How to Make Your Windows 11 PC Run Faster

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Boost your computer’s performance with these simple tweaks

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IN THIS ARTICLE

1 Run Microsoft PC Manager

2 Uninstall Unneeded Programs

3 Disable Startup Programs

4 Enable Fast Startup

5 Change Your Power Plan

6 Use Game Mode (If You're Gaming)

7 Free Up Disk Space

8 Disable Visual Effects

9 Turn Off Background Apps

10 Disable Unnecessary Notifications

11 Check for Malware

12 Adjust Your Web Browsing Habits

13 Optimize Your Drives

14 Turn Off Unneeded Services

15 Change Search Indexing Settings

16 Keep Windows Up to Date

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Co-authored by Nicole Levine, MFA Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: April 1, 2026 Fact Checked

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Windows 11 does a lot of work behind the scenes to keep your computer running smoothly, but some of its features, apps, and processes might be slowing things down. Whether you're running Windows 11 on a slower desktop or laptop computer or have the latest and greatest hardware, this guide will teach you some simple tweaks and changes you can make to speed up Windows 11 on any PC.

Speeding Up Windows 11: Quick Tips

• Make your PC boot faster by enabling fast startup and disabling unneeded startup apps.
• To keep your hard drive or SSD nice and speedy, free up disk space, uninstall unneeded apps, and use the Optimize tool.
• If you're gaming or using system-intensive apps, switch to a high-performance power plan, use Game Mode, and disable background apps.

Steps

1

Run Microsoft PC Manager

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1. 
   Microsoft PC Manager can give Windows 11 a quick boost. PC Manager, Microsoft's latest free optimization tool, includes a "Boost" feature that can instantly free up resources and improve Windows 11's performance. You can also use Microsoft PC Manager to free up disk space, uninstall apps, and more. Once installed, open Microsoft PC Manager, then click Boost under "PC Boost" to instantly free up resources to make Windows 11 run faster.

   • To install, just go to the Microsoft PC Manager page in the Microsoft Store, click Download, then run the downloaded file.
   • Tip: When uninstalling, make sure you remove the checkmark from "Restore default settings for Windows" before clicking Get Started to prevent PC Manager from secretly changing your default web browser and lock screen.
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2

Uninstall Unneeded Programs

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1. 
   Removing applications you don't need can free up PC resources. When you uninstall apps, you'll not only be freeing up space on your drives, but you'll also prevent unneeded processes from running in the background. To see which apps you have installed, open the Start menu, click Settings, click Apps in the left panel, then select Installed Apps. To remove an app, click the three dots ••• on the app and select Uninstall.

3

Disable Startup Programs

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1. 
   Having unnecessary startup apps can really slow down your PC. If your computer takes a long time to boot up, you may have a lot of applications trying to start automatically. Startup apps may not even be visible on the screen; they may just run in the background, hogging up precious CPU and RAM resources without you even realizing it. To check for and remove unwanted startup apps:

   • Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
   • Click Startup apps in the left panel.
   • If you see "Enabled" next to an app, that app is set to start automatically. Most apps do not need to start automatically and can be safely disabled.
     • Don't disable Microsoft Defender's automatic startup, as this can expose your PC to security threats.
   • To prevent an app from starting automatically, right-click the app's name and select Disable.
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4

Enable Fast Startup

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1. 
   If your PC starts up slowly, Fast Startup may be disabled. This feature is enabled by default, so you may not need to make any changes. However, if Fast Startup has been turned off and you switch it on, you'll be really impressed with Windows 11's new fast boot speed! Here's how to check:

   • Press the Windows key, type control panel, and press ↵ Enter.
   • Click Hardware and Sound.
     • If you don't see it, click the View by menu at the top-right and select Category first.
   • Click Power Options.
   • Click Choose what the power buttons do.
   • Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
   • Check the box next to "Turn on fast startup" if it's not selected.

