Wondering what the “hardware acceleration” setting does? Or if you should have it turned on or off? This depends on your GPU usage, find out more in this article! 

What is Hardware Acceleration?

Hardware acceleration is a process that uses your computer's hardware, rather than the Shift software alone, to optimize Shift's performance. Hardware acceleration helps to 'shift' processing from the CPU to other hardware units in your device such as your GPU (graphics card). 

When should I use Hardware Acceleration?

If you have a powerful and stable GPU, enabling hardware acceleration in Shift will allow you to utilize your GPU to its full extent when you're using multiple apps, extensions, and emails. Using hardware acceleration in Shift will allow you to browse through Shift and use media apps such as YouTube or Discord in a smoother fashion. Hardware Acceleration is enabled by default in Shift.

How to disable Hardware Acceleration in Shift v8

Hardware Acceleration is enabled by default in Shift. If you're experiencing high GPU usage, and want to avoid this, try disabling hardware acceleration in your settings. Here's how:

1. Go to Options (lower left) > Settings > System  
2. Find "Use hardware acceleration when available" and disable it
3. Click on the "Relaunch" option

What's next?

Find more v8 resources, here.

Encounter a new issue or have a question you can’t find the answer to? Get in touch with our Support team, here.