How to Load Gmail Quickly in Slow Internet Connections

If you are surfing the internet in a slow connection like dial up or wireless wi-fi, Gmail would take a long time to load. The internet connection speed is a deciding factor and it may occur that Gmail hangs forever. Here are some tips and ideas to load Gmail quickly in slow internet connections.

1. Reduce the number of conversations per page

By default, Gmail displays 50 messages per page. There is no need to display 50 messages per page as more the number of messages, more time would be required to open your email inbox. You can reduce the number of messages to 25 from Settings > general.

2. Turn off keyboard shortcuts

Consider turning off the keyboard shortcuts so that Gmail doesn’t check for keystrokes while logging in. To turn off keystrokes, navigate to settings > general and check the radio button “Keyboard shortcuts off”.

3. Directly Login to the older version

Gmail has an older version with a basic html interface that is ideal for slow internet connections (dial up or wireless router). You can access the basic html version of Gmail using the following link.

Gmail – Basic html

Bookmark the above link in your browser and use it to login to the basic html version of Gmail automatically.

4. Use the mobile version of Gmail

The mobile version of Gmail which is accessible from http://m.gmail.com, is even lighter than the basic html version. You are given a minimalistic interface to read emails and there is no chat, labels or advertisements.

Here is how the mobile version of Gmail looks inside the web browser:

5. Disable Web clips

Web Clips show you news headlines, blog posts, RSS and Atom feeds, and relevant sponsored links, right at the top of your inbox. You can disable Gmail web clips to save gmail loading time.

Just uncheck the checkbox “Show my web clips above the Inbox” from settings > web clips.

6. Skip the Browser check

Typing “gmail.com” in the browser address bar would cause Gmail to check for the browser being used. You can skip this browser check by using this link.

7. Disable labs for performance gain

You can temporarily disable labs and login to gmail using this link. This would disable Gmail labs temporarily so that you can login to your gmail account quickly.

But if your internet connection is slow, you should permanently disable labs.

1. Go to Settings > Labs.
2. Select the Disable radio button by the features you’ve enabled.
3. Click Save Changes.

8. Link multiple Gmail accounts and check email at one place

If you have multiple Gmail or Google apps accounts, you have to frequently login and logout to check all your emails. A good idea would be to link multiple email accounts and check email from one gmail account. This will save precious time and you can get rid of the login-logout cycle.

9. Get emails as Rss feeds

You can get emails as Rss feeds. The subject line of the email appears as a new item in the feed reader and you can keep an eye on incoming messages.

10. Use Igoogle when Gmail inbox Freezes

When the Gmail inbox fails to load, try adding a widget in I-Google homepage to read Gmail messages without opening Gmail-inbox.

11. Use a faster browser

Quit using IE or Firefox and switch to Google chrome or Safari to check Gmail. I have observed increased loading speed of Gmail in Google chrome and Safari. You can speed up Firefox and IE7 for better loading speeds.

12. Use a Desktop email client or switch to Google Gears

You can use outlook to add your Gmail and Google apps accounts and receive emails in your desktop. Hence if the internet connection is slow and hangs up, you can still read older messages as they are saved locally in your computer.

Alternatively, you can use Google gears which will download and save email messages for offline viewing.

13. Use a Desktop notifier to get new email notifications and stop checking email every now and then

You can use a free utility to automatically check for new emails of multiple Gmail or Google apps accounts from desktop. When you get new emails, you can read them from the notifier window itself. Hence you can avoid logging in to your email account and read or delete  messages from desktop.

There are allthe techniques discussed to load gmail quickly in slow internet connections such as Wifi- dial up or when using a wireless router. Do share your tips and suggestions in the comments.