Why is Gmail so slow now? Is it my inbox being quite full? Or a lot of unread emails? Or just the application itself?

Turning off the chat speeds Gmail up quite a bit. Either you don't use in which case it's totally a waste of time for you to wait for it to load, or you use it enough that you're better off downloading Google Talk or Pidgin or another instant messaging client. At the bottom of the page, change Gmail view to "standard without chat".

i don't know what's going on but i've noticed significant slowdown in the last 3 weeks. everything else i do on the internet is lickity split. gmail loading address contacts and sending email is generally slowed down a lot, but at some points has taken over 5 minutes. what the hell is going on?

Gmail is as fasts as it's ever been for me. (it's never been really fast for me)

I have the same problem. My internet opens fine, but when I just want to open Gmail, without going on the internet first, it takes forever.

Google announced a new gmail software architecture at the 2007 analyst day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQGNiU... (minute 35).
The new architecture makes is REALLY REALLY fast. I am using it already and it is near real time.
So, just hang in ...

you're likely experiencing a problem with your browser cache:

https://mail.google.com/support/bin/a...

I signed in today and I'm on the newer version of Gmail now and it does seem to be faster. It looks like some relief is in sight.

It was FIREBUG. That was it, the notice in my Gmail a few days ago clued me in. Thanks Ted, and everyone else.

Glad you resolved it! I deactivated Firebug as well.

You don't actually have to disable Firebug, but follow Google's instructions, so you can still use Firebug!

Yes u can disable firebug for Gmail..

Dear all, I do not have the Firebug installed in my Firefox browser, and my Gmail has been gazillions times slower than usual, can someone pls offer another explanation and better yet, a solution?

GMAIL, HELP! WE NEED SPEED!!! (or else I can go back to hotmail or yahoo, because seriously, they are much faster than what my gmail is right now..)

aggh >.<

Yeah, I do not have Firebug either and in the recent months, I can not get my mail without trying more than once. I keep getting this white circle with a gray triangle inside it, with an exclamation point inside the triangle. I am very frustrated.

I've heard the new Gmail is pretty buggy so that could be the problem you're having. There will probably some road bumps as they work out the kinks.

The new version is slooooow.
The old version is same-ol-same-old!

Solution: Go back to the old version that was active in October 2007 for all gmail accounts ...
For now, you can edit an **account setting** to switch between versions.

It is easier than it sounds.

1) login and goto settings.

2) change your "language" to something other than English (US). (try English (UK) it works fine.)

3) enjoy the old version of gmail, or switch back by reversing your setting changes.

NOTE: I don't know if there is any substantial difference between English US and English UK, but I have not noticed a single difference.

Of course, Google could force an update on those other languages andwe are back to where we started, but for now ... I like! High-five!

Hi, Yeah I have had the same things happen to me Gmail loaded so slow I almost went to yahoo but I was looking at it, Thinking of a way to fix it and, All you have to do is switch back to the older version you can find the link to change it back at the top of the page on the right hand corner it looks like this.

whatever@gmail.com | Settings | Older Version | Help | Sign out

I just clicked that and every thing is as fast as ever I never even knew that they came up with a new version but what ever, Any way try it and tell me if it works for you

-Nathaniel

Gmail has been flat out crashing my browser. FF 2.0.0.9

I just deleted several greasemonkey scripts, and updated a couple that have been re-worked for the new gmail app. We'll see if it helps...

I've been trying to get into gmail too and whenever I want to get into inbox, it's slow...I don't have firebug and my McAfee Site Advisor is deactivated but it is still slow. I got rid of the chat thing but it's still slow.
It's been like this for well over a month now. Before I could start looking at my messages but now it freezes up the IE or Firefox browsers and waits for a good five minutes before it starts up and it's slow even then. I think there are too many people on Google's servers.

Well folks, I'm going back to my Yahoo/Sbcglobal email account.

ummm wutss firebugg ?? how can i find itt on my computerr ? can someone please help me out ? my gmail has been really slow lately and google talk keeps disconnecting even though it used 2 be perfect a couple of weeks ago . do you have any idea what might have caused it ?

my gmail has been really slow . it takes forever to open an email . and my google talk has been disconnecting alot lately . can someone please tell me what the problem might be & how i could fix it ? i'd really appreciate it .

People, brace your self . . . . I get the same problem with IE, it is not your browsers, I think that it has something to do with the way that gmail is dynamically adding disk space and the files (html code) that make up your in-box, is always in a constant change thus if your browser is on that page, it will try to interact with a interface that is not their or in change, this is what causing the gmail crashes.

ive been using gmail for years now, AND as my primary email account.. i have also set up google apps for use with my domain name.. so all the users on my domain are using a customized version of Gmail as well...

lately its been extremely slow.. so i took the advice of GraceHead (changing the default language to English UK) and it seems to have remedied the problem.. the new version of the Gmail UI is horribly slow. Not to mention you can't delete all contacts at once.. some upgrade indeed.

I NEED TO GET RID OF G-MAIL

Do you need to close your GMail account?

If you're having problems with the slowness of the new Gmail. I suggest reverting back to the original.

Gmail is a great tool and it will be my email choice, but it's slow for me. So slow that I've "permanently" reverted to the prior version at this link:
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1

New version is slow for me in Firefox and IE. Also slow on my wife's computer. And our new MacBook Air. Some problem with Yahoo Mail.

Many others have this same problem. I wish they'd acknowledge this and try to tell us what the cause is. It's not Firebug or Firefox, per the comments above.

I don't have Firebug and for the past year I get hit with more and more lame "Ooops we encountered a server error and your email has not been sent" BS in addition to my Gmail getting hung and timing out, leaving me with a blank white screen when I login into my account.

Sometimes it takes me 10 minutes and 2+ error messages to send just 1 email!

Is Gmail broken - how do I get it to work faster?

For those who are still having trouble with Gmail being slow, have you tried what Nathaniel767 suggested 5 months ago?

Here it is again, as follows:

. . .All you have to do is switch back to the older version you can find the link to change it back at the top of the page on the right hand corner it looks like this.

whatever@gmail.com | Settings | Older Version | Help | Sign out

I just clicked that and every thing is as fast as ever. . .

Or, as Mike Reynolds implied a month ago, you can just set your Gmail link to: http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1

I have to admit I am curious, though. At the top of this page it says "Google is here! 3 employees are listening and participating."

If that is true, why are there no comments here from Google?

Just want to add that I started having the same problems this past week (end of April 08), and my email situation is quite sensitive as I work in Tunisia and I can't even use Outlook in this country. I thought gmail was a solution and now I'm really stuck! Switching to the older version doesn't help. I can't even open up new mail. The only thing I can manage doing is opening a new message, popping it into a new window and sending.

Where's a solution?!

I know this thread is from a year ago but the gmail lag is starting to rear its ugly head once again. I had the same problem as everyone else but when disabling firebug did not fix it, i disabled PDF download (not in the add on menu but) by using the handy little icon on the bottom right of my screen. Apparently gmail has issues with firefox addons so experiment with disabling your different addons until it works.

yes jimmulvaney, i have been having the same problems and came to this page and learnt that its a 2 year old problem. I wonder why they don't notify the users about this. I realized changing to an older version does help. I do not have Firebug or any add on yet (its a new laptop) so its just really Gmail that's acting crazy. If you have problems going back to the older version, just change the url where its '1' to '2' so '&shva=1' becomes '&shva=2' and voila!