Tweaking your computer creates do-it-yourself satisfaction while improving your content experience. Google Chrome rates at the top of Internet browsers for speed and compatibility, so it pairs well with YouTube, giving smooth, uninterrupted viewing. The best YouTube performance comes when Chrome runs at its peak, so monitor your browser settings periodically.
Living in the Past
Instead of reopening Chrome with the same tabs as your previous session, start Chrome with a minimal memory load. Click on the "Customize and Control Google Chrome" icon at the upper right of your browser. Click "Settings" on the drop-down menu and look at the On Start-up section. Make sure to chose the "Open the New Tab Page" option.
Cache Out
Clearing your cache is a performance trade-off. The cache holds things such as the YouTube logo and page layout on your computer, so you don't need to download that every time you visit a page. Videos are new content, not cached, so clearing the cache frees memory for video. With the Settings page open, click on "History" at the upper left. Click the "Clear Browsing Data" box and check the "Empty the Cache" box. Uncheck any boxes for data you want to keep, and then click "Clear Browsing Data."
Overextended
Extensions add features to Chrome but at the cost of consumed resources. Poorly coded add-ons consume memory and reduce the overall performance of your browser. From the Settings page, click on "Extensions" to see which add-ons are installed on your system and which are enabled. Disable any extensions that you don't use regularly, and try to keep those you do use under five in total.
Stay Healthy
Both Chrome and YouTube perform better when your overall system health is good. Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter reside in the System Tools folder within the Accessories folder of the Windows Start menu. Disk Cleanup removes temporary Internet files and other content on your hard drive that bogs down your system. Disk Defragmenter optimizes the organization of retained information on your hard drive so you can efficiently browse with virtual memory. Running these programs regularly keeps your computer fit to run YouTube through Chrome.