How to Enable or Disable Preload Pages in Chrome

This article explains how to turn “Preload pages” on or off in the Google Chrome web browser.

Google Chrome is a fast and popular web browser developed by Google. It helps you explore the internet, manage your accounts, and save your favorite sites.

Your Chrome browser has a “Preloading” feature that makes browsing faster. It works by loading pages it thinks you might visit before you even click on them.

Why use preloading? It saves you time. By loading the content in the background, the page appears instantly when you click a link. What happens when done? You get a smoother, faster web experience, though it may use more background data.

In 2026, Chrome uses “speculation rules” to decide which pages to load. Instead of just looking at your old cookies, Chrome looks at the structure of the website to predict your next move. This makes the process more accurate and efficient.

There are three levels of preloading in Chrome:

• No preloading: Nothing loads in the background.
• Standard preloading: Chrome loads pages it is confident you will visit.
• Extended preloading: Chrome pre-renders even more pages to make your navigation feel instant.

Preloading is part of the Performance tools in Chrome. It works alongside the Memory Saver setting. While Memory Saver frees up space by putting inactive tabs to sleep, Preloading uses a small amount of extra resources to ensure new pages open as quickly as possible.

Enable or disable “Preload pages” in Chrome

You can change these settings at any time to balance speed with data usage.

First, open the Google Chrome browser.

Click the Customize and Control (three vertical dots) button in the top right corner. Select Settings.

On the Settings page, look at the left panel and click on Performance.

On the right side of the screen, you will see the Preloading section.

Click on Preloading to see your options. You can also type this address into your browser bar to go there directly:

chrome://settings/preloading

Select the level of preloading that works best for you:

• No preloading
• Standard preloading
• Extended preloading

Once you select your choice, Chrome saves the setting automatically. You can then close the tab.

That is all you need to do to manage how Chrome loads your pages!

Source: Google