Operating System

Troubleshooting Slow Performance: Reasons Why Windows 11 May Be Running Slow

Windows 11 is the latest release of the Windows operating system, which is developed by Microsoft, but many Windows 11 users are bothered because of the slow performance of Windows 11. They want to know why Windows 11 is slow. There could be many reasons behind this problem. In this article, we presented all the reasons of Windows 11 slow performance and we fully provided all the possible ways to fix this problem.

What Are the Reasons for Windows 11 Slow Performance?

Here, we listed the possible reasons which leads to slow performance of Windows 11:

  • Outdated operating system
  • Problems with the hard disk
  • Using HDD instead of SSD
  • Conflicts in security programs
  • Insufficient RAM
  • Problems with the background running startup tasks
  • System drive with low disk space
  • Installing and corrupting Windows software wrongly
  • Outdated graphics card drivers
  • PC or laptop with lower specification
  • The operating system or device driver has an unsolvable bug.
  • Many programs actively running

How to Fix Windows 11 Running Slow?

Now you know what the reasons are. Here we will tell you how to fix it to get rid of this problem. Below we presented different solutions to fix this issue:

Reset Your System

When you restart your system, your PC will be reset in your system to default settings. This is a perfect option to remove all the unknown problems which causes the problems related to the performance. Follow the steps below to reset the system:

  1. Hold Windows + I to enter the Settings.
  2. Navigate to System.
  3. Select Recovery.
  4. Select Reset PC under the Recovery Options.
  5. Follow the on-screen instruction.
  6. Choose the option based on your preferences.
  7. Check whether the performance improved or not after resetting.

Update Your System

Your operating system will be updated now and then. Bugs are fixed with every update. Also, the security vulnerabilities are resolved. You should install the latest updates to make your Windows 11 faster. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + I to enter Settings.
  2. Navigate to Windows Update.
  3. Select Check for Updates.
  4. Download available updates.

Note: In the case that Windows 11 displays a list of updates, you can download and install each of them.

  • Now, restart your system.

Scan Your Computer

Sometimes, the reason of slow computer is existing a virus or malware in your system. Viruses can affect the speed of your performance as malicious programs, so you need to remove them to use the full potential of your system.  

You can use default antivirus program of Windows 11, which is called Virus & Threat Protection to scan and remove antiviruses. To use it, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + I to enter Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security.
  3. Select Windows Security.
  4. Select Virus & Threat Protection under the Protection Areas.
  5. Select Quick Scan under the Current Threats section.

Note: Alternatively, you can select the Scan options. Then, select Full Scan, Custom Scan or Microsoft Defender Offline Scan option according to your preference.

6.Under the Virus & Threat Protection settings, select Manage Settings.

7.Enable the Real-Time Protection and Cloud-Delivered Protection.

Note: Instead of these procedures, you can install an antivirus program to scan and remove viruses and malware if it detected. If you have many antivirus programs, it may work adversely on the performance. Thus, you can use one and uninstall others.

Disable Startup Programs

Your system will be slow when you have many programs loading at startup, so to improve the performance of your system, you should reduce the number of startup programs and add the important ones. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Tap the Startup tab.
  3. Right-click the application or service that you want to disable.
  4. Click on Disable.

Set the background app permission to Never to prevent the application from running in the background. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Right-click the Start (Windows icon).
  2. Choose App and Features.
  3. Right-click on the vertical three dots next to the application.
  4. Click on Advanced Options.
  5. In the Background App Permissions section, select the drop-down menu under Let this app run in background.
  6. Choose Never.
  7. Repeat the steps above for the applications that you do not want to consume system resources in the background.

Clear Temporary Files

The files, which are created for temporary storage of information are called temporary files. These files keep your computer fast and smooth especially when the user wants to do the same task again. Old temporary files or corrupted ones can make your computer slow, so to remove the temporary files on your system, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type %temp%.
  3. Press Enter to open the Temp folder.
  4. Hold Ctrl + A to select all the files in the Tempt folder.
  5. Press Del to delete all of them.
  6. Press the Windows + I at the same time to open Windows Settings.
  7. Go to System.
  8. Select Storage.
  9. Choose Temporary Files.
  10. Check the box in front of the files.
  11. Select the file type you want to delete.
  12. Select the Remove Files to delete the files to delete the file you selected.

