LCP priority hint

The strongest priority signal on the LCP element: preload, fetchpriority, preconnect, or none.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites Q1 2026 edition · Desktop field outcomes
Metric LCP INP CLS
1

At a glance the headline numbers for LCP priority hint

The strongest priority signal on the LCP element: preload, fetchpriority, preconnect, or none.

4
Categories
90,431 sites
85.9%
Top share
none
1.4s
Top LCP
Median for none

85.9% of LCP images get no priority help at all.

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · desktop field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
2

LCP priority hint who uses what, and how fast each group loads

Median LCP
0
0.5s
1s
1.5s
2s
2.5s
3s
3.5s
4s
none1.4s86% of sites
highprio1.4s9% of sites
preconnect1.4s4% of sites
preload1.4s2% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
none 77,667 sites
86%
1.4s
highprio 7,739 sites
9%
1.4s
preconnect 3,364 sites
4%
1.4s
preload 1,661 sites
2%
1.4s

Little daylight between the groups: every variant sits near 1.4s median LCP. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · desktop field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
3

Passing LCP per LCP priority hint which group passes the LCP most often

VariantSitesPassing LCPLCP
Highprio 8.6% 7,739 87% 1.4s
Preconnect 3.7% 3,364 86% 1.4s
None 85.9% 77,667 86% 1.4s
Preload 1.8% 1,661 85% 1.4s
Good Needs Improvement Poor Sorted best-passing first · median colored by its own rating · pass = good LCP (2.5s at p75) · one value per site

No variant stands out: pass rates sit between 85% and 87%. computed

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 sites · desktop field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
4

Why this matters for the Core Web Vitals, and where to start fixing it

Browsers start most images at low priority, because most images do not matter. The LCP image is the exception, and without help the browser only finds out after layout. fetchpriority=high says it upfront. A preload moves the discovery earlier as well. None means the most important resource on the page starts at the back of the queue.

One hint on one image. Spraying fetchpriority=high across the page puts the queue right back where it started.

How does this affect the Core Web Vitals?

The choice barely moves the LCP: 87% pass at best, 85% at worst. This signal does not separate passing sites from failing ones.

The split is bigger on CLS. With Highprio, 82% of sites pass it. With Preload, 74% do.

Related signals LCP image size → LCP origin → LCP image format → LCP element type → Chrome field data from 94,910 sites, representing millions of real page loads · How we measured