Dreamweaver unspeakable slow and laggy when typing / editing.

[Mark Clarkson]

I've search the forum and found lots of posts about this problem but they are all from 3-7 years ago. One of the recent updates from Adobe has resulted in Dreamweaver becoming unusably slow.

Example, I click click on a word in HTML view and ... nothing happens for up to 10 seconds. Just nothing. Then, finally, the cursor jumps to where I clicked. 

I double-click on a word and ... nothing happens for 5 to 10 to 15 seconds and then, finally, the word highlights. 

I roll the scroll wheel and ... nothing happens for 5+ seconds before, finally, the text scrolls.

I am working on my local drive. The projects are very small - an HTML file, an image, and the .JS file created by Adobe Animate.

Any tips or work-arounds greatly appreciated!

21.3 15593 Build

Windows 10

[Nancy OShea]

"Slower than a sloth" can be caused by low RAM, code errors and working in Live view.  Switch from Live to Design view with Ctrl + Shift + F11.  It makes a big difference when editing. 

Are you saving documents often with Ctrl + S?

Have you restarted your computer lately?

Also validate code and fix all reported errors.  Code errors can lead to latency issues. 

Hope that helps.

[Mark Clarkson]

I'll try switching out of Live View. I doubt that any of the other suggestions will be of help.

This problem has persisted for many weeks so, yes, I've restarted the computer.

I am generally only in DW for about 3-5 minutes so I don't save "often." Usually I jump in, add a line of code, save, and exit.

The code comes directly out of Adobe Animate and doesn't seem to have an syntax errors.

[Ben M]

Is this only happening with Adobe Animate exported files?  Is the Animate file linking to anything not on your HDD such as remote file includes?  If so, connecting to a remote server, similar to the Live View, can cause DW to slow down.  Also, what are the specs of your computer and since this has persisted for many weeks, can you think of anything that changed recently?

[Mark Clarkson]

So here's what I'm doing.

I create an HTML5 animation in Adobe Animate.

I open the generated HTML file in Dreamweaver to add a couple of lines to it.
I save the HTML file.
That's it. I don't have sites set up. I'm not doing anything fancy.
The only external file is: <script src="https://code.createjs.com/1.0.0/createjs.min.js"></script>
which is generated by Adobe Animate.

HOWEVER, when I place that file in the local directory, and change the location to point to the local file -

<script src="createjs.min.js"></script>

- I still experience the lag.

I have been doing this for several years but the lag is relatively new. That is, last year I didn't experience it.

[L e n a]

I don't have sites set up. I'm not doing anything fancy.

By @Mark Clarkson

Do you mean that you didn't define any local website from site defintion in within DW ?

If that is the case, you should first define at least your local folder before going further.

[Nancy OShea]

Let's perform a test.

1. Create a new site definition.  Go to Site > New Site and name it TestSite.  Give it a home on your primary hard drive C:\TestSite.  Hit OK.

2. Go to File > New > Starter Templates > Bootstrap Templates. 

3. Select any layout and hit CREATE button.

4. Save newly created page as index.html.

Try editing content in both LIVE & DESIGN view. 

Are you still experiencing an unacceptable lag?

We await your results.

[Mark Clarkson]

I have done that, and don't seem to be experiencing the lag. 

[Nancy OShea]

I have done that, and don't seem to be experiencing the lag. 

By @Mark Clarkson

============

Good.  Then the issue is not caused by Dreamweaver.  

The likely cuprit is not having a local site folder defined for your project files and the code you're working with.

To analyze this further, you will need to upload your work to your remote server and post the URL here for us to examine with our browser's debugging tools.

[L e n a]

to complete the question asked by @Ben M and @Nancy OShea 

• since how long does the website was set for the very first time ?
• did you update DW in between... I mean you set you website, upadte DW, work again on the same web site ?
• does your web site use web server language and techs ?
• how many website do you usualy work with ?

[Mark Clarkson]

I feel like the thing that's being missed here is that I'm not setting up a website. I'm not building a larger project. I'm using Dreamweaver to do a quick edit on an existing HTML file.

