Brief: Some practical tips to speed up Ubuntu Linux. Tips here are valid for most versions of Ubuntu and can also be applied in Linux Mint and other Ubuntu based distributions.

You might have experienced that after using Ubuntu for some time, the system starts running slow. In this article, we shall see several tweaks and tips to make Ubuntu run faster.

Before we see how to improve overall system performance in Ubuntu, first let’s ponder on why the system gets slower over time. There could be several reasons for it. You may have a humble computer with basic configuration. You might have installed several applications which are eating up resources at boot time. Endless reasons in fact.

Here I have listed several small tweaks that will help you speed up Ubuntu a little. There are some best practices as well which you can employ to get a smoother and improved system performance. You can choose to follow all or some of it. All of them adds up a little to give you a smoother, quicker and faster Ubuntu.

I have used these tweaks with an older version of Ubuntu but I believe that the same can be used in other Ubuntu versions as well as other Linux distributions which are based on Ubuntu such as Linux Mint, Elementary OS Luna etc.

01 Restart Your Computer

This is one many Linux users forget about. Why? Because Linux doesn’t generally need to be restarted. Linux is very well known for running a long, long time without requiring a computer reboot. However, this can cause issues if temporary files and rogue processes pile up. Instead of manually going through and deleting those temporary files and ending those rogue processes, you can simply restart the computer. To restart Ubuntu Desktop, click the drop-down in the top right corner, and then (when prompted) click Restart. Your computer will reboot and you’re ready to enjoy an improved experience.

02 Keep Up With The Updates

Computer software updates happen for a reason. Many times those reasons are of a security nature (which should give you all the reason you need to keep that computer updated). However, some updates also go a long way to making the computer run more efficiently. These types of updates can be in the form of code cleanup, bug removal, and more.

Fortunately, the task of updating Ubuntu doesn’t require you to open a terminal window and issue commands. Instead, you can do the following:
  1. Click the Dash button at the bottom left corner of your desktop.
  2. Type updates.
  3. Click the Updates icon.
  4. If any updates are available, click Install Now.
  5. Allow the updates to complete.
  6. If your computer requires a reboot (should the kernel be updated), you’ll be prompted to do so.

03 Keep Up Start Up Applications In Check

The more you use Ubuntu, the more applications you’ll install. Some of these applications do not start until you tell them to do so. Some, on the other hand, might add themselves as a Startup Application. What this means is the application in question will automatically start when you log into the machine. This can affect the speed at which your computer will complete the login process, as well as take precious system resources.

To prevent an application from starting at login, do the following:
  1. Click the Dash button at the bottom left corner of your desktop.
  2. Type startup.
  3. Click Startup Applications.
  4. Select the application to remove from the list.
  5. Click Remove.
Note : Use caution when removing applications from Startup. If you’re unsure, it’s best to leave the application in the list.

But what if you don’t want to remove the applications from startup? For example, if you installed one of the best indicator applets for Ubuntu, you will want them to be started automatically at each boot.

What you can do here is to delay some the start of some of the programs. This way you will free up the resource at boot time and your applications will be started automatically, after some time. In the previous picture click on Edit and change the run command with a sleep option.

For example, if you want to delay the running of Dropbox indicator for let’s say 20 seconds, you just need to add a command like this in the existing command:
sleep 10;

So, the command ‘dropbox start -i‘ changes to ‘sleep 20; drobox start -i‘. Which means that now Dropbox will start with a 20 seconds delay. You can change the start time of another start up applications in the similar fashion.


04 Reduce The Default Grub Load Time

The grub gives you 10 seconds to change between dual boot OS or to go in recovery etc. To me, it’s too much. It also means you will have to sit beside your computer and press the enter key to boot into Ubuntu as soon as possible. A little time taking, ain’t it? The first trick would be to change this boot time.

For the rest of us, you can simply use the following command to open grub configuration:
$ sudo gedit /etc/default/grub &

And change GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 to GRUB_TIMEOUT=2. This will change the boot time to 2 seconds. Prefer not to put 0 here as you will lose the privilege to change between OS and recovery options. Once you have changed the grub configuration, use the following command to make the change count:
$ sudo update-grub

05 Install Preload To Speed Up Application Load Time

Preload is a daemon that runs in the background and analyzes user behavior and keeps track of applications you frequently run. When preload tracks such an app, it loads all the related dependencies necessary into system memory. This has the effect of making apps load much faster than they would otherwise.

