How to disable hardware acceleration in Google Chrome

If Chrome is having problems displaying visual elements on the screen, then turning off hardware acceleration may fix the problem. Here's how.

Chrome hardware acceleration disabled
Chrome hardware acceleration disabled

On Google Chrome, hardware acceleration is a feature that allows the browser to access the device graphics hardware to speed up processes, thus improving the overall user experience when surfing the internet.

However, depending on your device configuration, hardware acceleration can negatively affect your experience by preventing visual elements from displaying correctly on the screen.

Disabling hardware acceleration can fix this issue if menus and dialog boxes are not rendering as expected.

This guide will teach you the steps to turn off hardware acceleration in Chrome.

Disable hardware acceleration in Chrome

To turn off hardware acceleration in Google Chrome, use these steps:

  1. Open Chrome.

  2. Click the horizontal ellipsis menu button in the top-right corner and click on Settings.

  3. Click on System.

  4. Under the “System” section, turn off the “Use hardware acceleration when available” toggle switch.

    Chrome disable hardware acceleration

  5. Click the Relaunch button.

Once you complete the steps, menus and visual elements should render correctly on Chrome.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].