5

Change Your Power Plan

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1. 
   Switch to a high-performance power plan to get extra computing power. If you're gaming, using processor-intensive programs, or editing audio and video, your current performance plan may be limiting your CPU's power. Switching to a high-performance power plan ensures your PC doesn't throttle your processor. If you're running Windows 11 on a laptop, however, this will consume more battery power–you may only want to use a high-performance plan while plugged in. Here's what to do:

   • Press the Windows key, type control panel, and press ↵ Enter.
   • Click Hardware and Sound.
     • If you don't see this, don't worry, just keep going.
   • Click Power Options.
   • Select High performance.
     • If you don't see these options, open your Windows Settings instead, then go to System > Power & battery. Here, select Best Performance from the "Plugged in" menu.
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6

Use Game Mode (If You're Gaming)

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1. 
   Enabling Game Mode while gaming gives performance priority to your game. If Windows 11 is lagging when you play games, Game Mode is a great fix. As long as Game Mode is enabled, Windows 11 will turn off background apps, including Windows Update, to ensure your game gets as many system resources as possible. It can also help you maintain a stable frame rate. To enable Game Mode:

   • Open the Start menu and click Settings.
   • Click Gaming.
   • Click Game Mode.
   • Toggle on the Game Mode switch.
   • When you finish playing your game, disable Game Mode.

7

Free Up Disk Space

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1. 
   Low drive space can make Windows 11 run super slow. If you're running low on space, Windows 11 comes with a bunch of free tools that can help you free some up quickly:

   • Run Disk Cleanup to scan for and remove unneeded files, logs, and caches. To run it, press the Windows key, type disk cleanup, and press ↵ Enter.
   • Run Cleanup recommendations to check for and remove unneeded temp files, caches, logs, downloads, and more. To get there, open the Start menu, go to System > Storage, and click Cleanup recommendations.
   • Run a Deep Cleanup in Microsoft PC Manager to find and delete unneeded files, large files, and duplicate files other tools won't find. Once you install the tool from the Microsoft Store, click the Storage tab, then click Scan next to "Deep Cleanup" to get started.
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8

Disable Visual Effects

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1. 
   Animations, transparency, and shadow effects may be slowing down your PC. Especially if you are low on RAM and don't have a separate graphics card, all of Windows 11's visual bells and whistles can lead to sluggish performance. To adjust Windows 11's appearance for the best performance:

   • Press the Windows key and type adjust appearance.
   • Click Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows in the search results.
   • Select Adjust for best performance.
   • Click Apply and then OK.

9

Turn Off Background Apps

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1. 
   Apps may be running in the background without your knowledge. Many apps run background processes even when they're not visible on your screen. This might be necessary for certain apps and features to run, but many do not need to be running background processes at all times–especially if your computer doesn't have the latest and greatest hardware.

   • To see which apps are running in the background, press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, then click the Processes tab.
   • Look under "Background Processes" to see what's running right now.
   • To stop a background process, right-click it, then select End task.
   • If you don't want a certain app to run processes in the background, open your Windows Settings, go to Apps > Installed Apps, click the three dots ••• on an app, and select Advanced Options. Here, you can choose Never to prevent the app from running background processes.
     • If the app you're looking for doesn't have Advanced Options, open the app itself and look for an option to disable background running.
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10

Disable Unnecessary Notifications

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1. 
   Turning off notifications for certain apps can free up some resources. While notifications don't use a ton of resources, they do use some. Plus, too many notifications can get annoying and interrupt your workflow. To turn off notifications for apps:

   • Open the Start menu and select Settings.
   • Go to System > Notifications.
   • Look through the list of apps that can display notifications, then toggle off notifications for the ones you don't need.

