Any ideas why I'm getting a delay after clicking "Save as" or "Download" in Google Chrome

I'm running Google Chrome. When I do anything that'll save a file to my local filesystem - right-click and "Save As", click a download link, save an image - nothing happens for a good 20-30 seconds, and then suddenly the operation proceeds as normal.

The browser remains responsive whilst this is going on - I can navigate to other pages and so on - but the delay is infuriating. Especially since it often looks like nothing's happening, so I'll hit the download link again - and again - and then suddenly end up downloading four copies of the same file.

Any ideas?

Solution 1:

The same happens on my computer. I have the default download directory set up to save to an external USB hard drive.

The drive always has to spin up before the file is saved. You can hear and see this process very clearly.

Solution 2:

1. Disable hyperlink auditing

^{(Click images to enlarge)}

2. & 3. Clear your cache as this CAN actually slow down initial download connecting - since it looks for previous metadata FIRST.

(In Settings -> Clear browsing data... -> select any non-defaults as suits you.)

4. Check for bad/old/suspicious certificates (malware, etc. can be injected via certificates being implanted and sites being redirected ---cert pinning only helps if these are not system trust certs (for list of valid/common ones your search engine of choice should return a healthy list)

(In Settings -> Manage Certificates -- you must click Show advanced settings first to see it)

Solution 3:

I know this isn't technically an 'answer' per se. However, it drives me nuts too! What I have found is that Chrome is checking for updates, which causes the delay.

Next time it happens, click the customise icon in the top right corner, click 'About Google Chrome' and just below your existing version, you will see it checking for updates. Once that process has finished, the downloads begin as normal.

It usually only happens to me once per 'session', but it's still infuriating and I don't know how to prevent it from occurring.

Solution 4:

I ran into this issue a few months ago, on a freshly built computer. The slowdown began after 3 months of use. I am actively researching this problem.

Here's what I've been able to find out so far:

1. I installed Chromium and Google Chrome Canary to test them for the problem. Google Chrome Version 43.0.2357.81 m (64-bit), Google Chrome Canary Version 45.0.2417.0 canary (64-bit), and Chromium Version 45.0.2418.0 (64-bit) all have identical behaviours in terms of Windows Explorer being slow for myself. All of these browsers having the same issue is a good pointer for the origin of the problem, as Google Chrome is developed from Chromium. This may also suggest a fundamental (global) software bug with Windows Explorer.

2. Other web browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 11, do not show any of these slow behaviours. This suggests that the problem is mostly related to Chrome/Chromium, and that it is not a filesystem problem.

3. Disabling "Phishing & Malware Protection" is a suggested solution, but it has not worked for me. Running CCleaner is also a suggested solution, but it has not worked for me either.

I will update this as I find out more. I hope it helps someone.