Boost your Windows 11 PC performance with these 16 tips! From shutting down apps to upgrading hardware, optimize your system for optimal speed and efficiency.
Key Points
- Windows 11 may slow down your computer due to misconfiguration, compatibility difficulties, bugs, viruses, and hardware issues.
- Shutting down and restarting the computer, turning off apps at startup, removing unused apps, freeing up hard drive space, installing system, driver, and app patches, changing power plan to high performance, disabling visual effects, and more can improve Windows 11 performance.
- Upgrading hardware like the system disk and RAM can increase speed, and a new computer with an SSD or NVMe drive may be worth buying after three or four years.
Windows 11 might slow down your computer for a variety of reasons, including misconfiguration, compatibility difficulties, bugs, malware, and hardware problems. Before considering a replacement, try a few modifications to restore performance. If your computer has been with you for more than four years, consider upgrading. This how-to tutorial provides strategies to maximize Windows 11 system performance.
16 Tips for Maximizing Windows 11 Performance
Try these modifications to boost Windows 11 performance.
- Shut down and restart the computer
A basic shutdown and restart will boost performance. If the computer has been operating for a while, this operation stops background processes and apps, clears memory, and fixes performance issues.
- Turn off apps at startup
Windows 11 includes various features that might slow down the system and starting process. To optimize system efficiency, deactivate startup and restartable programs.
- Remove unused apps
Uninstall unnecessary Windows 11 apps for better performance and space. Install reliable, thoroughly reviewed programs from a reliable source for security and performance.
- Free up hard drive space
To increase speed on Windows 11, utilize the Storage options to remove temporary and unneeded files.
- Install system, driver, and app patches
Windows 11 is regularly updated to fix bugs, add features, and fix security holes. Steps to upgrade Windows 11:
- Select Windows Update in Settings.
- Click “Check for updates” to check for updates.
- Click “Restart now” to download update previews.
- Click “Check for updates”, “Download & install”, and “Restart now” to upgrade Windows 11.
- Click Windows Update in Settings to update device drivers.
- Choose drivers to update and click Download & install. If the problematic device driver has no update, visit your manufacturer’s help page.
- Follow the manufacturer support website’s instructions to manually update drivers.
- Open the Microsoft Store and click Library to manually update applications.
- For non-Microsoft Store apps, check the developer support page or utilize the app’s update option.
- Rollback to the previous version
Updates can boost speed but can introduce bugs. To enhance performance, restore to the previous version of Windows by going to Settings, System, and Recovery.
- Change power plan to high performance
Windows 11 offers three power consumption plans: Balanced, Best Power Efficiency, and Best Performance. Laptop performance can be enhanced by pressing or clicking the battery symbol in the Taskbar’s notification area.
- Choose the default GPU for applications
To attach a high-performance GPU to Windows 11, adjust the graphical settings to “High performance” and save the setup, using the app’s settings if the program allows it.
- Disable visual effects
To enhance performance and battery life, disable animation effects, visual effects, and transparency effects, which enhance user experience but require more system resources, especially on older PCs.
- Turn off search indexing
Search is an important tool in Windows, but it may waste substantial system resources, affecting low-end machines and gaming settings. To enhance performance, change the indexing settings for speed, OK, and Close.
- Reconfigure page file settings
In Windows 11, virtual memory is a temporary page file on the hard drive that manages overflow when the system runs out of physical memory. To boost system speed, increase the page file size.
- Repair installation files
DISM and SFC command-line programs can repair damaged system files. The utility will repair the image files, allowing you to utilize the SFC tool to resolve issues with your existing Windows installation.
- Scan and remove viruses
Malware can cause computer instability and drain system resources. Use Virus & Threat protection for virus scanning, then offline scan if antivirus fails. Check support documentation for other anti-malware solutions.
- Gaming-specific performance configurations
Toggle Game Mode to maximize Windows 11 gaming performance. This will free up resources, boost framerates, and eliminate Windows Update interruptions.
- Reset the computer to factory defaults
Windows 11 factory resets without deleting files, increase speed and fix other issues.
- Upgrade hard drive and memory (optional)
To improve performance, upgrade the system disk and RAM, and consider purchasing a new computer after three or four years, especially if Windows 11 machines have an SSD or NVMe drive.
Some Extra Tips
To avoid hardware throttling during strenuous tasks like gaming, plug your laptop into a power outlet. When on battery, Windows 11 uses power saving mode, restricting performance. Solid State Drives prevent most Windows 11 devices from defragmenting.
How is Windows 11 performance on your PC? Are you facing any issues with its speed and efficiency? Try out these 16 tips listed above and let us know whether they helped you or not. For more such interesting updates, stay with Adi4u and remain current.
