How to optimize PC performance in Windows 11: settings, step by step

Measure first: find out what is actually slow

A PC is held back by whichever resource runs out first: the processor (CPU), memory, the disk or, in games, the graphics processor (GPU). Task Manager shows which one it is.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, or right-click Start and select Task Manager.
2. On the Processes page, select the CPU column header to sort by processor use, highest first. Do the same with Memory and Disk. The processes at the top are the ones using that resource now.
3. Open the Performance page to see each resource over time. Under Memory, Committed shows how much memory Windows has promised to programs against its limit (the virtual memory section explains why that matters).
4. For more detail, open Resource Monitor: type resmon in the Start menu, or run perfmon /res. On its CPU tab, sort by Average CPU to rank processes by their overall use rather than a single moment.
5. For a written summary, perfmon /report runs the System Diagnostics data collector and displays a report of the results.

Then act on what you found:

Malware can consume processor and disk resources like any other program. If something unfamiliar is busy, go to Settings > Privacy & security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection and select Quick scan before you tune anything.

Set the power mode for the job

Power mode decides how Windows balances processor performance against energy use. Open Settings > System > Power & battery and, under Power mode, choose a mode separately for Plugged in and On battery:

• Best power efficiency saves energy, partly by limiting background activity.
• Balanced balances performance and battery life.
• Best performance lets the processor run at higher performance when it is needed.

Best performance costs power: on a laptop the battery drains faster and the machine can run warmer. A sensible pair is Best performance when plugged in and Balanced on battery.

On a laptop, also look at Energy saver on the same page. It switches on when the battery is low, dims the screen and limits background processes, which is why a laptop can feel slower near the end of a charge. That is the intended trade, not a fault.

Power mode and power plans are not the same thing

Control Panel's Power Options still lists power plans (Microsoft also calls them power schemes), and many older guides tell you to pick High performance. In Windows 11, the power mode setting sits on top of the Balanced plan. Microsoft's documentation for PC makers describes each mode as a light version of a power plan that holds only settings affecting performance, such as processor power management and power throttling, and the mode selector appears only while Balanced, or a plan derived from it, is active.

So if Power mode is greyed out or will not change, a custom plan is probably selected: open Control Panel > System and Security > Power Options and select Balanced. The same documentation notes that once you switch to Balanced, the interface offers no way back to High performance; only the powercfg command can do that. Use the Best performance mode instead of the old plan.

To check or switch plans from a terminal:

powercfg /list              # every power plan, with its GUID
powercfg /getactivescheme   # the plan in use now
powercfg /setactive <GUID>  # switch to a plan from the list

Stop apps from starting with Windows

Apps that start automatically when you sign in slow the startup itself, then keep running in the background. Windows gives you two views of the same list:

• Settings > Apps > Startup has a switch for each app. Off stops it starting automatically; you can still open it whenever you want.
• Task Manager > Startup apps shows the same apps with a Startup impact column, which is the better view for deciding. Select an app and choose Disable.

Task Manager rates each app from what it measured at startup:

Start with the High entries you do not need the moment you sign in: chat and meeting apps you open by hand anyway, game launchers, updaters for software you rarely use. Keep your security software, the utilities that make hardware work (touchpad, audio or docking software) and any sync client you rely on.

An app missing from both lists may start from a Startup folder instead. Press Windows + R, type shell:startup (your account) or shell:common startup (every account on the PC), and delete the shortcut of anything you no longer want to start. Deleting the shortcut does not uninstall the app.

If you never use an app at all, uninstall it rather than disabling it: open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, select More options (…) next to the app, then Uninstall. That frees disk space and ends any background activity it had.

Limit background apps and heavy processes

Some apps keep working when you are not using them, to sync or to send notifications. For apps from the Microsoft Store, you control this app by app:

1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, select More options (…) next to the app, then Advanced options.
2. Under Background app permissions, set Let this app run in background to one of:
   • Always: the app keeps receiving information and sending notifications, which may use more power.
   • Power optimized (recommended): Windows decides what saves the most power while still allowing notifications and periodic updates.
   • Never: the app does nothing in the background.

Desktop programs, the kind installed from a website or a disc and launched from an .exe file, do not appear there. Their background behaviour is set in each program's own settings.

For a program that hogs the processor while you work in something else, Task Manager has Efficiency mode, which Microsoft introduced in 2022. On the Processes page, right-click the process, or select it and use the command bar, and choose Efficiency mode. Windows then limits what that process consumes and gives priority to the apps in front of you. It applies to one process, not a whole group, and it is greyed out for core Windows processes, where throttling could slow the whole system. A leaf icon marks processes running in Efficiency mode.