Change the Power Plan

A power plan is a set of hardware and system settings like display brightness, sleep and so on, which are used to control the consumption of your computer and also it saves power. The systems use a balanced power plan by default. It is possible to fix the problem that Windows 11 made your computer slow. To do so, follow the steps below: 

  1. Hold Windows + R to open the Run dialogue.
  2. Type powercfg.cpl.
  3. Press Enter to open the Power Options window in the Control Panel.
  4. Switch your power plan to High Performance if the High Performance power plan option is available.
  5. You can click Change Plan Settings next to the current power plan if the High Performance option is not available on your system.
  6. Select Change Advanced Power Settings.
  7. Expand Processor Power Management.
  8. Set both the Minimum Processor State and Maximum Processor State to 100%.
  9. Select OK to save and apply the changes.

Run Windows Update Troubleshooter

You can run Windows Update Troubleshooter to see if there is anything wrong with the update or not in order to increase the speed of your system. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + I to access the Windows Settings.
  2. Select Update and Security option.
  3. Select Troubleshoot option from the right pane.
  4. Choose the Other Troubleshooter.
  5. Select the Run option right by Windows Update.
  6. Wait for your system to begin diagnosis automatically.
  7. Check certain things on your system.
  8. If there is a problem, find the troubleshooting method on the web to fix it.

Turn Off Fast Startup

Windows 11 operating system has a built-in Turn on Fast Startup function. It is useful for increasing timing of your system, but sometimes you can have problem with Windows 11 slow boot if this option is enabled. So, you can turn the Fast Startup option off to improve the speed of your system. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Type Control Panel on the search icon.
  2. Click on Control Panel.
  3. Tap on the Hardware and Sound option.
  4. Select Power Option.

Note: If you cannot find the power option, type Power Options from the Control Panel search bar.

  • Click on Choose What the Power Button Does.
  • If the Turn on Fast Startup is enabled, uncheck the box to turn it off.
  • Click on Save Changes.
  • Restart your computer to check whether the problem solved or not.

Update Graphics Drivers

An old graphics card driver can lead to slow performance of your system. To fix the problem, it is suggested to update graphics drivers. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Press Windows + X to open the Quick Start Menu.
  2. Select Device Manager.
  3. Double-click on the Display Adapters.
  4. Right-click on the graphics card that you are running on your PC or laptop.
  5. Select Update Driver.
  6. Click on Search Automatically for Driver.
  7. If any update available for the graphics card, it will be downloaded and installed automatically.
  8. Restart your system to apply changes.

Increase C Drive Space

You can increase C drive space to improve the speed of your system. To do so, you need to use EaseUS Partition Master since it is one of the intelligent disk partition management software. You can use Allocate Space or Resize/Move to increase the space in the C drive.

Increase System C Drive with Unallocated Space

  1. Right-click on the System C: drive and select Resize/Move.
  2. Drag the system partition end into the unallocated space to add it to the C drive.
  3. Hit OK.
  4. Select Execute Task.
  5. Select Apply to execute the operation and increase the C drive.

Increase System C Drive without Unallocated Space

  1. Right-click a big partition with enough free space on the system disk.
  2. Select Allocate Space.
  3. Select the system drive at the Allocate Space from to section.
  4. Drag the end of System C drive into the unallocated space.
  5. Hit OK to confirm.
  6. Select Execute Task to list the pending operations.
  7. Select Apply to save changes and increase the C drive.

Migrate Windows 11 to SSD

If you move from the Windows 11 operating system to SSD, it will improve the performance and timing of your system. To do so, you can use the Migrate OS of the EaseUS Partition Master tool, which is a perfect tool to help you in making the migration of the operating system easy. To migrate operating system to HDD/SSD:

  1. Run EaseUS Partition Master.
  2. Select Clone from the left menu.
  3. Check Migrate OS.
  4. Hit Next.
  5. Choose the SSD or HDD as the destination disk.
  6. Hit Next.
  7. Check Warning. The data and partitions on the target disk will be deleted. Ensure that you have backed up important data first.
  8. Select Yes.
  9. Preview the layout of your target disk.
  10. Hit Start to start migrating your operating system to a new disk.

