8 effective ways to speed up Windows 11 and improve computer performance

 

It is certain that Windows 11 is a new page in the history of the Windows system, as it comes with huge improvements over its predecessor and undoubtedly interesting additions, perhaps the most prominent of which is running Android applications directly without an emulator. In terms of performance, Microsoft has introduced a set of improvements in the new system's working mechanism in terms of managing RAM memory, consuming resources such as storage and CPU through intelligent prioritization of tasks in the background, along with many other factors that ultimately formed a system that provides smooth performance on the system. most devices.

 

But like any Windows version, experiencing stuttering and slowdowns is inevitable, especially on older devices (in case the operating requirements are exceeded). So, if you have upgraded to Windows 11 and are experiencing annoyingly slow computer performance, you are in the right place. We share with you the following a set of effective ways to improve and speed up the performance of Windows 11, which are methods through which you rely on making internal adjustments in the system, but if you have tried them and the situation is still the same, then here it will be necessary to update the components of the device, such as upgrading from HDD to SSD or installing External graphics card or RAM upgrade. With that in mind, let me tell you the first method.

 

1-Disable visual effects

 

Visual effects such as smooth animations, blurred backgrounds, and shadow effects are key elements of Windows 11's design and add more appeal to the user interface. But it is important to know that these effects put a burden on the resources of the device if it has limited capabilities, and thus contribute to slowing down the system response and making your computer look a little slower. Therefore, disabling it is among the steps that speed up the computer, even if this comes at the expense of the aesthetic appearance of the Windows system.

 

To disable visual effects in Windows 11, all you have to do is type “View advanced system settings” in the search field on the taskbar, and then press Enter. The System Properties window will appear, so click on the "Settings" button under the Performance section. In the next window, select the "Adjust for best performance" option to disable all animations. After that, press the "OK" button to apply the changes, and you will notice that any kind of visual effects no longer appears while opening programs or moving between windows, and this would lead to an increase in the speed of the computer.

 

There are also "transparency effects" that you need to disable in Windows 11 to make windows and menus take less time to appear on the screen. To do this, open the "Settings" application and go to the "Personalization" section, then to the "Colors" page from the side menu, and then turn off the "Transparency effects" option to disable the transparency effects in windows.

 

2-Stop running programs at startup

 

Some of the programs installed on your computer will start automatically when Windows starts, right after the boot process. Thus, with the large number of programs that run at startup, the computer will take longer in the boot-up process and become very slow, as each program consumes part of the device’s resources, including RAM, processor, hard disk, and so on. So, stopping these programs and running only what you need when needed is one of the most important steps in this topic. Start by opening the Settings application from the Start menu or by pressing Win + I, then go to the "Apps" section from the side menu, after that press "Startup".

 

On the right side, you'll find a list of all installed programs that run when Windows starts. The impact of these programs on the take-off process is also explained, for example, High impact, Medium impact, and Low impact. Therefore, it is preferable to focus on programs that have a high impact, but in general, you can disable any program that you do not want to run once the computer is turned on. After this step, you should experience an improvement in your device's performance.

 

3-End the most resource-intensive processes

 

In some cases, your computer may run slowly because a running process is hogging a high percentage of resources and other processes are slow to respond. This process may be related to a virus that infiltrated the computer in some way or to an Adware program that you do not know anything about. Or, you may have a program installed that has a software bug that makes it consume too much RAM or processor, and this comes at the expense of performance.

 

Tracking the resource consumption of processes is among the basic functions of the Task Manager tool integrated with Windows, so you will need to run it to check for the most resource-consuming processes and stop them forcibly. All you have to do is press Ctrl + Shift + Esc together on the keyboard, or press Win + X, and from the menu that appears, select "Task Manager". After opening the tool, click on the "CPU", "Memory" or "Disk" column header to re-sort the processes in ascending order and display those consuming the most in front.

 

If you find any process that consumes a lot of resources, whether the processor, RAM, or disk, you may want to close it by selecting its name from the “Name” list and pressing the “End Task” option, or alternatively, you can activate Efficiency Mode if you do not want to close it Final. However, you should notice a difference in your computer's speed after completing this step.

 

4-Remove unnecessary applications and programs

 

As you continue to use your computer, the number of programs and applications you have installed is likely to become larger. Most of them you had no intention of installing because they are adware; These are programs that are installed in a way that appears not to be clearly announced during the installation of the required programs. Regardless, you may have a bunch of programs you installed a while ago that you no longer use or duplicate programs like browsers; There is a large percentage of users who install Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, in addition to the Microsoft Edge browser that comes with Windows 11 originally. Not to mention that most laptops come with a package of software pre-installed by the manufacturer, whether Lenovo, Asus, HP, or Dell.

