In this video, I want to show you how to stop Dragon NaturallySpeaking lagging. If you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking and you sometimes get that annoying delay between speaking and seeing the words appear, you’ll know how frustrating it can be. I’ve had this issue on and off for quite a long time, and it often seems to happen when Google Chrome is open with a lot of tabs. We also have some helpful articles on our Facebook page.
In my case, I’m not talking about “a few extra tabs”. I often have 70–80+ tabs open (sometimes more), spread across multiple Chrome windows, and I’m using multiple monitors while I work. I flick between tools and pages all day, so I don’t want to close everything down just to make Dragon behave.
This post explains the practical workaround that helped me: using a Chrome extension called Auto Tab Discard to stop inactive tabs from running background activity that can interfere with Dragon.
Why Dragon Can Lag Even on a Powerful Computer
It’s easy to assume this only happens on older machines. But Dragon can lag even on a high-spec PC. The problem is not always “lack of power”. Dragon relies on real-time audio processing, and if another application (or browser tab) interrupts things at the wrong moment, Dragon can fall behind and you’ll see the words appear late.
I’ve talked elsewhere on my site about why I value a stable setup for tools like Dragon, and why I’m cautious about changing things unnecessarily. If you’re interested, see my post about staying on Windows 10 for stability and compatibility reasons:
The Practical Fix: Discard Inactive Tabs Automatically
The solution that has helped me is the Chrome extension Auto Tab Discard. What it does is discard tabs you’re not actively using, which reduces the amount of background activity running in Chrome.
A discarded tab doesn’t vanish. It stays there, but when you click back onto it, it reloads. For me, that’s a fair trade-off because it helps keep Dragon responsive while I’m dictating.
How to Find the Auto Tab Discard Options Page
In my video, I showed how to get to the exact settings page (because it’s not always obvious how you ended up there). Here’s the route:
- Click the three dots (top right in Chrome)
- Click Extensions
- Click Manage extensions
- Find Auto Tab Discard
- Click Details
- Click Extension options
That opens the options page where you can control how quickly tabs get discarded and how the extension behaves.
The Settings I Changed (Based on My Workflow)
I didn’t change loads of settings. I made a few practical adjustments to suit the way I work, because I almost always have more than a handful of tabs open.
At the time of recording, my settings were roughly:
- Discard inactive tabs after: 3 minutes
- When the number of inactive tabs exceeds: 6
- Maximum number of tabs to check: 90
You don’t have to copy those exact numbers. The main idea is to stop tabs you’re not using from sitting there running scripts in the background.
How to Spot Discarded Tabs
One useful feature is the option to add a small symbol to discarded tabs. This makes it easy to see at a glance which tabs are “parked” and which ones are still fully active.
If you enable the option to prepend a symbol, you’ll see a small marker on the tab title. It’s a simple but helpful visual reminder.
Exemptions (Important If You Dictate Into Certain Websites)
This part is important if you dictate directly into certain sites.
You can exempt specific websites so they don’t get discarded. For example, you may want to keep tabs active for:
- Gmail
- Google Docs
- Any website where you actively dictate text using Dragon
This way you keep your key “working” tabs stable, while everything else can be safely discarded in the background.
Why This Matters If You Work With Lots of Tabs and Multiple Monitors
I work with multiple screens, and I keep lots of tabs open because it genuinely saves time when you’re jumping between tasks. If that sounds like you, you may also find this post useful:
A Quick Word About Microphones and Accuracy
Lag and accuracy are not the same thing, but it’s worth mentioning: your microphone choice can make a big difference to the overall Dragon experience. If you’re interested in what I use (and what I’ve tested), here’s a related post:
Related: Getting More Done With Dictation
I often use Dragon for quick replies and comments, too, because it speeds up day-to-day tasks. Here are a couple of related posts where I mention using dictation in my workflow:
Extra Tip: Improve Recognition by Adding Words to Dragon
If part of your frustration is Dragon repeatedly getting certain words wrong (names, brands, local places, technical terms), it’s worth adding and training them properly in Dragon’s vocabulary editor. I’ve covered that here:
Final Thoughts
If Dragon lag has been driving you mad, I hope this helps. For me, the biggest improvement came from reducing Chrome’s background activity without having to close all my tabs. Auto Tab Discard has allowed me to keep my normal workflow (lots of tabs, lots of windows, multiple screens) while keeping Dragon responsive.
If you’ve got a different fix that works well, feel free to leave a comment and share it. These little, practical tweaks can save hours of frustration over time.