How to Speed Up Windows 10 and 11: The Complete Guide

Windows performance can degrade significantly over time. But before you consider buying a new computer, these optimisations can make a dramatic difference — and they're all free.

Settings to change immediately

Disable visual effects

Search for "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows". Select "Adjust for best performance" — this disables all the animations and transparency effects that consume resources but provide no functional benefit. The interface looks more basic, but everything feels snappier.

Change your power plan

Go to Control Panel → Power Options. If you're on "Power Saver" or "Balanced", switch to "High Performance". This stops Windows throttling your processor to save energy.

Disable Search Indexing

If you rarely use Windows Search, disabling the indexing service reduces background disk activity. Search for "Indexing Options", click Modify, and reduce the indexed locations to only what you actually need.

Maintenance tasks

Check for malware

Open Windows Security and run a Full Scan. Malware is one of the most common causes of unexplained slowdowns.

Clear temporary files

Press Win+R, type %temp% and press Enter. Select all files and delete them (skip any that say they're in use). Then run Disk Cleanup and clean system files too.

Defragment your drive (HDDs only)

If you have a traditional hard drive, Windows should defragment it automatically, but you can run it manually: search for "Defragment and Optimise Drives". Do NOT do this on an SSD — it shortens SSD lifespan and Windows manages SSDs differently.