Why Is Sketch So Slow or Lagging?

How to fix it

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

1. 1. Rule out plugins

   Copy steps
   1. Quit and relaunch Sketch holding Shift
   2. If it is faster, re-enable plugins one at a time in Sketch > Settings > Plugins
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Reduce image weight

   Copy steps
   1. Choose File > Reduce File Size...
   2. Put images inside reused Symbols so fewer image layers exist
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. 3. Spread frames across Pages

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   1. Move frames to separate Pages
   2. Keep only essential frames on each page, since Sketch loads and renders all of them
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. 4. Trim effects and Libraries

   Copy steps
   1. Reduce overlapping blurs and shadows
   2. Convert repeated elements to Symbols
   3. Enable only the Libraries you need per document (Document Libraries)
   Did this fix it? Yes No

5. 5. Report it to support

   Copy steps
   1. Note the version from Sketch > About Sketch and the macOS version
   2. Say whether all files or one file are slow, and whether it happens in real-time collaboration
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Laggy zooming and selection, slow Insert menu or Command Bar, long saves on big files.

Why it happens

• Incompatible plugins
• Many frames on a single page
• High-resolution bitmaps
• Overlapping blurs and shadows
• Too many active Libraries

This guide also covers

• why is sketch so slow
• sketch lagging
• sketch slow large file

The same problem in other apps

All slow, laggy or resource-hungry guides →

• Figma Slow and Laggy With Large Files (Figma)

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• Sketch Library Not Updating or Syncing
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