Two smaller habits help as well. Turn off notifications you do not need in Settings > System > Notifications, which Microsoft says brings small performance gains. And restart at least once a week, as Microsoft recommends: it helps the PC run more smoothly and lets pending updates install.

Free up disk space with Storage Sense

A nearly full system drive slows Windows down and can stop updates from installing. File Explorer shows the free space under This PC, and in Settings > System > Storage the capacity bar turns red when Windows considers the drive low.

Storage Sense cleans up for you. Turn it on in Settings > System > Storage, then select Storage Sense to decide how it works:

• Run Storage Sense: how often it runs. With the default settings it runs when the drive is low on space and removes temporary files.
• Recycle Bin and Downloads: how long files can sit in the Recycle Bin, or go unopened in Downloads, before they are deleted. By default, old Recycle Bin items are removed after some time, and the Downloads folder is never touched until you choose a period for it.
• Locally available cloud content: OneDrive files you have not opened for a while become online-only. That frees space without deleting anything, and since Windows 11 version 22H2 the default for OneDrive is 30 days. Files marked Always keep on this device are left alone.

Three limits are worth knowing. Storage Sense is off by default, although Windows may switch it on for some temporary files when the drive runs low, and tells you when it does. It cleans only the system drive, usually C:. And it runs only while you are signed in and have been online for more than 10 minutes.

For a one-off clean-up, Settings > System > Storage > Cleanup recommendations lists temporary files, large or unused files, files already synced to the cloud and unused apps, with the space each would free. Within 10 days of a Windows upgrade it also lists the previous version of Windows: deleting it frees space, but it removes your way back to that version and cannot be undone. The older Disk Cleanup tool is still available too; search for it from Start and pick the drive.

Optimize Drives: defragmenting and TRIM

Windows also maintains the drives themselves, once a week by default. A hard disk drive is defragmented, so the parts of each file are lined up and quicker to read. A solid-state drive (SSD) is trimmed instead: Windows tells it where it can safely do clean-up work while it is not busy. Search for defrag, open Defragment and Optimize Drives to see each drive's status, and leave Scheduled optimization on. Windows does not defragment an SSD, so there is nothing to change for one.

Turn down visual effects

Windows 11's visual effects use system resources, and turning them down can make it more responsive. The quickest way is the classic dialog:

1. Select Start, type Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows and open it.
2. On the Visual Effects tab, select Adjust for best performance, then OK.

Windows looks plainer afterwards, and you can reverse the change from the same tab.

Two related switches live in Settings. Transparency effects, in Settings > Personalization > Colors, controls the acrylic blur behind some windows and surfaces. Settings > Accessibility has a Visual effects page as well.

Set your expectations: effects change how quickly windows open, close and redraw, not how fast a spreadsheet recalculates or a video exports.

Virtual memory: what it is and why the default is usually right

"Increase your virtual memory" is common advice for a slow PC, and it is usually wrong. Windows keeps a page file, a hidden system file on the drive, and uses it to hold modified memory pages that have not been touched for a while, so the RAM they occupied can serve pages in active use. Only data that exists nowhere else on disk, such as text you have not saved yet, can be written there; program files are simply read again from where they are installed.

The page file matters for one number above all: the commit limit, which is physical RAM plus every page file. Programs reserve memory against it (the commit charge), and when the charge reaches the limit, programs can fail to get memory and the PC can freeze or crash. The page file also gives Windows a place to write a crash dump after a system crash, known as a stop error. Microsoft's introduction to the page file covers both jobs.

By default the page file is system-managed, and for almost everyone that is the right setting. When the commit charge passes 90 percent of the limit, Windows grows the page file, up to three times the RAM or 4 GB, whichever is larger, capped at one-eighth of the drive's size. It also sizes the file for the crash dump setting. A fixed size you pick by hand does neither.

Check before changing anything. In Task Manager, open Performance > Memory and read Committed, the commit charge against the commit limit. If the charge stays well below the limit even when you are busiest, a larger page file changes nothing. A page file that shows as fully used is not a problem in itself either, as long as the limit is not being reached.

To confirm Windows is managing it, follow Microsoft's steps:

1. Select Start, type Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows and open it.
2. On the Advanced tab, check that Adjust for best performance of is set to Programs.
3. Under Virtual memory, select Change and make sure Automatically manage paging file sizes for all drives is ticked. Select OK, then restart if you changed anything.