I am not going to define a project every time I need to do that. That's ridiculous. 

[Nancy OShea]

You could be creating HTML emails.  Makes no difference.  Without a local site folder, DW has to scan through everything on your hard drive which consumes CPU and RAM causing lag times.  Defining a site folder takes 5 seconds.  

[vtg74]

I recently installed DW 21.3 on a new Mac. Exact same issue. I use it only for straight-forward html/css coding in source view and have a local site folder. Can't type more than a few lines without DW locking up. Quitting and restarting helps briefly, but this has to be done constantly. It's a really counterproductive app!! 😞

[Nancy OShea]

@vtg74,

Switch to Design View on Document Toolbar (Ctrl + Shift + F11).

Design is quicker than Live, even when editing Code.

[vtg74]

Thanks, Nancy. This is very helpful. The problem now is that the app always opens with Live as the default view. Any idea if this can be permanently set to Design/Code View? Switching from Live to Design each time is a slow process, while having to eliminatge the split-screen WYSWYG view (a feature that has long outstayed its welcome) 🙂

[Nancy OShea]

@vtg74,

Dreamweaver "remembers" the last viewed mode when you save & close the file.  Since I use both, it's simpler for me to toggle with Ctrl + Shift + F11.

[vtg74]

Hi Nancy. Is there any way of taking Dreamwaver offline completely while we code? (I get the impression there is too much going on in the background, probably including interactions with Adobe)
We have found a way to keep it permanently in Design / Code view, but it’s still the same — lagging very badly when we type, or copy/paste. Often, even after typing a line, the line won’t appear until 10 or 20 seconds later. Needless to say, its extremely frustrating and causing us to make coding errors. We are not using GIT or any other features — just straight coding and uploading. For now we have taken to coding in Sublime Text and using DW only for uploading to the server. It’s a shame, as it has so many good features, but they are all rendered useless by these persisting issues. Up to now, we used the much older DW CS5, and it worked perfectly!

[Nancy OShea]

I never use File Sync to server.  So I disabled it from my Site Definition > Servers > Advanced Tab.

And you can disable Sync Settings from Preferences.

[L e n a]

I feel like the thing that's being missed here is that I'm not setting up a website. I'm not building a larger project. I'm using Dreamweaver to do a quick edit on an existing HTML file.I am not going to define a project every time I need to do that. 

By @Mark Clarkson

As I told you in my previous comment, you should start by defining a web site in DW.

Do you mean that you didn't define any local website from site defintion in within DW ?

If that is the case, you should first define at least your local folder before going further.

By @L e n a

DW needs it to figure out all the paths used by your files, the files tree, and the files structure.

So do it, and tell uss if that correct the lag ?

[Mark Clarkson]

Are you saying that if I see an HTML file on my computer, right-click it and choose Open With Dreamweaver, that DW then searches through the entire contents of my hard drive? Why in heaven's name would it do that?

Also, if I do take the time to create a new site with the local folder being the location of the HTML file in question, it makes zero difference in the amount of lag I experience.

[Nancy OShea]

Look at your DW Files Panel (F8).

In the absence of a local site folder for your various HTML projects, DW is caching your hard drive.  It might not make much sense to you but that's how DW was designed to work.

DW's site management feature caches data to keep track of linked files and other assets for you.  This is critical for ensuring proper link paths to assets in the code.   Without a defined site, link paths will point to FILES:/// on your hard drive instead of files in the site folder ../folder/folder/filename.jpg

[Mark Clarkson]

Again, this seems strange to me but I'll accept that you know what DW is doing better than I.

However, as I stated above, setting up a project for the file doesn't change anything. DW is still very laggy while typing / editing.

[Nancy OShea]

Did you switch to DESIGN view (Ctrl + Shift + F11)?

[Mark Clarkson]

If I switch to CODE view, or to DESIGN view, the lag disappears. 

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

Right.  Live view takes more rescources because it has to refresh your screen after each edit.   For best results, edit in CODE or DESIGN.  Save often and check your work in real browsers. Right click on open document tab, select Open in Browser.