Removing 110 KB of unused CSS sped up rendering 0.7s

Removing 110 KB of unused CSS sped up rendering 0.7s

Many sites ship a big design framework but use a sliver of it. The browser still downloads and reads every rule. Think of it like carrying an entire toolbox to hang one picture: heavy, and you rummage past 200 tools to find the hammer.

A portfolio site loaded a 140 KB stylesheet but actually used about 30 KB of it. The browser parsed all 140 KB before it could finish rendering.

What was done:

— Ran DevTools Coverage tab to see which rules were unused.
— Stripped out the 110 KB of dead CSS.
— Kept only what the pages truly referenced.

Result: the browser had far less to parse, and first render arrived 0.7s sooner.

Try this: open DevTools, Coverage tab, reload, and see your unused CSS in red. Eye-opening, and safe to trim carefully.