 

Therefore, since you are now suffering from a slow computer, this may be a good opportunity to take a look at the list of currently installed applications and programs and remove what you do not need from them. In order to see and uninstall the installed programs, you will need to open the Settings application and click on Apps, then "Apps & Features" to find a list of all the programs installed on the device. You can simply press the menu button ( ⁝ ) next to the program's name and select "Uninstall" to remove it.

 

But watch out! There are programs that you should never remove because they are required to properly control the computer without encountering problems. For example, software developed by Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung, or Intel is important and should be kept on your device. Unknown programs that you don't remember installing before are the ones you should consider removing.

 

To make the job easier, I recommend you to use a tool called “Should I Remove It?” which helps you to identify unwanted programs on your computer and tells you which programs to delete based on your usage or security rating. Other than that, you can also search on Google for any software you suspect to ensure that it can be safely removed from your device. Also, don't forget to remove essential apps in Windows 11 that are installed by default and that you often don't use. This would save storage space, as well as reduce device resource consumption as much as possible.

 

5-Clean your computer from viruses and adware

 

Certainly, using a security program is one of the important things to protect your device, but you do not need to install an external protection program because Windows 11 already comes with the Windows Security tool that is effective in addressing electronic attacks. However, the protection programs may fail to detect some viruses, which may cause an incomprehensible and unjustified slowdown to your device. In this case, other programs are used only to remove malware from your device and do not protect, you download it to scan the device, detect and remove viruses, and do this process monthly to ensure that your device is completely free of malware.

 

In the beginning, you need to download and install the Malwarebytes program, scan and remove malicious software from your device, and then you will need the AdwCleaner program to scan and remove the adware specifically, which, as we indicated, is annoying software that is installed with free programs and is a browser bar or software that changes the default page on the browser or changing the default browser, browser settings, forced windows on the browser, pending ads, or others. It certainly causes a severe slowdown in the computer and consumption of device resources, so it must always be eliminated.

 

6-Prevent apps from running in the background

 

Most Windows 11 applications run continuously in the background so that you can send notifications, or make the process of launching them later take no longer; Just like on smartphones. But even if you never open these apps, they don't stop working and drain your battery, if you're on a laptop. Not every application running in the background negatively affects computer performance, but some users may find that their devices run more smoothly when there are fewer applications consuming device resources in the background, especially on older or weak computers.

 

So it is important to control which apps are allowed to run in the background, they can be turned on and off as you see fit. Depending on your choice of which apps you prevent from running in the background, you should see a slight to the significant increase in performance. You can review the article How to prevent Windows 11 applications from running and follow the steps mentioned to complete this task. But remember, this applies to applications that are downloaded from the Microsoft Store, and as for traditional Windows programs, you cannot prevent them from running in the background in this way. Instead, you should use the Task Manager tool and force-close any programs you don't want running in the background. Or search in the settings of each program for any option that controls its running in the background, such as in the Microsoft Edge browser.

 

7-Set the power settings to priority on performance

 

If you are using Windows 11 on a laptop, the system will be able to control the performance of your device, regardless of its capabilities, through the specified power plan. For example, the default power plan that Windows uses is Balanced, which uses limited resources to save battery power, so you don't get maximum performance. So if you don't mind compromising battery life to get better performance, you should change the plan to prioritize performance rather than preserving battery life.

 

To modify the power plan in Windows 11, all you have to do is open the Settings app from the Start menu or press Win + I key together. Then go to the "Power and Battery" section and scroll down to the "Power mode" menu where you select "Best performance" instead of "Balanced".

 

You can also modify the power plan from the Control Panel, which is the preferred method. There you will find the "High performance" option, which is supposed to adjust the power settings in a manner that achieves maximum performance, but if you are using the Pro version, there is a hidden power plan named Ultimate Performance, which aims to move the capabilities of the device to the highest possible level of speed and provide improved performance at a very high rate compared to other plans.

 

8-Do a factory reset for Windows 11

 

If you've made all previous attempts to speed up your computer but failed to achieve satisfactory results, it's probably time to reset it to factory settings (Factory Reset), an option included in Windows 11 that is a "nuclear solution" to many Windows problems. It's like opening a new page on your computer! So that its state is returned to the default state while preserving the definitions and personal files, after completing this step, you should notice a significant difference in the speed of the computer.

 

We have already explained the steps for making a factory reset of the computer in Windows 11, but keep in mind that you will have two options when using the Reset this PC feature, the first is to save data / personal files, and the second is to delete everything as if you reinstalled the copy of Windows again. According to your needs, you can save or get rid of your personal files, either way, it is recommended to back up your important data.