Note: In the procedure of migrating operating system to SSD or HDD, it will delete existing data and partitions on your disk, so make sure that you have a backup from them.

Downgrade Windows 11 to Windows 10

If you still have problem with slow performance of your Windows 11, it will be beneficial if you go back to the previous version of the Windows operating system. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Go the Settings.
  2. Select System and Recovery.
  3. Select Go Back Next to the Previous Version of Windows.
  4. Check the reasons of why you want to uninstall when prompted.
  5. Select No Thanks when it asked you to check for updates instead of rolling back.
  6. When you see the window of What You Need to Know.
  7. Select Next to continue.
  8. Select Next again when it warns you to remember your password from Windows 10.
  9. Select Go Back to an Earlier Build.

Use Advanced System Settings

You can also disable unnecessary visual effects from the Advanced System Settings to make your Windows 11 faster. To disable them, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + R to open Run.
  2. Type the command sysdm.cpl.
  3. Go to the Advanced tab.
  4. Under the Performance section, select Settings.
  5. Under the Visual Effects tab, select the Adjust for Best Performance.

Note: Alternatively, you can uncheck the least essential effects for your PC.  

  • Hit OK.
  • Restart your system to check whether the problem is solved or not.

Uninstall Unnecessary Programs and Applications

Sometime, you have some programs that you use less often, so you should uninstall them. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + R.
  2. Type Control Panel and select it.
  3. Select Uninstall a Program.
  4. Select a program.
  5. Select Uninstall/Change from the top bar.

Note: Since the larger applications are the reason of slow performance, first, sort all the application by size and then start to uninstall.

  • Select Yes to confirm.

Note: Because you cannot uninstall many different applications at once, wait for one to uninstall fully, then start the other one.

Defragment the Drivers

One of the great ways to improve your system performance is defragmentation, which organizes similar data and files in one place so they can be accessed quickly. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold the Windows + E to open the File Explorer.
  2. Choose a drive to defragment and right-click on it.
  3. Click of the Properties option.
  4. Select Optimize under the Tools tab and Optimize and Defragment Drive section.
  5. In the pop-up window, select Optimize.
  6. Wait for the process to finish.
  7. Repeat the steps for each drive.

Note: Do not use defragmentation if you are using an SSD.

Update the Device Drivers

The responsibility of the device drivers is functioning properly for your devices. If they are outdated, you face problem in your performance. Therefore, updating the device drivers can help you improve the performance. To update them, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + R.
  2. Type devmgmt.msc.
  3. There is a yellow triangle on an outdated device, so right-click on it.
  4. Select the Update Driver.
  5. Choose the Search Automatically for Drivers to search and download the device driver online.

Note: Alternatively, you can select Browse My Computer for Drivers to search the required device drive with your system.

Free Up Some Storage

Sometimes, you have many multimedia-like videos, audio files, many applications in your system, or your hard disk is full. Therefore, you need to free up some storage. Windows 11 has tool, which is called Storage Sense that can free up storage space automatically. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Settings.
  2. Select System.
  3. Choose Storage.
  4. Select to enable the Storage Sense under the Storage Management section.
  5. You can also use the Cleanup Recommendations to free up your storage space.

Check on the Task Manager

A tool that enables you to monitor the CPU, Memory or Disk Usage in Windows system is Task Manager. Sometimes some processes are over consuming resources, which can cause your operating system run slow.

  1. On the Task Bar, right-click the Windows icon.
  2. From the pop-up list, choose Task Manager.
  3. You will have detailed information on the right and the name of each process on the left under the Processes tab.
  4. Choose some processes using up most of the available resources.
  5. Select End Task.

Run Disk Cleanup

One of the tools in Windows that assist users remove useless files and free up disk space is Disk Cleanup. To use it, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold the Windows key to enter the Start Menu.
  2. In the search box, type disk cleanup, and select it.
  3. Wait for finishing the calculation.
  4. Tick the check box from the list of Files to Delete under the Disk Cleanup tab.
  5. Hit OK.
  6. Select Delete Files.