To install preload, open a terminal and use the following command to install preload:
$ sudo apt-get install preload -y

Once preload has been installed, start using your computer. Give preload enough time to learn your habits, and eventually you’ll see your desktop starting to run a bit more efficiently.

06 Clean Your Browser History

This should go without saying, but we take our web browsers for granted. Consider this: The web browser is probably the single most used tool on your desktop. You use it every single day for many, many reasons. Over time, those browsers can start to get quite sluggish. If the web browser is the only tool you use on Ubuntu, and it starts to bog down, you’ll assume Ubuntu itself is the culprit. If you find your web browser sluggish, open another application and see if it is also responding slowly. If not, chances are it’s only your browser.

Cleaning your browser history is pretty easy. Since Ubuntu defaults to the Firefox browser, here’s what you do:
  1. Open Firefox.
  2. Click the Menu button in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
  3. Click Preferences.
  4. Click Privacy & Security.
  5. Scroll down to Cookies and Site Data.
  6. Click Clear Data.
  7. When prompted, click Clear.
Warning! : When cleaning your browser history, you could wind up losing saved passwords and other information. Because of this, make sure you know your passwords for the sites and services you depend upon.

07 Choose The Best Mirror For Software Updates

It’s good to verify that you are using the best mirror to update the software. Ubuntu software repository are mirrored across the globe and it is quite advisable to use the one which is nearest to you. This will result in a quicker system update as it reduces the time to get the packages from the server.
  1. In Software & Updates
  2. Click Ubuntu Software tab
  3. Click Download From choose Other 
  4. and thereafter click on Select Best Server
It will run a test and tell you which is the best mirror for you. Normally, the best mirror is already set but as I said, no harm in verifying it. Also, this may result in some delay in getting the updates if the nearest mirror where the repository is cached is not updated frequently. This is useful for people with a relatively slower internet connection.

08 Reduce Overheating

Overheating is a common problem in computers these days. An overheated computer runs quite slow. It takes ages to open a program when your CPU fan is running like Usain Bolt. There are two tools which you can use to reduce overheating and thus get a better system performance in Ubuntu, TLP and CPUFREQ.

To install and use TLP, use the following commands in a terminal:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp 
$sudo apt-get update 
$sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw 
$sudo tlp start

You don’t need to do anything after installing TLP. It works in the background.

To install CPUFREQ indicator use the following command:sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq

Restart your computer and use the Powersave mode in it.

09 Remove Language Related ign From apt-get Update

Have you ever noticed the output of sudo apt-get update? There are three kinds of lines in it, hit, ign and get. You can read their meaning here. If you look at IGN lines, you will find that most of them are related to language translation. If you use all the applications, packages in English, there is absolutely no need for a translation of package database from English to English.

If you suppress this language related updates from apt-get, it will slightly increase the apt-get update speed. To do that, open the following file:
$ sudo gedit /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00aptitude

And add the following line at the end of this file:
Acquire::Languages "none";

10 Install a Lightweight Desktop Alternative

This one is a bit trickier. Why? Because you’ll not only be installing more software, you’ll have to learn a new desktop. But if you find the default GNOME desktop to be a bit too sluggish, you could try one designed to be lightweight. One such desktop is Lubuntu. To install Lubuntu, follow these steps:
  1. Open a terminal window.
  2. Issue the command 
    • $ sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop -y
  3. When prompted type your sudo password.
  4. During the installation, make sure to select lightdm as the default display manager.
  5. Allow the installation to complete.

Once the installation has completed, reboot the desktop and (at the login prompt) make sure to select Lubuntu from the drop-down before logging into your new, lightweight desktop.

These desktop environments use less RAM and consume less CPU. They also come with their own set of lightweight applications that further helps in running Ubuntu faster.

Of course, the desktop might not look as modern as Unity or GNOME. That’s a compromise you have to make.

11 Use Lighter Alternatives For Different Applications

This is more of a suggestion and liking. Some of the default or popular applications are resource heavy and may not be suitable for a low-end computer. What you can do is to use some alternates to these applications. For example, use AppGrid instead of Ubuntu Software Center. Use Gdebi to install packages. Use AbiWord instead of LibreOffice Writer etc.

That concludes the collection of tips to make Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04, 18.04 and other versions faster. I am sure these tips would provide overall a better system performance.

Do you have some tricks up your sleeves as well to speed up Ubuntu? Did these tips help you as well? Do share your views. Questions, suggestions are always welcomed. Feel free to drop to the comment section.

Source : 
  1. How to Speed Up Ubuntu 18.04
  2. 10 Killer Tips To Speed Up Ubuntu Linux