Game Mode and graphics settings

Game Mode is on by default, in Settings > Gaming > Game Mode. While a game runs, it stops Windows Update from installing drivers and sending restart notifications, and Microsoft says it helps achieve a more stable frame rate, depending on the game and the PC. It works independently of the power mode, so for gaming on a laptop, plug in and choose Best performance as well.

Many laptops have two graphics processors: an integrated GPU that saves power for lighter work, and a discrete GPU for gaming, design work and video editing. Windows switches between them by task, and you can override the choice for a single app:

1. Open Settings > System > Display > Graphics.
2. Under Custom options for apps, select the app or game, then Options.
3. Choose Let Windows decide (Power saving), Power saving or High performance, select Save, and restart the app.

On the same Graphics page, under Default settings, turn on Optimizations for windowed games. It applies to DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 games running in a window or a borderless window, moving them to a newer presentation model that reduces frame latency and enables Auto HDR and variable refresh rate on displays that support them. If you have turned on Auto HDR, it is already on.

You may also see Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling in the graphics settings. It appears only when the graphics card and its driver support it, and it hands most GPU scheduling from a thread on the processor to a dedicated scheduling processor on the GPU. When Microsoft introduced it in 2020, it said users should not notice significant changes, so treat it as optional rather than as a speed switch.

Some gaming guides also suggest turning off memory integrity (Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details). Memory integrity is a virtualization-based security feature that hardens the Windows kernel against malware. Microsoft notes that its performance cost is bigger on processors older than Intel's Kaby Lake and AMD's Zen 2, which emulate hardware features newer chips provide. On anything newer, leave it on. On an older gaming PC it is a trade between frame rate and kernel protection, and since Windows 11 version 22H2, Windows Security warns you while it is off.

Keep Windows Update and drivers current

Windows updates often include fixes and performance improvements, so an unpatched PC is not an optimized one. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates and install what it finds.

Drivers matter too. Windows Update installs recommended drivers automatically, but optional drivers are not installed until you choose them:

1. Open Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options and turn on Receive updates for other Microsoft products.
2. Under Additional options, select Optional updates, choose the driver updates listed, and select Download and install.
3. Restart, even if nothing asks you to.

If Windows Update has no driver for a device, get the current one from the hardware manufacturer's website rather than from a third-party driver updater.

Keep the Windows version current as well. As of September 2026 the current feature update for existing PCs is Windows 11 version 25H2 (version 26H1 ships only on new devices), and version 24H2 stops receiving updates for Home and Pro editions on October 13, 2026, so a PC still on 24H2 should move to 25H2. Monthly security updates arrive on the second Tuesday of each month. On a new PC, the first round of updates, drivers and activation is covered step by step in our Windows setup guide.

Do you need a PC optimizer program?

Search for "optimize PC software" and you will find many programs that promise a faster computer. Almost everything they sell, Windows 11 already does:

The registry is the database of low-level settings for Windows and for the programs that use it. Microsoft's description of the Registry Editor warns that improper changes can cause instability, application errors or even stop Windows from starting. A cleaner that deletes entries in bulk takes that risk on your behalf, for a benefit Microsoft does not list among its ways to improve performance.

Memory cleaners deserve the same skepticism. Windows already moves memory pages that have not been used for a while out of RAM by itself, so that frequently used pages get the space (the virtual memory section explains how). A memory cleaner second-guesses that process, and the free RAM it shows on a gauge is not a measure of speed.

If you want one app that gathers these tools, Microsoft makes one. Its performance guide points to Microsoft PC Manager, a free app in the Microsoft Store that cleans up storage, manages startup apps and brings together other built-in Windows tools; its storage clean-up uses Storage Sense. Microsoft lists it as compatible with Windows 10 (build 19042 and later) and Windows 11. It is a convenient front end, not something Windows lacks.

The routine in order, with shortcuts

Once the settings are right, keeping a PC fast is mostly a matter of leaving the automatic parts on: Storage Sense, scheduled drive optimization, Windows Update and a system-managed page file. When it slows down, work through the same order. Most pages open directly: press Windows + R, type the address and press Enter.

Across more than a few PCs, this routine stops scaling when it is done by hand. Our IT support service enrols laptops in one management console, keeps them configured, compliant and patched, and traces recurring problems to their cause so they are fixed at the root rather than reset again next week.