16 ways to speed up Windows 11

Windows 11 does a lot under the hood to speed up a PC’s performance, but PCs tend to slow down over time as they accumulate apps, files, drivers, and other detritus. Even zippy new Windows 11 devices can be sped up — and protected against future slowdowns — with a few minor system tweaks. It’s simple to make your Windows PC run faster. Just follow these tips. Top ways to speed up Windows 11 Disable programs that run on startup Turn off unused apps with high resource usage Use Efficiency mode Use automatic Windows maintenance Kill adware and bloatware Turn off search indexing Clean out your hard drive Disable shadows, animations, and visual effects Disable transparency Change your power settings Turn off Windows tips and tricks Disable Game Mode Update device drivers Turn off background app permissions Roll back your PC to a previous state Restart Windows Read on for details. Note: This story covers Windows 11 version 25H2. If you have an earlier release of Windows 11, some things may be slightly different. If you have Windows 10, see our Windows 10 speed tips. 1. Disable programs that run on startup Your Windows 11 PC could be a laggard if programs you rarely or never use are running in the background. Your PC will run faster if you stop them from running. To do it, first launch the Task Manager in one of these ways: Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc. Right-click the lower-right corner of your screen and select Task Manager. Type task manager into the Windows 11 search box and press Enter. There’s a lot you can use Task Manager for, but here we’re focusing only on killing unnecessary programs that run at startup. Click the Startup apps icon on the left side of the screen. (It’s the fifth icon from the top.) It displays a list of the programs and services that launch when you start Windows. The list includes each program’s name as well as its publisher, whether it’s enabled to run on startup, and its “Startup impact,” which is how much it slows down Windows 11 when the system starts up. Note, though, that the screen doesn’t show how much each program will impact your performance after startup, during normal PC operations. You can use the Windows Task Manager to get information about programs that launch at startup and disable any you don’t need. Preston Gralla / Foundry Also note that not all apps will have useful information about their startup impact — many show up as “Not measured” in Task Manager. There are multiple reasons you might see this. For example, some apps don’t provide the Windows metadata required to measure their startup impact, and others start up too late in the boot process to be measured. Still others may not have been started a sufficient number of times for Windows to measure their impact. (The Windows Club has an article with tips and workarounds for “Not measured” apps.) To stop a program or service from launching at startup, right-click it and select Disable. This doesn’t disable the program entirely; it only prevents it from launching at startup — you can run the application after launch. Also, if you later decide you want it to launch at startup, you can return to this area of the Task Manager, right-click the application and select Enable. Many of the programs and services that run on startup may be familiar to you, like Microsoft OneDrive or Spotify. But you may not recognize many of them. (Anyone who immediately knows what “bzbui.exe” is, please raise your hand. No fair Googling it first.) The Task Manager can find information about unfamiliar programs. Right-click an item and select Properties for more information about it, including its location on your hard disk, whether it has a digital signature, and other information such as the version number, the file size, and the last time it was modified. (Note that not all programs provide this information when you right-click them — the Properties button may be grayed out.) You can also right-click the item and select Open file location. That opens File Explorer and takes it to the folder where the file is located, which may give you another clue about the program’s purpose. Finally, and most helpfully, you can select Search online after you right-click. Bing will then launch with links to sites with information about the program or service. With Task Manager’s help, I easily discovered that bzbui.exe is Backblaze backup software, something I want to run automatically during startup. If you’re worried about one of the listed applications, you can go to a site run by Reason Software called “Should I Block It?” and search for the file name. You’ll usually find very solid information about the program or service. Now that you’ve selected all the programs that you want to disable at startup, the next time you restart your computer, the system won’t launch those unnecessary programs automatically, and your PC may run faster. 2. Turn off unused apps with high resource usage It’s easy to forget just how many apps you’ve got running at the same time in Windows. Sometimes your PC’s sluggishness can be due to running too many apps you’re not currently using — or a single app that’s taking up a lot of resources. First launch Task Manager using one of the methods covered in the previous tip. If you’re already in Task Manager, click the Processes icon on the left side of the screen (three squares in a grid, second from top) to get to the Processes screen. You’ll see a list of every app or process you’re currently running. Look for apps you’re currently running but not actively using, and also look for any not running with high memory or CPU usage. Right-click any app you want to close and select End task. Use Task Manager to identify and shut down unused apps using lots of system resources. Preston Gralla / Foundry 3. Use Efficiency Mode Task Manager has another trick up its sleeve for juicing Windows 11 performance. Efficiency Mode can speed up your PC and improve laptop battery life. It lowers the