Since I just recently installed Local “Lightning” (Version 5.2.8+2771), I’ve been experiencing front end page loading that takes 9 seconds or more, and backend page editing that takes more than a minute to resolve.
I also noticed that others have been reporting similar results in this forum, but I haven’t seen any recommendations or tips on how to speed up this version (which I understand is very different than the old version that ran off Virtual Box).
After some experiments, I’ve managed to get things running much faster. So here’s what worked for me: Essentially I added an exclusion in my antivirus (BitDefender) for the whole folder where the Local app exists. Though, it may be effective just to exclude the executable. If, like me, you used previous versions of Local, it’s worth noting here that the path to the application has changed. On my Windows 10 machine, it is at c:\users[username]\appdata\local\programs\local\
Additionally, I was importing from a site hosted on SiteGround and was using the SG Optimizer plugin. So it was crucial to make sure that plugin was deactivated (the plugin can’t work unless you’re on their server). Doing this didn’t help with speed, but it made it so Elementor would eventually complete a page update when I made changes to a page.
I hope this helps someone. Please chime in if you find additional tips that have helped you speed things up!