Tips to Make Windows 11 Run Faster and Smoother

After upgrading to Windows 11, you may notice that your computer feels slower and less fluid compared to older versions, especially on machines with lower specs. In this article, Mytour shares some useful tweaks to enhance your Windows 11 experience, helping it run faster and more smoothly.

I. Disable Startup Programs

Startup programs consume system resources, so the more apps that launch when your computer starts, the longer it takes for Windows to boot. To speed up Windows 11 and make it run smoother, you can disable unnecessary startup apps. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Right-click on the Start button and select Settings.

Step 2: In the Settings window, choose Apps → Startup.

Step 3: For the app you want to prevent from starting with the system, toggle the switch to the left to turn it Off.

II. Optimize Your Hard Drive (HDD or SSD)

1. Delete Junk and Temporary Files

Junk and temporary files consume your computer's memory, so removing them helps free up space, ultimately improving the performance of Windows 11. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog, then type %temp% and hit OK.

Step 2: In the Temp folder, press Ctrl + A to select all files and folders, then press Shift + Delete to permanently delete them (bypassing the Recycle Bin).

2. Clean Up Your Disk with Disk Cleanup

Using the Disk Cleanup tool to remove unnecessary files helps free up space and speeds up your system, making it one of the key tweaks to enhance Windows 11's performance.

Simply search for Disk Cleanup in the Start menu, and click on Disk Cleanup to open it.

Once Disk Cleanup opens, select the drive you want to clean and click OK.

3. Defragment Your Hard Drive

Defragmenting your hard drive is a crucial step in optimizing system performance, especially for HDDs. When using an HDD, data is written to different locations on the disk, causing fragmentation that slows down data access. However, defragmentation is unnecessary for SSDs, as they don't have the same read/write mechanism as HDDs and aren't affected by fragmentation. Here's how to defragment an HDD:

Step 1: Type defrag in the search box in the Start menu and select Defragment and Optimize Drives from the search results.

Step 2: In the Optimize Drives window, select the HDD you want to defragment (SSD will not require defragmentation, as Windows will automatically optimize SSDs without defragmenting them), then click Optimize to start the defragmentation process.

4. Free Up Hard Drive Space

One of the best tweaks to make Windows 11 run faster and more smoothly is freeing up hard drive space. If your hard drive is nearly full, it can cause your computer to slow down. You can enable the Storage Sense feature to automatically clear up disk space and boost your system's performance. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: In the Settings window, go to System → Storage.

Step 2: Toggle the switch to the right (to On) to activate the Storage Sense feature.

Step 3: You can manually free up space by selecting Storage Sense.

Next, choose Run Storage Sense Now and wait for the process to begin freeing up space right away.

III. Uninstall Unnecessary Software

Windows 11 comes pre-installed with many apps, and you may have added additional software and applications over time. However, some apps may no longer be necessary and can take up valuable memory space. Some even run in the background, slowing down your computer. Therefore, uninstalling unnecessary software is one of the best tweaks to help Windows 11 run faster and smoother. Here's how to uninstall software:

Step 1: Open the Settings window, then go to Apps → Apps & features.

Step 2: Locate the app or software you want to uninstall, click the three vertical dots next to its name, and select Uninstall.

Click Uninstall again to confirm the uninstallation. That’s how you can quickly uninstall apps on Windows 11.

IV. Disable Transition Effects and Graphics Effects

Windows 11 includes various transition and graphic effects designed to make the interface more visually appealing. However, these effects can reduce performance, especially on computers with lower specs. Therefore, disabling transition and graphic effects is one of the best tweaks to improve Windows 11's speed and smoothness.

Step 1: Open the Settings window, then navigate to Accessibility → Visual effects.

Step 2: Turn off the transition effects by sliding the toggle to the left (to OFF) under Transparency effects and Animation effects.

Step 3: Type View advanced in the search box and select View advanced system settings from the search results.

Step 4: In the System Properties window, go to the Advanced tab and click Settings under the Performance section.

Step 5: Check the option Adjust for best performance (this will disable all graphic effects), then click OK.

V. Disable Background Applications

When using your computer, background applications may appear, consuming disk space and causing the CPU to slow down, affecting the smoothness of your system. Therefore, disabling unnecessary background apps is a helpful tweak to speed up Windows 11 and improve its performance. Here's how you can do it:

Step 1: Open the Settings window by right-clicking on the Start menu and selecting Settings.

Step 2: In the Settings window, select Apps → Apps & features.

Step 3: Here, find the app for which you want to disable background operation, click on the three vertical dots next to the app's name, and select Advanced options.

Step 4: Under the Background apps permissions section, select Never to prevent the app from running in the background.

VI. Hardware Upgrade

Hardware plays a significant role in the performance and smoothness of Windows 11. If you're using Windows 11, consider replacing your HDD with an SSD to improve data access speed and system boot times. Additionally, upgrading your RAM to 8GB or 16GB will allow your computer to run faster and handle demanding applications more smoothly. Therefore, hardware upgrades are one of the most effective ways to make Windows 11 run faster and more smoothly.

Above, Mytour has shared some tweaks to help improve the performance of Windows. We hope that these adjustments will enhance your computer's efficiency, reduce lag, and provide you with the best Windows 11 experience. Thank you for your interest and for following this article.