gaming experience. You will have cleared up resources and bandwidth for your browser to focus on your game, so you can get the most out of your gaming session.
