Why Is Scrivener So Slow? Typing Lag & Laggy Scrolling

How to fix it

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

1. 1. Shrink or link images

   Copy steps
   1. Reduce image size in an image editor before importing - resizing inside Scrivener doesn't shrink the file
   2. Use the linked-image options in the Insert menu so images stay out of the text
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Split long documents

   Copy steps
   1. Break long chapters into scenes; recombine later with Documents > Merge
   2. Avoid editing long Scrivenings views that contain many comments
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Convert sidebar comments to inline notes

   1. Use Edit > Transformations to convert inspector comments/footnotes to inline ones
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Increase the auto-save delay

   Copy steps
   1. Open Settings/Options > General > Saving
   2. Raise 'Auto-save after X seconds of inactivity' (stay under 60 seconds)
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Move the project to a local drive

   1. Copy the project from a network or USB drive to your internal disk and open it there
   Did this fix it? Yes No

6. 6. For macOS scrolling lag

   Copy steps
   1. Update to the latest Scrivener (3.5.2) and macOS
   2. Test in Composition Mode, which some users found unaffected
   3. Quit other heavy apps; some users found restarting another app cleared the lag temporarily
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Letters appear after a delay, the cursor jumps, scrolling stutters or races ahead, especially in long chapters or Scrivenings view.

Why it happens

• Large or many images embedded in the text
• Many inspector comments/footnotes in one long section
• Auto-save interval too short for the project size
• Project on a network share, slow USB drive or online-only cloud folder
• macOS scrolling issue reported since Scrivener 3.3.x

This guide also covers

• why is scrivener so slow
• scrivener typing lag
• scrivener laggy scrolling
• scrivener slow mac

The same problem in other apps

All slow, laggy or resource-hungry guides →

• Obsidian Mobile Slow to Open on iPhone and Android (Obsidian)
• Why Is Notion So Slow? (Notion)
• iA Writer High CPU Usage on Mac (iA Writer)

Other Scrivener errors

• Scrivener Won't Open or Not Responding
• Scrivener Project Already Open Error
• Scrivener Compile Missing Text or Chapters
• Scrivener iOS Not Syncing With Dropbox
• Scrivener Sync Conflicts Detected
• How to Recover Lost Work in Scrivener
• Scrivener Project Corrupted in OneDrive or iCloud
• Scrivener Blurry Text on Windows (High DPI Scaling)