process priority of background applications, among other efficiency tricks. The term is a bit of a misnomer, because you can’t put your entire PC into Efficiency Mode. Instead, you use Task Manager to put individual apps and processes into it. There’s one caveat: You’ll only be able to use it on some apps and processes. On the Processes screen in Task Manager (see previous tip), look through the list of currently running apps and processes. Click the app or process you want to put into Efficiency Mode, click the Efficiency mode icon at the top right of the screen, and then confirm that you want to turn on Efficiency Mode for the app. Note that if the Efficiency mode icon is grayed out when you click an app or process, you won’t be able to use it. Also, some apps, including Microsoft Edge, automatically work in Efficiency Mode by default, and the mode can’t be turned off. Turning on Efficiency Mode for an app. Preston Gralla / Foundry 4. Use automatic Windows maintenance In the background, Windows 11 constantly performs maintenance on your PC, doing things like security scanning and performing system diagnostics to make sure everything is up to snuff. It automatically fixes problems it finds, which helps your PC run at peak performance. The automatic maintenance runs every day at 2:00 a.m. if your device is plugged into a power source and is asleep. However, that feature may have been accidentally turned off, or it may not have run recently if you shut down your PC at night (rather than putting it in Sleep mode) or you haven’t had your laptop plugged in for a while. You should make sure it’s turned on and runs every day. You can also run it manually if you’d like. Type control in the search box on the taskbar and select Control Panel from the results to run the Control Panel app. In the app, select System and Security > Security and Maintenance. In the Maintenance section, under Automatic Maintenance, click Start maintenance if you want it to run now. To make sure that it runs every day, click Change maintenance settings, and on the screen that appears, select the time you’d like maintenance to run and check the box next to Allow scheduled maintenance to wake up my computer at the scheduled time. Then click OK. Here’s how to set a time each day for Windows 11 to run its maintenance tasks. Preston Gralla / Foundry 5. Kill adware and bloatware It may be that what’s slowing your PC down isn’t Windows 11, but bloatware or adware that takes up CPU and system resources. Adware and bloatware are particularly insidious because they may have been installed by your computer’s manufacturer. (This is generally not a problem for business PCs but is very common on consumer devices.) They typically run automatically at startup without you even knowing it. You’ll be amazed at how much better your PC will run if you get rid of it. Start by running a system scan to find adware and malware. If you’ve already installed a security suite such as Norton Security or McAfee LiveSafe, you can use that. Microsoft Defender Antivirus, the anti-malware tool built into the Windows Security app, also does a great job. Type windows security in the search box, press Enter, and on the screen that appears, click Virus threat protection and then click Quick scan. Windows Security will look for malware and remove any it finds. You should get a second opinion, though, so consider a free tool like Malwarebytes. The free version scans for malware and adware and removes what it finds; the paid version offers always-on protection to stop infections in the first place. Malwarebytes scans for and removes malware. Preston Gralla / Foundry Now that you’ve done all that, check for bloatware and uninstall it. A good free anti-bloatware tool is Bulk Crap Uninstaller. You can also go to the website Should I Remove It? — it offers recommendations on what software is useful, and what you can uninstall. There’s a section of the website devoted to advice on how to remove bloatware on PCs from specific manufacturers. I highly recommend going there, because it lists all the bloatware different manufacturers install on their PCs. That section of the site also compares how much bloatware major manufacturers ship on their PCs. It rates Toshiba as having the most and Acer as having the least. Finally, when you buy a new PC online, check whether there’s an option to leave off trial software and software you don’t need to run your PC. That will stop bloatware from getting on your system in the first place. 6. Turn off search indexing Windows 11 search performs indexing in your hard disk in the background, allowing you to search your PC more quickly than if no indexing were being done. That’s good for fast searches, but not so good for slower PCs, because indexing can cause a performance hit. You can give a slower machine a speed boost by turning off indexing. Even if you have an SSD disk, turning off indexing can improve your speed, because the constant writing to disk that indexing does can eventually slow down SSDs. To turn it off, type services.msc into the search box on the taskbar and press Enter. The Services app appears. Scroll down to either Indexing Service or Windows Search in the list of services. Double-click it, and on the screen that appears, click Stop. Then reboot your machine. Your searches may be slightly slower, but you also may not notice the difference. You should, though, get an overall speed boost. Here’s how to turn off Windows 11 indexing. Preston Gralla / Foundry Alternatively, you can turn off indexing only for files in certain locations. In this way, you can still index files and folders you often search for but turn off indexing for the rest of your hard disk. So you’d still get fast searches for files you use often, while increasing your PC’s performance. To do it, type index in the Windows 11 search box and click the Indexing Options result that appears. The Indexing Options page of the Control Panel appears. Click the Modify button, and you’ll see a list of locations that are being indexed, such as Microsoft Outlook, your personal files, and so on. Uncheck the box next to any location, and it will no longer be indexed. 