[Tip] Enable or Disable “Back Forward Cache” (BFCache) in Chrome and Microsoft Edge for Faster Navigation

Original article posted on December 28, 2019:

Newer versions of Google Chrome web browser come with a new feature called “Back Forward Cache” (or bfcache in short) which can improve the navigation through web pages using back and forward buttons. This feature is disabled by default and interested users need to manually activate and enable this feature using a hidden preference or flag to speed up their web browsing.

“Back Forward Cache” feature caches or captures pages in memory and preserves javascript and DOM state when the user navigates away from the web page. So when the user navigates back to the page by clicking on back/forward buttons present in Chrome toolbar, Chrome restores the full state of the page from memory which makes the web page navigation faster.

Since the web pages are stored in memory, this feature provides instant navigation through previously visited web pages without any delay. When you use Back/Forward buttons to navigate between previously visited pages, the page is not loaded from scratch. It’s restored at the same state where you left the page even at the same scrolling position.

In simple words, when this feature is enabled and you visit a web page, the page is kept frozen or paused in memory by Chrome and when you revisit the page using Back or Forward buttons present in Chrome toolbar, the browser immediately resumes the page for you.

If you want to try the new Back/Forward Cache feature in Chrome, following steps will help you:

1. Open Google Chrome web browser and type chrome://flags/ in addressbar and press Enter. It’ll open the advanced configuration page.

2. Now type forward in the “Search flags” box.

It’ll directly go to following option:

3. To activate and enable Back/Forward cache feature in Chrome, select Enabled for Back-forward cache option from the drop-down box.

To deactivate and disable Back/Forward cache feature in Chrome, select Disabled for Back-forward cache option from the drop-down box.

4. Google Chrome will ask you to restart the browser. Click on “Relaunch now” button to restart Google Chrome.

That’s it. Now try to visit a few web pages and then navigate back to the pages using Back and Forward buttons and you’ll notice a huge improvement in loading time.

PS: If you decide to restore default settings for this feature in your Chrome browser, select “Default” option from the drop-down box and restart the browser.

Also Check:

[Tip] Enable Tab Freeze or Tab Suspend Feature in Google Chrome