Make Sure Your System Is Managing the Page File Size

An area of hard disk, which acts as a memory for Windows is a paging file. To increase the speed of Windows 11, you can manage the page file size. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to Windows Search.
  2. Type Advanced System.
  3. Choose View Advanced System Settings.
  4. Move to the Advanced tab.
  5. In the Performance area, select Settings.
  6. In Performance Options, select the Advanced tab.
  7. In the virtual memory area, select Change.
  8. Check the box next to Automatically Manage Paging File Size for All Drives.
  9. Click OK.
  10. Restart your system and check the work.

Pause OneDrive Syncing

During setting up your system, you should choose where your files ought to be saved by default. They can be saved on your system, OneDrive and sync files between locations. In the case you select to sync files to OneDrive, you can access your files on a device or machine and you can make sure that your files are backed up. Syncing files between the system and OneDrive can make your system slow down. If you give a pause during OneDrive syncing, it will help you improve the performance of your system. to do so, follow the steps below:

  1. On Taskbar, find OneDrive and open it.
  2. Go to Help & Settings.
  3. Select Pause Syncing.
  4. Choose the pause duration.
  5. Restart your system and check whether the system performance is better or not.

Perform System Restore

Performing System Restore can help you to restore your system to the default state, but this process will remove all the changes related to the device manager, like drivers, files, settings, updates, apps, etc. So, before doing anything, you should back up your system data and other important stuff. To perform System Restore, follow the steps below:

  1. Open Windows Search.
  2. Type Create a Restore Point.
  3. Select Open.
  4. Move to the System Protection on the System Properties.
  5. Select System Restore.
  6. Select the recommended restore point or choose another one.
  7. On the Restore Files and Settings, hit Next.
  8. Select the restore point.
  9. Select Scan for Affected Programs.
  10. You can see a list of programs that affected during the process.
  11. Select Close.
  12. Hit Next.
  13. Click on Finish to complete the process.
  14. Restart your system to check the performance.

Use Storage Sense to Free Up Space

One of the powerful functions on Windows 11 is Storage Sense. It can effectively free up space on your hard drive. You can clean unnecessary data to increase the speed of your performance. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Start Menu.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Hit System and Storage.
  4. Turn of the Storage Sense.
  5. Select one drive.
  6. Choose unneeded files.

Note: you can select wipe the entire hard drive to delete the data on HDD permanently and restore it to the optimal performance.

Disable Unnecessary Privacy Permissions

Microsoft has made an effort to personalize advertisements and widgets, which show relevant advertising content in Windows 11. Although it is a great feature since you will receive adverts you are interested in, it is not good for the performance of your system.

It is possible to solve the problem of the speed related to the advertisements through the Privacy and Security tab in your settings and disable every unnecessary privacy permission, which ensure you that the services behind these permissions will no longer run on your system resources. To disable every unnecessary advert permission service in your system, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + I to open the Settings.
  2. Select Privacy & Security from the context menu on the left side section of the screen.

Note: If the vertical menu is not visible by default, select On the Action on the top left corner to make it visible.

  • Move over to the menu on the right inside the Privacy & Security and select General.
  • Now, disable the following options from the General tab of Privacy & Security:
  • Let apps show me personalized ads by using my advertising id
  • Let websites show me locally relevant content by accessing my language list
  • Let Windows improve Start and search results by tracking app launches
  • Show me suggested content in the Settings app
  • Click on the back icon.
  • Select Speech from the list.
  • In the Speech menu, disable the toggle associated with Online Speech Recognition.
  • Click on the back icon again to go back to the Privacy & Security menu.
  • Scroll down all the way down to App Permissions.
  • Inside the App Permissions menu, disable every permission that you don’t really use.
  • Restart your system when every unnecessary service and permission has been disabled to check whether the performance is better or not.

Adjust Performance Options

One of the things that you can improve the performance of your system is adjusting the Performance Options. One of the features of Windows 11 is having a lot of new animations, which gives it the modern aesthetic. Although, it is a very pleasing feature, it can reduce the performance of your system.

