Why Is GIMP So Slow or Laggy?

How to fix it

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

1. 1. Raise the tile cache

   Copy steps
   1. Edit > Preferences > System Resources
   2. Set Tile Cache Size to roughly half of your RAM
   3. Restart GIMP
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Reduce brush lag

   Copy steps
   1. In Tool Options turn off Smooth Stroke
   2. Lower brush size or hardness while sketching
   3. Disable Dynamics you do not need
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Shrink the workload

   Copy steps
   1. Image > Scale Image or Image > Canvas Size to reduce pixels
   2. Merge layers you will not edit again
   3. Lower undo levels in System Resources
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Trim startup items

   Copy steps
   1. Remove fonts and plug-ins you do not use
   2. Keep the swap folder on a fast SSD (Preferences > Folders)
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Brush strokes lag, the move tool is slow, or startup and filters take a long time.

Why it happens

• Tile cache too small so GIMP swaps to disk
• Large brushes or Smooth Stroke enabled
• Huge canvas or many layers
• Slow startup scanning many fonts, brushes and plug-ins
• Reports of more brush lag in 3.x than 2.10 on some systems

This guide also covers

• gimp slow
• gimp laggy brush
• gimp slow startup
• why is gimp so slow

The same problem in other apps

All slow, laggy or resource-hungry guides →

• Why Is Affinity Photo So Slow (Affinity Photo)
• Why Is Photoshop So Slow or Laggy? (Adobe Photoshop)
• Pixelmator Pro Super Resolution or Denoise Very Slow (Pixelmator Pro)

Other GIMP errors

• GIMP Not Opening or Won't Start
• GIMP Keeps Crashing or Freezing
• GIMP Brush or Paintbrush Not Working
• GIMP Text Tool Not Working or Font Resets
• GIMP Fonts Not Showing Up
• GIMP 3 Plugins Not Working or Missing
• How to Export as PNG or JPG in GIMP (Save Not Working)
• GIMP Can't Open HEIC, WebP or RAW Files