Hardware acceleration lets an app hand heavy tasks like video playback, animations, and graphics to your GPU, the graphics chip, instead of the main CPU. This makes those tasks smoother and frees the CPU for other work. It is on by default in most browsers and media apps. Turning it off can help if your graphics driver is buggy and causing glitches or crashes.
Why this happens
Some work, especially drawing graphics and decoding video, is much faster on a GPU than a general-purpose CPU. Hardware acceleration routes that work to the GPU.
- Video plays back more smoothly and uses less battery.
- Scrolling, animations, and page rendering feel faster.
- The CPU is freed to handle other tasks.
The trade-off is that it relies on your graphics driver and GPU working correctly. If the driver has bugs, acceleration can cause visual glitches, flickering, black boxes, or crashes.
Is this normal?
Yes. Hardware acceleration is on by default in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and many video and design apps. For most people it works quietly in the background and improves performance.
Does it cause any problems?
Usually it helps. Problems appear only with older or buggy graphics drivers, showing as screen artifacts, stutter, or crashes. In those cases, turning acceleration off is a common and safe workaround.
How to fix or check it
- In Chrome or Edge, open Settings, then System, and toggle Use hardware acceleration when available. Relaunch the browser after changing it.
- In Firefox, go to Settings, General, Performance, uncheck Use recommended performance settings, then set Use hardware acceleration when available.
- Turn it off if you see graphics glitches or crashes, and check whether the problem stops.
- Keep it on for the best video and animation performance if everything works normally.
- Update your graphics driver, which often fixes acceleration bugs so you can keep the feature on. On Windows, update through Windows Update or the GPU maker's app. On Mac, drivers update with macOS.
- Test video sites or apps after each change to confirm the result.
Frequently asked questions
Should I turn hardware acceleration on or off?
Leave it on for smoother video and graphics. Turn it off only if you see glitches, flickering, or crashes that stop when it is disabled.
Does hardware acceleration save battery?
Often yes. The GPU handles video more efficiently than the CPU, which can reduce power use and heat during playback, especially for high-resolution video.
Why did video get worse after I changed the setting?
Turning acceleration off shifts work back to the CPU, which can cause stutter on weaker machines. If playback got worse, turn it back on and update your graphics driver instead.