How to speed up Ubuntu system performance with these 7 tweaks and tips

Published on Aug. 22, 2023, 12:13 p.m.

The system might have started running slow after using Ubuntu for some time.In this article, we shall see several tweaks and tips.

1. Reduce the default grub load time:

The grub gives you 10 seconds to change between dual boot OS etc. to me.The first trick would be to change this boot time.

For the rest of us, you can simply use the following command.

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub &

And change GRUB_TIMEout=10 to GRUB_TIMEout=2.This will change the boot time.Once you have changed the grub configuration, update grub.

sudo update-grub

2. Manage startup applications:

startup app in overview

Startup Application in Overview

Here, look at what applications are loaded.Now, think if there are any applications that you don’t require to be started up.Don’t hesitate to remove them:

Here is a way to delay the start of some programs.This way you will free up the resource at boot time.

startup app add delay time

3. Install preload to speed up application load time:

Preload is a daemon frequently run applications.To install preload:

sudo apt install preload

It is working in the background.

4. Choose the best mirror for software updates:

The Ubuntu software repositories are mirrored across the world. It is quite possible to use the one nearest to you.This will result in a quicker system update as it reduces the time.

In Software & Updates->Ubuntu Software tab->Download From choose Other and thereafter click on Select Best Server:

Change mirrors to speed up Ubuntu 13.10

5. Use apt-fast instead of apt-get for a speedy update:

Apt-fast improves updated and package download speed by downloading packages from multiple connections simultaneously.

Install apt-fast following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apt-fast/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apt-fast

6. Use a lightweight desktop environment

Usually, the default GNOME desktop-powered Ubuntu distribution takes up more system resources/ .

In such cases, may choose to opt for a lightweight desktop environment.

These desktop environments use less RAM and don’t use much CPU.They also come with a set of lightweight applications.

7. Remove Unnecessary software

So, it is always good to make a habit of regularly evaluating the software installed and removing the unnecessary ones.

These tips would provide a better system performance.