How to Speed Up Windows 11 in 2026: Proven Methods

Windows 11 slows down after months of use — mostly from accumulated startup programs, fragmented storage, and outdated drivers. Here's what actually works.

Diagnose the Bottleneck First

Before changing anything, find out what's actually slow:

Get-Counter '\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time',
    '\Memory\Available MBytes',
    '\PhysicalDisk(_Total)\% Disk Time' |
    Select-Object -ExpandProperty CounterSamples |
    Select-Object Path, CookedValue

Or Task Manager: Ctrl+Shift+Esc → Performance tab.

Metric	Normal	Problem
CPU	< 70%	> 90% constantly
RAM	< 80%	> 90% or pagefile constantly active
Disk	< 50%	100% constantly

Less than 8 GB RAM is the #1 cause of slowness on modern Windows — if RAM is consistently near full, more RAM will help more than any setting below.

1. Disable Startup Programs (Biggest Impact)

Ctrl + Shift + Esc → Startup apps tab → sort by Startup impact → disable anything High you don't need at login.

Common culprits: Spotify, Discord, Teams (personal), OneDrive (if you don't use it), Adobe updaters, game launchers, Slack.

# View startup entries via registry
Get-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" |
  Select-Object * -ExcludeProperty PS*

2. Switch Power Plan

# High Performance
powercfg /setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

# Ultimate Performance (best for desktops)
powercfg /duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
powercfg /setactive e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

# Check current plan
powercfg /getactivescheme

On laptops: use High Performance only when plugged in.

3. Reduce Visual Effects

Win + R → sysdm.cpl → Advanced → Performance Settings → Adjust for best performance → OK

Or selectively disable only animations:

Set-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "TaskbarAnimations" -Value 0
Set-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop" -Name "MenuShowDelay" -Value "0"

Also: Win + I → Accessibility → Visual effects → turn off Animation effects and Transparency effects

4. Clean Up Disk Space

# Run Disk Cleanup with system files
cleanmgr /sageset:1
cleanmgr /sagerun:1

# Find large files
Get-ChildItem C:\ -Recurse -EA 0 |
  Where-Object {$_.Length -gt 500MB} |
  Sort-Object Length -Descending |
  Select-Object -First 10 FullName, @{n='GB';e={[math]::Round($_.Length/1GB,2)}}

# Clear temp files
Remove-Item "$env:TEMP\*" -Recurse -Force -EA 0
Remove-Item "C:\Windows\Temp\*" -Recurse -Force -EA 0

5. Disable SysMain on SSD

SysMain (Superfetch) is designed to prefetch data for HDDs. On SSD it's unnecessary and wastes resources:

Stop-Service SysMain -Force
Set-Service SysMain -StartupType Disabled

Leave it enabled on HDD systems (16GB RAM or less).

6. Update GPU Drivers

Outdated GPU drivers are a top cause of performance issues, especially with Windows 11 updates:

# Check current GPU driver version
Get-WmiObject Win32_VideoController | Select-Object Name, DriverVersion, DriverDate

Download latest drivers directly from manufacturer:

7. Repair System Files

Corrupted system files cause slowdowns, crashes, and strange behavior:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow

Run as Administrator. DISM first, then SFC.

8. Disable Unnecessary Services

# Safe to disable on home PCs
$toDisable = @("Fax", "RemoteRegistry", "XblGameSave", "XblAuthManager", "XboxNetApiSvc")
foreach ($svc in $toDisable) {
  Stop-Service $svc -Force -EA 0
  Set-Service $svc -StartupType Disabled -EA 0
}

9. Check Temperatures

Thermal throttling drops CPU/GPU to 30-50% performance to prevent damage. Download HWiNFO64 (free) and check temperatures under load:

CPU above 90°C → clean dust, replace thermal paste
GPU above 85°C → clean dust, check case airflow

10. Enable Storage Sense

Win + I → System → Storage → Storage Sense → On

Configure to run monthly and clean Downloads older than 60 days.

11. Adjust Virtual Memory (Page File)

Win + R → sysdm.cpl → Advanced → Performance Settings → Advanced → Change → uncheck automatic → set Initial and Maximum to 1.5× your RAM.

12. Reset Windows (Last Resort)

If nothing above helps and the system still feels sluggish, a clean state often outperforms hours of tweaking:

Settings → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything. Back up your files first.

What Doesn't Actually Help

Registry cleaners — Windows 11 doesn't slow down from registry bloat
"PC optimizer" tools like CCleaner — often cause more problems than they fix
Disabling Windows Update — leaves you vulnerable to security issues

Related:

Quick Checklist (10 minutes)

Disable unnecessary startup programs
Run disk cleanup (cleanmgr)
Set High Performance power plan
Check Task Manager for the actual bottleneck
Check disk health (Get-PhysicalDisk)

Summary

Best ROI: disable startup apps + switch to High Performance plan + clean disk. For older hardware: also disable animations and SysMain. If still slow: check temperatures and run SFC/DISM. Never use third-party "optimizers" — Windows has all the tools built in.

If the slowness is specifically at boot (not day-to-day use), see the dedicated guide: How to Fix Slow Boot in Windows 10 and 11.