Five Ways To Increase YouTube Performance

Love using YouTube but hate waiting for your favorite videos to load? Here are 5 simple ways to make YouTube run faster.
 

1. Use HTML5 instead of Java

 
HTML5 has enhanced features over the standard HTML 4.01 such as video, audio and canvas elements. This means that sites currently running HTML5 such as YouTube and Vimeo can read videos without having to go through a plugin like Java. As a result, you won’t have to wait for the Java Virtual Machine to execute a command, thus speeding up your connection.
 
To use HTML5 instead of Java:
 

1. Scroll to YouTube’s footer and click on Try something new!

 

 

2. Under the HTML5 Video section, select Try it out, and you’re done!

2. Clear Your Cache

 
Your cache or “temporary internet files” are packets of information that get permanently copied onto your computer, slowing down your RAM. By deleting your cache and clearing your cookies and history quickly, you create more space on your computer and improve your YouTube experience.
 
To delete your cache, clear cookies, and remove history in Firefox:
 

1. Select Options and then Privacy from the Firefox dropdown menu at the top left of your screen

 

2. Select clear your recent history from the dropdown and click Ok

 

 
To prevent this problem from reoccurring, try changing your settings from Remember history to Never remember history
 

3. Block Pre-Video Ads

 
Arguably, the most annoying thing between you and YouTube are pre-video advertisements. We’ve mentioned AdBlock Plus before, but it bears repeating because of how incredibly useful it is with YouTube. All you have to do is add it to your browser here.
 

 

4. Disable Your Web Accelerator

 
The web accelerator is a huge misnomer. Essentially, a web accelerator just makes files cache more quickly. It does nothing to speed up your connection. A web accelerator does the opposite of clearing cache. They were an early ploy in the dial-up Internet age to promise connections 10 or 20 times faster, but they really don’t work. Disable, or better yet, remove it.
 

 

5. Close Unused Pages with Java

 
Java will eat up a lot of your bandwidth. If you’re watching or listening to YouTube, chances are you’re not watching or listening to something else at the same time. Even if you think you’re not using Java, there might be a process going on the background. Close unused pages with Java or close Java altogether. If you’re using HTML5 as suggested, this will not interfere with YouTube.
 
To close Java:
 

1. In Windows’ start menu, type in Task Manager, and select View running processes with Task Manager from the top menu

 

2. Under Processes, click java.exe and select End Process