2 Simple Tips to Speed Up Your Computer, Tablet and Smartphone

“My laptop is running slow", "My computer freezes often", “My tablet is not responding”, “The Internet is very slow”... these are some of the issues our customers have told us about. Some can be fixed pretty easily and some require a bit more effort. How much effort is required depends on a multitude of things. However, very often, all that the device needed was just some simple TLCs. The good news is that we have a few simple, free, non-technical tips that could make your device works better and faster. Here they are:

Tip #1 – Mind the tabs

Actually, we meant close those browser tabs. There is so much information on the Internet. For convenience, we often open multiple browser tabs to keep the pages we’ve found. It doesn’t take long before we have more than 20 tabs opened! And every time we open a new tab, it uses up some extra processing power and memory. Over time it could use up most of the available memory on the device and the device would start to behave very sluggish. The device would try to cope by swapping physical memory with virtual memory on its local storage, a process known as paging. If each webpage uses 100MB of memory space, 20 tabs could equate to 2GB of RAM which is quite a lot!

So instead of opening up hundreds of tabs, try to keep the number of tabs to a sensible number e.g. 5. Have a good habit of closing unused webpages. If you want to visit the same page again, don't forget to bookmark it or add it to your favourite.

For Windows, MacOS, Linux

This tips work on all versions of Windows e.g. Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. It works on MacOS and Linux too. It doesn't matter which web browser (e.g. Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari etc), it will still work. The screenshots were taken on Windows 10 running Firefox.

You can close the a browser tab by clicking on the "X".

For iPhones (iOS)

1) First go to the tabs view by tapping on the bottom right icon. If you can't see it, just scroll the webpage up and down a bit.

2) You can close a browser tab by tapping on the "X" (A) or by swipping the page out (slide from right to left) (B).

For iPads (iOS)

Similar to the iPhone, there are two ways to close the browser tabs. You can close a browser tab by opening up the tab view page (A) or by tapping on the "X" (B).

1) For option A, In the tabs view page, you can close a browser tab by tapping on the "X". Repeat if needed.

2) Tap on "Done" when finish.

For Android devices, Kindle Fire etc...

For all these devices, the steps are similar.

Tip #2 – Appexit

We meant close unused applications (or apps). Other than browser tabs, a common trend our experts notice is that people open too many applications and seldom close them. It is more common with smartphones and tablets. Similar to tabs in a web browser, each opened application will consume certain amount of available memory and processing power. Some use more and some use less. But the overall effect is the same. Over time, the device will start to run slow. So it is advisable to close some applications when you don’t need them. Don’t forget to save your work before closing them.

For Windows

This tips work on all versions of Windows e.g. Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10. The screenshots were taken on Windows 10 running Firefox.

If you can see many application icons on your Windows task bar, you have probably opened too many applications. On Windows 10, the opened applications will have a blue bar under the application icon. If it is not there, it could be just a shortcut (or pinned application).

A) You can close the application by clicking on the "X" (usually top right hand corner of the window). Repeat if needed.

B) You can also close the application by right clicking on the application icon on the task bar. A menu will pop up. In the menu, select "Close Window". Repeat if needed.

For iPhones (iOS)

1) Unlock your phone and go to the home screen by pressing the "Home" button.

2) At the home screen, open the tasks view by double pressing on the "Home" button.

3) At the tasks view, you can see all the apps running by swipping left and right. You can close an app by swipping it up (mid to top). The only one you can't close is the home screen.

4) When you finish. Just press the "Home" button again to go back to the home screen.

For iPads (iOS)

For iPads, the steps are pretty much the same as iPhones since they both running the same type of operating system!

1) Unlock your iPad and go to the home screen by pressing the "Home" button.

2) At the home screen, open the tasks view by double pressing on the "Home" button.

3) At the tasks view, you can see all the apps running by swipping left and right. You can close an app by swipping it up (mid to top). The only one you can't close is the home screen.

4) When you finish. Just press the "Home" button again to go back to the home screen.

For Mac, Android devices, Windows Mobile, Kindle Fire etc...

For all these devices, the steps are similar.

Well done!!!

Now your computers, tablets and smartphones should be running better than before. Certainly this is not a magic cure and sometimes your device needs an expert to take a proper look. Our friendly local IT expert are more than happy to help you. You can make an appointment with our experts here.

Hope you find this guide useful. Comments are welcome. Please feel free to LIKE and SHARE it with your friends.