Why is Loom Video Playback So Laggy? (Troubleshooting Buffer Speeds)

Loom is convenient for sharing screen recordings via a link, but it can be frustrating when clients or teammates complain that the video is laggy. If the video stutters, drops audio, or buffers repeatedly, the impact of your message is lost.

Loom playback lag is usually caused by cloud server congestion, high browser resource utilization, or ISP throttling on video streaming streams.

Here is how to resolve playback lag and get your videos playing smoothly.

1. Force a Lower Playback Resolution

If your network connection is struggling, Loom's automatic player may try to stream at 1080p, causing buffering.

1. Click the gear icon on the Loom video player.
2. Change the resolution from Auto to 720p or 480p.
3. This reduces the bandwidth required, preventing buffering loops.

2. Toggle Browser Hardware Acceleration

Loom's web player utilizes your browser's hardware acceleration to decode video. If this is misconfigured, it can cause stuttering:

1. Open Chrome settings.
2. Search for Hardware Acceleration.
3. Toggle Use graphics acceleration when available off, restart Chrome, and test. If it was off, turn it on.

3. Download the Video to Play Locally

If the cloud player is completely stalled, the most reliable workaround is to bypass it entirely:

1. If the owner has enabled downloads, click the download icon on the video page.
2. Save the MP4 file to your local drive.
3. Play the video using a local player like QuickTime.

The Local-First Solution: Zero Buffering Latency

Loom's cloud-first architecture requires uploading your file, processing it on their servers, and streaming it back to the viewer. This introduces multiple points of failure and latency.

With ScreenKite, your recordings are saved locally. You share the video using storage systems you already use. There is no cloud rendering delay, and viewers can download or play the file at native speed.