You can disable the unnecessary animation to improve the performance of your performance. Remember that Windows 11 is configured to adjust the settings for the best appearance by default. To adjust the Performance Options, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
    1. Type sysdm.cpl inside the text box.
    1. Press Enter to open the System Properties.
    1. Select Advanced from the menu at the top when you are inside the System Properties.
    1. Select Settings associated with Performance.
    1. When you are in the Performance Options section, enter Visual Effects by click on the ribbon bar at the top.
    1. Click on the Adjust for Best Performance toggle.
    1. Select Apply to save the changes.
    1. Restart your system to check the performance of your system.

Adjust the MouseHoverTime

If you think that the on-screen cursor is stayed behind the actual movement of your mouse, it means that Windows 11 installation is suffering from the MouseHoverTime bug that can affect on upgrading of system that make the transition to from an older Windows installation to Windows 11. To fix the problem, follow the steps below:

  1. Hold Windows + R to open a Run dialog box.
  2. Type regedit inside the text box.
  3. Hold Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the Registry Editor tool with admin access.
  4. Click Yes to grant admin access at the User Account Control.
  5. When you enter the Registry Editor, use the menu on the left to search the following location:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

Note: You can do this manually or you can copy, paste in at the top and press Enter.

  • Go to the right-hand side menu.
  • Double-click on the MouseHoverTime string file.
  • If the value data is 400, change it to 10.
  • Hit OK to save the changes.
  • Restart your system and check if the problem is solved.

Run SFC, DISM, and CHKDSK scans

Sometimes the problem may be because of the corrupted system file components or a faulty drive. To run SFC, DISM, and CHKDSK scans, follow the steps below:

  1. CHKDSK Scan & Repair to check whether the storage has some issues or not.

Note: If the drive begins to fail, the Check Disk Utility can replace data sectors going back with unused sectors.

  • After the completion of Check Disk scan and Repair scan, restart your system, and wait for the next startup to complete before initiating an SFC scan.

Note: SFC can replace local file corruption with equivalents from a local storage cache. You do not need internet connection.

  • After the completion of SFC scan, restart your system again and wait for the next startup to complete.
  • Continue and deploy a DISM scan.

Note: Before deploying a DISM scan, ensure you have a stable internet connection. It uses the WU component to download healthy system files to replace corrupted equivalents.

You can use Restoro Repair Tool that can scan the repositories to replace corrupt and missing files because it works in most cases. For maximum performance, Restoro also optimize your system.

Troubleshooting Windows 11 Performance

Run the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool to find and resolve Windows 11 performance issues before doing any complex actions.

  1. Press Windows + R to open the Run dialogue.
  2. Copy and paste the following command:

%systemroot%\system32\msdt.exe -id MaintenanceDiagnostic

  • Press Enter to open the System Maintenance.
  • Hit Next.
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the remaining steps.
  • After finishing the troubleshooting, it will locate what is slowing down your Windows 11 or fix the problem automatically or provide a way to solve it.

Conclusion

Nowadays, many users use Windows 11, but they face the problem of slowness in this Windows. Here, we presented all the reasons and solutions to know and fix your problem. Are you a Windows 11 user? Does it work slowly? What’s your solution for the low speed of Windows 11? Share your ideas with us.

Reyhane A

Reyhane is an author and technology enthusiast who has a passion for writing about Windows tips and tricks. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Reyhane always had an interest in technology, which led her to pursue a degree in computer engineering from the University of Tehran. After completing her studies, Reyhane began working as a software engineer, where she gained a wealth of experience and knowledge in the field of technology. She soon discovered her love for writing, and began sharing her knowledge with others through her blog. Reyhane's blog quickly gained popularity, and she became known as an expert in the field of Windows tips and tricks. Her articles are known for being clear, concise, and easy to understand, making them accessible to everyone, regardless of their level of technical expertise. Today, Reyhane continues to share her knowledge with the world through her blog and YouTube channel, where she provides tips and tricks for Windows users to help them optimize their computer's performance and get the most out of their technology. In addition to her passion for technology, Reyhane enjoys traveling, photography, and spending time with her family and friends. She is also an avid reader and is always on the lookout for new books to add to her collection. Reyhane's dedication to her work and her love for technology have made her a respected figure in the industry, and she continues to inspire and educate others through her writing and online content.

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