Affinity Designer Slow or Laggy With Large Files

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Check Performance settings

   Copy steps
   1. Open Settings > Performance
   2. Try hardware acceleration on or off and compare
   3. Raise the RAM limit if offered
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Reduce file weight

   Copy steps
   1. Rasterise or flatten heavy effects
   2. Use linked instead of embedded images
   3. Hide layers while editing
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Move files to an SSD and update drivers

   Copy steps
   1. Work on a local SSD copy, not a network or cloud folder
   2. Update the graphics driver
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Test an older version

   1. One Reddit user reported v2.5.7 smooth while 2.6 lagged: V2 can stay installed beside the new app
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Panning and zooming stutter, typing lags, or saving takes very long on a file with many layers.

Why it happens

• Hardware acceleration or GPU mode mismatched with your system
• Too many live effects, blurs or high-resolution embedded images
• File on a slow drive
• A regression in a recent release for some users

This guide also covers

• affinity designer slow
• affinity lagging large file
• affinity designer performance

The same problem in other apps

All slow, laggy or resource-hungry guides →

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• Why Is Sketch So Slow or Lagging? (Sketch)

Other Affinity Designer errors

• Affinity Won't Open or Crashes on Launch
• Affinity Can't Sign In With Canva Account
• Affinity V2 License or Product Key Not Recognized
• Affinity Designer Exported PNG Is Blurry
• Affinity Designer PDF or Export Colors Look Wrong
• Affinity Fonts Missing or Not Showing
• How to Cancel Canva Pro or Get an Affinity Refund