7. Clean out your hard drive A bloated hard drive filled with files you don’t need can slow down your PC. Taking a few minutes to clean it can give an immediate speed boost. A built-in Windows 11 tool called Storage Sense will do the job for you. Launch the Settings app, select System > Storage, scroll down to the “Storage management” section, and next to Storage Sense, move the toggle from Off to On. From now on, Windows will constantly monitor your PC and delete old junk files you no longer need — temporary files, files in the Downloads folder that haven’t been changed in a month, and old Recycle Bin files. system > storage screen with storage sense toggle highlighted class=wp-image-4177288 width=1024 height=796 sizes=auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px>Here’s where to turn on Storage Sense. Preston Gralla / Foundry You can also customize when Storage Sense runs and what should be deleted automatically — for example, whether to delete files from the Downloads folder after they’ve been there for more than 30 days. To do it, click the right-facing arrow next to the Storage Sense On/Off slider. 8. Disable shadows, animations, and visual effects Those who like eye candy are probably big fans of Windows 11’s shadows, animations, and visual effects. They typically don’t affect performance on fast, newer PCs. But they can exact a performance hit on older, slower machines. If you’ve got a slower PC, turn them off. To do it, in the Windows 11 search box, type sysdm.cpl, press Enter, and then click the sysdm.cpl icon. That launches the Control Panel’s System Properties dialog box. Click the Advanced tab and click Settings in the Performance section. That brings you to the Performance Options dialog box. (Make sure you’re on the Visual Effects tab of the dialog box.) You’ll see a varied list of animations and special effects. The Performance Options dialog box lets you turn off visual effects that might be slowing down Windows 11. Preston Gralla / Foundry If you love to tweak, you can turn individual options on and off. These are the animations and special effects you’ll probably want to turn off, because they have the greatest effect on system performance: Animate controls and elements inside windows Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing Animations in the taskbar Fade or slide menus into view Fade or slide ToolTips into view Fade out menu items after clicking Show shadows under windows However, it’s a lot easier to just select the Adjust for best performance option at the top of the screen and click OK. Windows 11 will then turn off the effects that slow down your system. 9. Disable transparency To get an even bigger speed boost, go beyond turning off shadows, animations, and visual effects. Also disable the transparency effects in the taskbar and other Windows 11 locations. Windows does a surprising amount of heavy lifting to create transparency effects, and turning them off can make a difference in system performance. To do it, run the Settings app and select Personalization > Colors, then move the Transparency effects slider to Off. personalization > colors screen with transparency effects toggle highlighted class=wp-image-4177289 width=1024 height=490 sizes=auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px>Turning off Windows 11’s transparency effects can help speed up performance. Preston Gralla / Foundry 10. Change your power settings Your Windows 11 PC’s power settings let you balance its energy use with its performance. If you’re using the most power-efficient setting, you’re slowing down your PC, because the setting reduces your PC’s performance to save energy. (Even desktop PCs typically have a power-saving setting.) Changing your power setting to one of the less power-efficient options will give you an instant performance boost. To do it, run the Settings app, then choose System and click the right-facing arrow next to Power. Depending on whether you’re using a laptop or a desktop PC (and if you’re using a laptop, whether it’s plugged in), you’ll see either a “Plugged in” or “On battery” setting that lists the power mode you’re using. Click the drop-down arrow next to it and choose the setting you want. Change your power settings to give your PC a performance boost.Preston Gralla / Foundry Best Performance gives you the most oomph but uses the most power. Balanced finds a happy medium between power use and better performance, and Best Power Efficiency does everything it can to give you as much battery life as possible. Desktop users have no reason to choose Best Power Efficiency, and even laptop users should consider the Balanced option when unplugged. 11. Turn off Windows tips and tricks Windows 11 constantly watches what you’re doing on your PC and gives you tips about things you might want to do with the operating system. I’ve never found these tips helpful. And I don’t like the privacy implications of Windows constantly taking a virtual look over my shoulder. (Also see: How to protect your privacy in Windows 11.) Beyond that, this monitoring can also make your PC run more sluggishly. So to speed things up, tell Windows to stop being so nosy and giving you advice. To do it, run the Settings app and select System > Notifications. Scroll down to Additional settings and click the down arrow. From the options that appear, uncheck the box marked Get tips and suggestions when using Windows. Turn off Windows’ suggestions to help things run more smoothly (and regain a measure of privacy). Preston Gralla / Foundry 12. Disable Game Mode Windows 11’s Game Mode optimizes your PC for playing games. When it detects that you’re playing a game, it prioritizes system resources for gaming, taking them away from other apps and background processes. That’s great for serious gamers, but when you’re not playing