Microsoft has released much awaited Windows 11 operating system, which brings a whole new design haul along with some improved features and more. Well, it’s faster and fully optimized compared to previous Windows 10. But still, some users report Windows 11 slows down the computer. Again users who have older or less capable hardware might experience Windows 11 slow performance or lagging. If you want to speed up your Windows 11 laptop, here few effective tips apply to make Windows 11 23H2 faster and run smoothly again.
Why is Windows 11 slow?
There are many factors that slow down Windows 11 performance, including compatibility issues and bugs, viruses or other types of malware, and hardware problems.
Again Outdated operating system or graphics card drivers, low disk space, Problems with Hard disk or background running startup tasks, Insufficient RAM or system file corruption are some Possible reasons for Windows 11 slow performance.
How to Speed Up Windows 11?
One of the most effective solutions for troubleshooting and Speed up a Windows 11 PC is, Shut it down and restart it. Yes doing that clears out any excess use of RAM, and kills processes that might have set in motion and are no longer needed but that continue running and slow your system.
Shutting down and restarting the computer might also help to speed up the computer.
In addition, we recommend perform a full system scan with the latest updated antivirus software or Windows Defender security to Check if Viruses or malware infections hit the system performance.
Keep Windows up to date
Microsoft regularly releases security patches with Windows updates. While many of these are related to improving your computer’s security (which is also important), some also improve the system performance. You should install these updates as soon as they are available to keep your computer running smoothly.
By keeping your computer up-to-date, you can ensure that it is running at its best
To install updates in Windows 11, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings menu by pressing the Windows + I on your keyboard.
- In the left sidebar, select Windows Update, and click the Check for Updates button to check for new updates.
- If there are any updates available, they will be downloaded and installed automatically.
- Once done you need to restart your PC to apply the changes.
Disable auto-startup programs and apps
When you start your PC there are lots of programs and apps that start running in the background without your knowledge. Well, some of these programs are essential for your computer to function properly but others are just taking up system resources and slowing down your PC startup time. And it’s always recommended to keep startup programs to minimum and only add the critical ones. And you can disable these startup programs on task manager here is how.
- Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys on your keyboard to open Task Manager,
- Navigate to the startup tab, you will see the app list with its startup impact,
- Right-click on the program you want to disable and choose Disable.
- Similarly, disable the other unwanted programs as well to boost the PC speed.
Run your computer at full power
In order to make your laptop battery last longer, windows offer different power plans that deliberately slow down your PC. Changing this strategy and choose a higher power plan raise the windows performance. It’s very effective, especially for Windows 11 Laptop users.
- Press Windows key + R, type powercfg.cpl and click ok to open the power options window,
- Here expand the show additional plans option then pick High Performance from there.
Remove temporary files
Over time with regular use, your computer or laptop may get cluttered with tons of temporary files. And that may impact the windows 11 system performance. Remove those garbages from your computer to boost the system performance.
To remove temporary files from Windows 11:
- Press the Windows key + X and select settings,
- Go to the system option Select the Storage option and then click on Enable Storage Sense.
- Click on temporary files and clean up all those junk files from your system.
With storage sense option enabled, your computer will automatically delete temporary files and other unneeded files to free up space. We recommend setting Storage Sense to run automatically at least once a week.
Modify Windows 11 Performance settings
Like previous Windows versions, the latest Windows 11 also comes with lots of visual effects that make it look nice. However all these visual effects come at a cost, they use up system resources which may slow down your computer.
To disable visual effects in Windows 11,
- Press Windows key + I to open settings,
- Go to Accessibility then expand Visual Effects options,
- Here toggle off “Transparency effects” and “Animation effects.”
- After that, press the Windows key + R, and type sysdm.cpl then hit the enter key,
- Move to the Advanced tab, under the performance section, click Settings
- Here under the visual effect tab, Choose “Adjust for best performance” and click OK, and you’re done.
By disabling visual effects, you can free up system resources and speed up your computer.
Disable Background apps
There are a number of apps that run in the background and eat up system resources. Well, mailing or calendar apps don’t pose a problem, but there might be many unnecessary apps running that can make Windows 11 laptops slow. And to sort this out you can disable these background apps by following the steps below.
- Press the Windows key + X and select the Apps and Features option,
- Here you will find a list of apps, just click on the three-dot menu icon next to the app you want to disable from running in the background and select advanced options,
- Scroll down a bit to get to the Background apps permissions option. Select Never to complete the task.
Update device driver
Again if you are running an older version of drivers on your Windows 11 laptop this might impact the system performance or slow down Windows 11. We recommend install the latest driver update especially the display (Graphics) driver is the most critical when it comes to the performance and speed of the computer.
- Press Windows key + r, type devmgmt.msc and click to open device manager,
- Locate and expand the display adapter, right-click on the installed graphics driver select update driver from the context menu,
It will represent two options either to let Windows search for the best available driver on your system or locate and install one manually. We recommend select the first option search automatically for driver and let Windows check for and install the latest driver update for you.
In addition, also you can install and update the driver via Windows updates
- Open settings using the Windows key + I then select the Windows update tab from the left,
- Click advanced options than the optional updates option,
- Click on ‘Driver updates’ to view the available ones.
- Select them and click the download and install button.
- If prompted, restart the computer for the changes to apply.
In addition, Turn off Windows Tips & Tricks from Settings -> “Systems,” then tap “Notifications & Actions.” Here toggle the slider to off position next to Get tips, tricks, and suggestions.
There are chances system files corrupted while the upgrade process and that might impact the system performance. To make Windows 11 run faster we recommend Run the system file checker utility command sfc /scannow which scan and replaces corrupted system files with the correct one.
Prevent OneDrive From Syncing to do this Go to OneDrive and right-click on the icon.
From the menu that pops up, tap “Unlink the system.”
Disable search indexing Press the Windows key + R, type services.msc and click ok
Navigate to Windows search service, right-click on it select stop.
If you have plenty of unused programs installed on your system that can slow down your system. Removing these unnecessary programs can significantly impact the speed of your PC.
If your computer has a traditional hard drive — one with spinning metal platters — replacing HDD with a solid-state drive (SSD) can make a world of difference.
Video: Speed Up Windows 11 to Improve Performance!
Also read:
- Speed up Laptop Running Windows 10 Version 22H2!!!
- 15 Tips to Optimize Windows 10 22H2 update for better performance
- Solved: Windows 10 High CPU usage after update!
- Why Windows 10 Computer Is Running Slowly? (6 Reasons with solutions)
- Microsoft Store Missing In Windows 11? Here is how to Get it back