11

Check for Malware

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1. 
   If Windows 11's performance seems way slower than normal, it could be malware. Fortunately, Windows comes with a great malware scanning tool, Microsoft Defender. While it does run on its own in the background, you can perform an offline scan to make sure an active malware infection isn't preventing it from running. Here's how:

   • Open the Start menu and click Settings.
   • Click Privacy & security in the left panel.
   • Click Windows Security.
   • Click Virus & threat protection.
   • Click Scan options.
   • Select Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan).
   • Click Scan now and follow the on-screen instructions.
   • If any threats are found, Microsoft Defender will remove them.
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12

Adjust Your Web Browsing Habits

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1. 
   One of the biggest culprits of a slow Windows 11 PC is your web browser. Whether you're using Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or a different browser, keeping lots of web browser tabs open at the same time consumes a lot of RAM and CPU power. If your computer doesn't have much RAM, limit the number of open tabs to 10 or fewer (preferably much less if you're running on 4GB–the minimum RAM you need to run Windows 11). Also, if you're using a lot of browser extensions or add-ons, they are likely running in the background, even if you're not actively trying to use them. Uninstall extensions you don't need, or disable them temporarily when you need a performance boost.

   • Even if you're a Chrome fan, consider trying Microsoft Edge to see if you notice speed improvements. Edge comes with a performance-enhancing feature called Sleeping Tabs that prevents browser tabs from using CPU and RAM resources after being inactive for 1 hour.

13

Optimize Your Drives

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1. 
   Defragmenting or optimizing your drive can speed it up. If you have a hard drive (HDD), defragmenting it regularly can keep it running as fast as possible. If you have a solid-state drive (SSD), defragmenting isn't necessary, but the Optimize tool can still scan for and fix issues slowing down your drive. To optimize your hard drive or solid state drive:

   • Press the Windows key and type optimize.
   • Click Defragment and Optimize Drives.
   • Select a drive and click Optimize.
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14

Turn Off Unneeded Services

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1. 
   Background services could be unnecessarily using your resources. While many Windows services are needed to keep your PC running smoothly, some third-party apps keep their services running in the background at all times (Adobe and Apple, for example), which can slow down Windows 11 if you don't have a particularly powerful PC. You can easily see which services are running and/or launch automatically and make adjustments as needed–just don't turn off any services you're not sure about, as they may be required for your PC to run properly.

   • Press the Windows key, type services.msc, and press ↵ Enter.
   • Services that are actively running will show "Running" in the Status column. If a service isn't running right now, nothing will appear in that column.
   • Services set to start automatically show "Automatic" in the "Startup Type" column.
   • You can change a service's startup behavior and priority by right-clicking it, selecting Properties, and choosing an option from the Startup type list.
   • For more details on modifying services, check out our guide to Windows Services.

15

Change Search Indexing Settings

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1. 
   Windows Search is constantly indexing all the files on your PC. Search indexing is super helpful if you use the search feature often, but if search is scanning drives and files you don't need it to scan, it may be using more resources than it needs to. You can tweak your search indexing settings to speed up your Windows 11 PC:

   • Open the Start menu and select Settings.
   • Click Privacy & security in the left panel.
   • Click Search.
   • You can turn off "Search my accounts" to prevent Windows from searching your personal, work, or school Microsoft accounts and instead just stick to the files on your computer.
   • Under "Find my files," select Classic if you only want the search feature to index your documents, pictures, music, and desktop folders, then click Customize search locations to add or exclude other folders.
   • Alternatively, you can select Extended to search your entire PC, but then specifically exclude folders you don't want to search.
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16

Keep Windows Up to Date

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1. 
   Check for and install the latest Windows Updates when available. Microsoft is always releasing new updates with bug fixes and performance enhancements for Windows 11. If your computer is running slowly and an update is available, the latest update might be the fix to your problem. While Windows Update does run automatically, a recent update may still be pending a reboot, and that can actually slow down your PC until you actually take the steps to reboot it.

   • Open the Start menu and select Settings.
   • Click Windows Update at the bottom of the left panel.
   • If an update is pending a restart, click Restart now to push the update through.
   • If not, click Check for Windows Updates, then click Download & Install if updates are available.

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