games, it can slow down your system because it keeps some system resources in reserve in case you start playing a game. It occasionally causes stability issues as well. So turning off Game Mode may be able to give your PC a quick boost. (You can always turn it back on again when you want to play a game.) Game Mode is turned on by default, so even if you’ve never played a game on your PC, it’s probably enabled. To turn it off, go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode and move the Game Mode slider to Off. gaming screen with game mode area highlighted class=wp-image-4177287 width=1024 height=428 sizes=auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px>Game Mode can sometimes cause stability and performance issues, so turning it off may give your PC a boost. Preston Gralla / Foundry 13. Update device drivers Your Windows 11 PC can become a slowpoke if its drivers are old and in the way. Outdated drivers can exact a big performance hit. Graphics drivers are often the biggest culprit in driver-related slowdowns. To check whether your graphics driver is outdated, and to update to the latest one: In the Windows search box, type device manager and click on the Device Manager icon that appears. Scroll to the Display Adapters entry and click the side-facing arrow to expand it. Right-click the driver, and from the context menu that appears, select Update Driver. You’ll be asked whether to have Windows search for an updated driver, or whether you want to find one and install it manually. Your best bet is to let Windows do the work. Follow the on-screen instructions to get the driver installed. You can use the Device Manager to update all your drivers this way. That’s time-consuming, so consider asking Windows to do the work for you. To do it, launch the Settings app (pressing the Windows key + I is a good shortcut for doing it) and select Windows Update from the left pane. Select Advanced Options > Optional Updates. You’ll see a list of all the updates Windows has found but hasn’t installed. Select any of the drivers you want to install, then click Download install. advanced options > optional updates screen listing an intel driver update class=wp-image-4177290 width=1024 height=534 sizes=auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px>Tell Windows Update to update your drivers. Preston Gralla / Foundry 14. Turn off background app permissions Some apps run various processes in the background even if you don’ t launch them. You’ll likely never know they’re doing it, and they can cause unexpected slowdowns and a sluggish PC. Microsoft says these background processes do things such as syncing or sending notifications. That can slow your PC down, especially if more than one app is doing it. You can head off performance problems by not allowing the apps to run in the background. To do it: Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps. Click the three horizontal dots on the right of any app whose permissions you want to turn off and select Advanced options. Click the dropdown under “Background app permissions,” and choose Never if you want to stop the app from ever running a process in the background, or Power optimized if you want to let Windows decide whether to let the processes run when they won’t cause your PC to take a performance hit. apps > installed apps > claude with background app permissions dropdown menu class=wp-image-4177284 width=882 height=512 sizes=auto, (max-width: 882px) 100vw, 882px>Managing background app permissions properly can give your PC a performance boost. Preston Gralla / Foundry 15. Roll back your PC to a previous state Sometimes your PC will slow down for no apparent reason, and stay slow. It could be a new driver slowing your system down. Perhaps accidentally you changed a system setting that caused the problem. It can be difficult, and often impossible, to get to the root of these kinds of problems and fix them. If you’ve noticed that your computer has become sluggish recently, there’s something that might solve the issue: Restore your PC to the state it was in before the problem began. You can easily do this via System Restore. To do it: Make sure System Restore is turned on by going to Settings > System > About, and under the “Device info” section, click System protection. From the screen that appears, click Configure and select Turn on system protection if it’s not already turned on. Click OK. You’ll be sent back to the System Protection screen. Click System Restore. On the screen that appears, select Recommended restore and click Next if you want to revert to the most recent restore point. Select Choose a different restore point if you want to choose one yourself, and click Next. Restart your PC. It will revert to its previous state. Note that when you do this, your documents, pictures, and personal data won’t be deleted. Here’s how to turn on System Restore. Preston Gralla / Foundry 16. Restart Windows Here’s one of IT’s not-quite-secret weapons for troubleshooting and speeding up a PC: shut it down and restart it. Doing that clears out any excess use of RAM that otherwise can’t be cleared. It also kills processes that you might have set in motion and are no longer needed, but that continue running and slow your system. If your Windows 11 PC has turned sluggish over time for no apparent reason, you may be surprised at how much more quickly it will run when you do this. I can vouch for it, and I restart my Windows 11 PCs regularly even if they’re not sluggish, just as a precautionary measure. This article was originally published in February 2023 and most recently updated in June 2026. More Windows 11 tips: Windows 11 cheat sheet 8 ways to be more productive in Windows 11 How to protect your privacy in Windows 11 How to repair Windows 10 or 11 in 4 steps 6 steps to recover missing data in Windows How to fix a Windows black screen The fast way to fix a frozen Start menu or taskbar in Windows Microsoft cheat sheets: Dive into Windows, Office, and Copilot