How to Check Website Speed and More Using Chrome’s Inspect Tool
If you’re looking for a quick way to check your website’s performance without installing any additional extensions, Chrome’s built-in Inspect tool is a great solution. This tool not only helps developers inspect the structure of a webpage but also provides powerful insights into website speed, performance, and more.
Here’s how you can use Chrome’s Inspect tool to analyze website speed and explore other features:
Checking Website Speed
- Open the Inspect Tool:
- Right-click anywhere on your webpage and select Inspect, or use the shortcut
Ctrl + Shift + I
(Windows/Linux) orCmd + Option + I
(macOS).
- Right-click anywhere on your webpage and select Inspect, or use the shortcut
- Use the Network Tab:
- Click the Network tab in the Inspect window.
- Reload the page (press
F5
) and Chrome will capture all the files that load during the page load process. - At the bottom of the panel, you’ll find useful metrics like:
- DOMContentLoaded: Time it takes for the HTML content to be loaded and parsed.
- Load Time: Total time for all elements (CSS, JS, images) to be fully loaded.
- You can also see the waterfall view, showing the time taken by each individual resource.
More Features of Chrome’s Inspect Tool
Aside from checking website speed, here are other key features of the Inspect tool that can assist with website analysis:
- Elements Tab:
- This tab shows the HTML structure and CSS styling of the page.
- You can modify elements on the fly to see how changes affect the design without altering the actual code.
- Console Tab:
- The Console logs JavaScript errors and warnings, allowing developers to troubleshoot problems.
- You can also execute JavaScript code directly in the console.
- Performance Tab:
- Provides a detailed analysis of your page’s performance.
- Click Record or reload the page to capture an in-depth view of CPU usage, rendering, and the time spent on various tasks like scripting and painting.
- Lighthouse Tab:
- Offers a comprehensive report on your site’s performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices.
- You can run an audit to get suggestions on how to improve your page speed and performance.
- Application Tab:
- Gives you access to view and manage storage, service workers, cookies, and other application-level data.
Conclusion
The Chrome Inspect tool is a powerful all-in-one resource for checking website speed, reviewing code, and diagnosing problems. With just a few clicks, you can analyze load times, identify slow resources, and improve the overall performance of your website.
By leveraging these features, developers can quickly spot issues and optimize websites for better user experiences.