Are you watching or creating a stream on Twitch and it keeps buffering on your Chrome browser? Do you experience lags on your live event on Twitch as well? In this article, we’ll show you how to fix buffering and lagging issues with easy troubleshooting steps.
Twitch is very popular amongst streamers in the world. It has an app for Android and iOS users as well as a dedicated desktop app for PC users. Furthermore, you can interlink other gaming platforms to your Twitch account to make the most use out of it.
However, Twitch users end up with a stream buffering issue that can be annoying and affects its ease of use. A lot of users are reporting Twitch clip, VOD, and Playback buffering in Chrome every few seconds. Luckily, we have some fixes that can help you get rid of this frustrating issue.
Why does Twitch app keep buffering?
If you are experiencing Twitch buffering issue on Chrome, it could be due to one of the following reasons.
- Twitch is having issues with its platform or servers
- You are using a PC with old specifications that is not compatible with Twitch content streaming algorithms
- Your internet connection speed is too slow or your WIFI signal strength is poor
- Your firewall settings are preventing Twitch to perform smoothly
- You are using an antivirus that is stopping Twitch from leeching onto your bandwidth
How do I fix Twitch buffering on Chrome?
Twitch buffering and lagging issue on Chrome greatly hinders the user experience. Let’s take a deep look at some of the different ways to solve this issue.
Use PC with better specifications
Amongst other reasons, PC specification is one of the possibilities that you might be facing Twitch buffering issues on Chrome. For the viewers, Twitch resembles Youtube for watching a video. However, if you are a streamer, Twitch requires intense bandwidth and PC recourses to stream content.
Therefore, you need to have a good computer with better than average specifications to meet Twitch demands. Twitch recommends the following specs.
- Intel i5-4670 processor or an AMD equivalent processor
- At least 8GB of RAM
- Windows 7 Operating system or higher
Disable antivirus and PC firewall
Firewall settings on your PC can prevent Twitch to run smoothly on Google Chrome. If you think this is the case, try disabling the Windows firewall and see if that fixes the buffering issue.
Furthermore, an antivirus running in the background constantly checks the processes that consume a whole lot of bandwidth. As a Twitch streamer, you might be constantly uploading and downloading content. Therefore, your antivirus could have been the culprit for buffering and lagging on Twitch.
To confirm this, either disable your antivirus or switch it into gaming mode to fix the Twitch buffering issue.
Enable or disable VPN
Sometimes, Twitch won’t load content due to specific issues related to the country or region. To quickly fix this, use a Chrome VPN extension and connect with another country server to check if the buffering problem persists.
Additionally, streamers who are already using a VPN can try disabling it to see if anything changes for them.
Fix internet issues
Quite often, slow internet contributes to the Twitch buffering problem. As a streamer, you should ensure that you have a good internet connection that is capable of giving you constant bandwidth throughout your time on Twitch. To troubleshoot internet speed issues.
- Reboot your router and PC by turning it off from the main wall
- Directly connect an ethernet cable from your router to your PC to fix the WIFI signal issues
- Remove other devices other than your PC while using Twitch
What browser is best for Twitch?
Chrome eats up a lot of memory and sometimes leaves nothing for your Twitch stream. To fix this, you can disable hardware acceleration in Chrome’s Settings to make sure that Chrome takes up less bandwidth and PC resources.
If Twitch keeps buffering on Chrome, you should consider installing a new browser to rectify the problem. A lot of streamers are big fans of Opera, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox in this regard.
Is it better to use Twitch app or browser?
If you can’t solve the buffering issues on Twitch on Chrome or other browsers, you can download the Twitch desktop app on your PC or use the Twitch app on your mobile device.
Twitch app offers a lot of flexibility for users who want to watch and stream content. However, the Twitch browser brings more reliability, a better viewing experience, and an excellent streaming experience with extra features.
Conclusion
More than 50% of Twitch users use Chrome to stream and watch content. However, they experience the “Twitch keeps buffering on Chrome” issue quite often. Hopefully, this guide helped you get rid of this problem. We recommend that you try the above troubleshooting steps in a sequence to eliminate all possibilities.
