Why ChatGPT Is So Slow and What You Can Do About It

Quickly troubleshoot why ChatGPT is slow or unresponsive

Co-authored by Travis Boylls Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: May 16, 2026 Fact Checked

It can be frustrating when you ask ChatGPT a question, and it takes forever to respond. There are several reasons why this may happen. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to fix these issues. This wikiHow article teaches you why ChatGPT may be slow and what you can do to fix the problem.

Quick Steps to Improve ChatGPT

ChatGPT may slow down during peak hours or when the servers are offline. Make sure you have a good internet connection, and your web browser performance is optimized. Clear your cache and cookies. If a chat is getting long, ask it to summarize the chat and paste the summary into a new chat.

1

Check the status page.

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As with any online service, there will be times when they may experience technical difficulties or take servers down in order to do maintenance. You can check ChatGPT’s official status page to see if they are reporting any technical issues with their service. If there is an issue, you’ll just need to wait until they fix it.^{[1]
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2

Wait and try again later.

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ChatGPT has millions of users. Sometimes the servers get overloaded and slow down. This is especially common during peak hours. If you notice ChatGPT is slower at certain hours, try again later when the servers are less congested.

3

Keep your questions simple.

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ChatGPT is going to respond a lot quicker if you ask a simple question, rather than ask it to generate a 1000-word report. If you are making complex requests, you just need to understand that it may take a little longer to respond.

4

Refresh your browser.

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If ChatGPT is taking a particularly long time to process a request, it may have gotten stuck. Click the Refresh button in your browser to refresh the page. If that doesn’t work, you may want to close the tab and reopen it. If you get a message that says the page is unresponsive, click Exit page.^{[2]
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5

Upgrade the language model.

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Newer models are faster and more advanced. You’ll need to upgrade to a paid subscription in order to access the newer language models. However, if you are a regular user or use ChatGPT for business or important tasks, it may be worth upgrading. The newer language models are faster and provide better answers. You’ll also have priority when it comes to server bandwidth.^{[3]
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- If you are using ChatGPT 5, you can use the drop-down menu at the top to select “Fast” mode for faster responses. Select “Thinking” when you want it to take its time and provide a better response.^{[4]
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6

Start a new chat.

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Your chat may be getting too long. The longer your chat gets, the more data it has to process. You may notice ChatGPT gets slower as the conversation gets longer. One thing you can do is ask it to summarize the conversation. Be sure to state any information you want it to include in your prompt. Copy the summary, and then start a new chat. Paste the summary into the new chat and start a fresh conversation.
- An example prompt you can give it is “Can you summarize this entire chat so I can paste it into a new chat? Be sure to include [point A], [point B], and [point C] in your summary.”

7

Check your network connection.

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You can use Google or various online speed test websites to test your internet speed. If your internet is slow, it could be why ChatGPT is slow. If you are using mobile data, try connecting to Wi-Fi. If you are experiencing problems with your Wi-Fi, contact your internet service provider.

8

Disable your VPN.

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Your company or VPN may have policies restricting the use of ChatGPT. If you are using a VPN on your home computer or network, try disabling it. If you are experiencing issues on a company computer or network, talk to your administrator.

9

Optimize your browser’s performance settings.

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Your browser may be using too much memory. Enable memory saver to reduce the amount of memory your browser is using. You can also reduce memory usage by closing any unnecessary tabs. Use the following steps to enable Memory Save on your browser.
- Chrome: Click ⋮ > Settings > Performance. Ensure Memory Saver is turned on and set it to Maximum.
- Safari: Safari doesn’t have a memory saver mode. It tries to manage memory usage on its own. Limit the number of tabs you have open to improve performance.
- Edge: Click ••• > Settings > ☰ > System and performance. Ensure the toggle switch next to “Memory” is turned on. Use the drop-down menu to put tabs to sleep after 5 minutes or so.
- Firefox: Click ☰ > Settings > General. Scroll down to “Performance” and ensure the checkbox next to “Use recommended performance settings” is checked.

10

Clear your browser cache and cookies.

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Your cache may be outdated or corrupt. One of the more common reasons for ChatGPT lag is outdated cache and cookies. If you notice the problem started suddenly, you may want to clear your browser cache and see if this fixes the issue. Use one of the following steps to do so:
- Google Chrome: Click ⋮ > History > Delete browsing data and make sure both boxes for cookies and cached images are checked. Finally, select the time range you want to clear, and click Delete data.^{[5]
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- Safari: click Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data/Remove All Website Data > Remove All.
- Microsoft Edge: Click ••• > Settings > ☰ > Privacy, search, and services > Clear browser data. Make sure the checkboxes next to “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files” are selected. Then pick a time range and click Clear now.^{[6]
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- Firefox: Click ☰ > Settings > Privacy & Security > Clear browsing data, then make sure both “Cookies and site data” and “Temporary cached files and pages” boxes are checked, and click Clear.^{[7]
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11

Disable unnecessary browser extensions.

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Some extensions can interfere with ChatGPT. Some browser extensions can use up a lot of memory and/or interfere with ChatGPT. Try disabling your web browser extensions and see if this fixes the issue. If this fixes the problem, you can enable your browser extensions one by one to see which one is causing the issue. Use the following steps to disable your browser extensions:
- Google Chrome & Edge: Click the puzzle piece icon at the top of the page. Click Manage extensions. Click the toggle switch to disable an extension, or click Remove to uninstall the extension.
- Safari: Click Safari > Settings (or Preferences) > Extensions. Uncheck all extensions to disable them. To uninstall them, select the extensions you want to uninstall and click Uninstall.
- Firefox: Click the puzzle piece icon at the top of the page. Click Manage extensions. Click the toggle switch to disable an extension. To uninstall them, click the icon with three dots (⋮) next to an extension, and click Remove.

12

Use the official app.

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When you use the official app, it doesn’t have to share resources with your browser tabs, extensions, and your browser cache isn’t an issue. The desktop app may work better. You can download the official app for Windows or Mac here. You can download the app for Android from the Google Play Store, or the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

13

Try a different device.

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Not all devices are built the same. Your computer or smartphone may have limited RAM, CPU, and GPU. This can affect how well ChatGPT performs, especially as they upgrade the features. This is especially true if you have an older or budget device. If slowness and lag are frequent problems, you may want to upgrade your device.