Why Is My Windows 11 Slow? How to Fix It

There isn’t a single reason to pinpoint behind a slow Windows 11 system. The problem can be inappropriate settings, hardware issues, outdated device drivers, viruses/malware, etc.

In this article, we have explained why your system is slowing down in the first place and different techniques to improve the performance of your system in Windows 11.

Using Advanced System Settings

If your PC operates sluggishly, you wouldn’t mind trading performance over the appearance. So, you can disable unnecessary visual effects from the Advanced System Settings to make your Windows 11 faster. Here’s how you can disable them.

1. Press the Windows + R key to open Run and type the command sysdm.cpl.
2. Now, go to the Advanced tab and click on Settings under the Performance section.
3. Then, select the “Adjust for best performance” radio button under the Visual Effects tab. Alternatively, you can uncheck the least essential effects for your PC.
   
4. Finally, click OK and check if your PC is still operating slowly after a restart.

Disable Startup Programs

Maybe you haven’t figured it out, but some programs silently run in the background. These programs can start automatically whenever you start the system and are called startup programs. You can disable them in Windows 11 as follows:

1. First, press the Windows + R key and type the command taskmgr to open the Task Manager.
2. Under the Startup tab, select the program which is enabled. You can view if it’s enabled or not in the Status section. 
3. Finally, click the Disable button in the bottom right corner of the window.
4. Repeat Steps 2 & 3 for all the programs you want to disable at startup.

Uninstall Unnecessary Programs and Applications

It could be the case that you have several programs/applications which you use less often. Therefore, you should uninstall all the unnecessary ones. To uninstall an application in Windows 11,

1. Press the Windows + R key and type the command control to open the Control Panel.
2. Now, click on Uninstall a program.
3. Select a program and click on Uninstall/Change from the top bar.  Since the larger applications are more responsible for the slow performance, sort all the applications by size and start uninstalling them.
4. Click on Yes to confirm.
5. Since you cannot uninstall multiple applications at once, wait for the uninstallation process to complete and repeat steps 3 & 4 for other programs.

Update the System

Your operating system rolls out updates now and then, whether it be major or minor. 

With every update, more and more bugs are fixed. In addition to it, the previously existing security vulnerabilities are also resolved. 

Hence, you should install the latest updates to make your Windows 11 faster. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Press the Windows + I key to open the Settings app.
2. Then, navigate to Windows Update.
3. Click on Check for Updates and download any available updates. Alternatively, if Windows 11 already displays a list of updates, download and install each.
4. Finally, restart your system to take effect.

Scan Your Computer

Most of the time, the culprit behind a slow computer is a virus/malware. Viruses are malicious programs that can affect the performance of your system. Thus, you should eliminate them to operate your PC to its full potential.

To scan and remove viruses,  Windows 11 provides a default antivirus program called “Virus & threat protection.” You can use it as follows:

1. Press the Windows + I key to open the Settings app.
2. Then, navigate to Privacy & security > Windows Security.
3. Now, under the Protection areas section, click on Virus & threat protection.
4. Next, under the Current threats section, click the Quick scan button. Or, you can click the Scan options beneath it and select Full scan, Custom scan, or Microsoft Defender Offline scan option according to your preference.
5. Also, click Manage settings under the Virus & threat protection settings and enable the Real-time protection and Cloud-delivered protection.

Alternatively, you can also install a reliable third-party antivirus program. Then, scan and remove any viruses/malware if detected. Also, if you have multiple antivirus programs, it can work adversely on the performance, so use one and uninstall the others.

Defragment the Drives

Defragmentation is a great way to boost your system performance. It organizes similar data and files in one place so they can be accessed quickly. 

Whenever you install/uninstall various applications and delete/add several files, their data files start to get scattered. Defragmenting minimizes it, leading to a faster access to your files from the hard drive. 

To defragment in Windows 11,

1. Press the Windows + E to open the File Explorer.
2. Select a drive to defragment and right-click on it.
3. Then, select the Properties option.
4. Now, under the Tools tab and Optimize and defragment drive section, click on Optimize.
   
5. Again, in the next window, click on Optimize and wait for the process to finish.
6. Repeat the steps for each drive.

Update the Device Drivers

The device drivers are responsible for the proper functioning of your devices. In case they are outdated, you can face performance issues. Furthermore, your PC can even freeze.

Hence, updating device drivers can help resolve the slow performance.

To update the device drivers in Windows 11, 

1. Press the Windows + R key and type devmgmt.msc.
2. An outdated device has a yellow triangle on it. Therefore, right-click on it and select the Update driver option.
3. Next, select the Search automatically for drivers option to search and download the device driver online. Alternatively, you can choose the Browse my computer for drivers option to search the required device driver within your system if you have it already.

Run the System Maintenance Troubleshooter

Windows 11 has a diagnostic tool that helps you perform system maintenance. It diagnoses possible issues with your system and helps to fix them. To run the system maintenance troubleshooter,

1. Press the Windows + R key, type the command %systemroot%\system32\msdt.exe -id MaintenanceDiagnostic, and press Enter.
2. Then, click Next and choose the Try troubleshooting as an administrator option.
3. Now, follow the on-screen instructions and apply all the fixes suggested by the troubleshooter.
4. Restart the system if necessary and check if your system is working better than before.

Free up Some Storage

If you store lots of multimedia like videos, and audio files and install numerous applications, chances are your hard disk is almost full. In cases like these, it is natural that your PC is working slowly. Hence, you should give your PC room to breathe for it to work efficiently. 

Also, it is better if all of your drives, particularly the system drive, have at least some space left. So, you can start deleting large files like videos & audio files first to free up storage quickly. 

Furthermore, Windows 11 itself has a tool called “Storage sense” Turning on storage sense will automatically free up storage space by deleting unnecessary files like temporary and cache files.

To turn on the storage sense,

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Navigate to System > Storage.
3. Under the Storage management section, click to enable the Storage Sense button. Additionally, you can also use the Cleanup recommendations to free up your storage space.

Reset Your PC

Resetting your PC will restore everything in your PC to default settings. So, it is a viable option to eliminate all the unknown issues causing the performance issues. You can reset the system easily with the steps below.

1. First, press the Windows + I key to open the Settings app.
2. Then, navigate to System > Recovery.
3. Under the Recovery options section, click on the Reset PC button.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions and choose the option according to your preferences.
5. After your system has been reset, check if its performance has improved.

Downgrade Windows 11 to Windows 10

If your PC was in optimal condition before upgrading from Windows 10 to 11, you could revert to Windows 10. However, you can do it only within ten days of upgrading. Here’s how you can do it.

1. First, press the Windows + I key to open the Settings app.
2. Then navigate to System > Recovery.
3. Now, under the Recovery options, click on the Go back button.
4. Next, follow the on-screen instructions and click on the Go back to Windows 10 button in the final window.
5. After your PC is reverted to Windows 10, check if your system is running smoothly.

Alternative Fixes

You can install Windows 11 on a system with only 4GB memory. However, you need at least 8GB of memory for decent system performance.  Hence, you should upgrade your RAM to speed up the windows.

Likewise, if your PC slows down while using GPU-intensive programs, you should get a dedicated graphics card for optimal performance.

Furthermore, accessing anything from a hard disk is slower compared to an SSD because of the respective read/write speeds. Hence, if you are using a hard disk, you can install an SSD to boost the speed of your PC.