10 Windows 11 tips to speed up your PC

A slow PC isn’t always a hardware problem. Windows 11 has plenty of background processes quietly eating your resources.

1. Disable startup apps

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) → Startup apps tab → disable anything you don’t need at boot.

Common candidates: Teams, Spotify, Discord, OneDrive (if unused), manufacturer utilities.

2. Adjust Visual Effects

Press Win + R → type sysdm.cpl → Advanced tab → Performance Settings → select Adjust for best performance.

Or manually uncheck just the extras: animations, shadows, transparency.

3. Clean up with Storage Sense

Settings → System → Storage → enable Storage Sense and run it now.

Also run Disk Cleanup (search in Start) to remove old Windows Update files — often frees several GB.

4. Disable Search Indexing (if you rarely search)

services.msc → find Windows Search → Properties → Startup type: Disabled.

The machine runs noticeably lighter, but File Explorer search will be slower.

5. Update your drivers

Outdated GPU and chipset drivers cause significant lag. Use Device Manager or download directly from NVIDIA/AMD/Intel.

6. Check RAM and disk health

• RAM: mdsched.exe to run a memory test
• Disk: chkdsk C: /f in CMD (run as admin)

7. Set a better Power Plan

Settings → Power & battery → switch to High performance when you need full speed.

8. Reduce telemetry

Settings → Privacy & security → Diagnostics & feedback → disable everything.

9. Clean the registry (carefully)

Use CCleaner or Wise Registry Cleaner — but always back up the registry first.

10. Reset Windows (last resort)

If nothing else works: Settings → Recovery → Reset this PC → Keep my files.

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Applying steps 1–6 solves most cases. No magic “PC cleaner” software needed.