These 3 Windows settings made my old PC feel new again
Windows is the OS I use every day, even though it does plenty of things I don’t like. I’ve tried switching to Linux more than once, and I keep finding reasons to give it another shot, but I always end up back on Windows. For all its faults, it still works best with the apps, hardware, and workflow that I rely on every day.
What frustrates me most, however, is when my Windows PC starts feeling sluggish. I spend most of my day at my computer, and small delays add up quickly. Waiting for apps to open, menus to respond, or Windows to finish what it’s doing might not seem like a big deal on its own, but it becomes discouraging when I’ve got a pile of work to get through and the clock is ticking. Although my Dell XPS 15 was more than five years old, I wasn’t ready to replace it. I started looking for settings that could make it feel faster without having to upgrade my hardware.
Stop unnecessary apps from launching at startup
Years of experimenting had cluttered my startup list
I try a lot of apps, partly because it’s my job, but mostly because I enjoy tinkering with my computer. The problem is that many apps give themselves permission to launch with Windows when they’re installed, even if I only use them occasionally. Over time, my startup list had filled up with launchers, messaging apps, update utilities, and other programs I didn’t need opening every time I signed in.
Each one uses some combination of memory, processing power, and disk activity. Individually, they may not make much difference, but together they can slow startup and leave an older PC struggling before I’ve opened anything myself. My desktop would appear, but Windows still needed time to settle down before it felt ready to use.
To fix it, I pressed Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager and selected Startup apps. I checked the Startup impact column, selected the apps I didn’t need immediately after signing in, and clicked Disable. If you aren’t sure what an app is, right-click it and select Search online to learn more before disabling it. I left security software, hardware utilities, and anything else I depended on alone. Keep in mind that disabling a startup app doesn’t uninstall it; it only stops it from opening automatically at startup.
Disable background apps you don’t need
Not every app needs to keep working after I close it
Stopping unnecessary apps from launching with Windows helped, but some programs can continue running in the background even when they aren’t open on the screen. That can be useful for apps that need to sync files, check for updates, or send notifications, but it doesn’t make sense for software I rarely use.
Background apps can consume memory, processor time, battery power, and network bandwidth without making it obvious that they’re doing anything. I left Syncthing alone because it needs to run in the background to keep my files synchronized. I focused instead on apps that weren’t syncing files, delivering useful notifications, or doing anything else I needed.
To manage this in Windows 11, open Settings > Apps > Installed apps, click the three-dot menu next to an app, and select Advanced options. Under Background app permissions, change Let this app run in background to Never. Not every desktop app offers this option, so you may need to open the app itself and look for a setting that controls whether it keeps running in the background. Slack is a good example. Under Preferences > Advanced, you can stop it from remaining active in the notification area after you close the window.
Turn off unnecessary visual effects
Windows doesn’t need to animate everything it does
Windows uses animations, fading menus, shadows, and other visual effects to make the interface feel polished. They look nice, but they also require the PC to spend resources drawing effects that don’t help me get anything done. On an older machine, those small delays can make menus, windows, and transitions feel slower than they need to. I didn’t disable everything, but turning off window animations, fading effects, and shadows made Windows feel more immediate while leaving Smooth edges of screen fonts enabled kept text looking sharp.
To change these settings, open the Start menu, search for Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows, and select it from the results. Under the Visual Effects tab, choose Custom, then uncheck the effects you don’t need. You can also select Adjust for best performance to disable nearly everything at once, but I prefer Custom, so Windows doesn’t end up looking unnecessarily bare. Click Apply, then OK to save the changes.
Small changes made Windows feel surprisingly fresh again
None of these settings turned my Dell XPS 15 into a brand-new PC, but together they removed enough background activity, startup clutter, and visual delays to make it feel noticeably better to use. My PC became usable sooner after I signed in, responded more quickly, and stopped feeling like it was slowing me down every time I sat down to work. The biggest surprise was that I didn’t need new hardware or a complicated optimization tool. I just needed to stop Windows and a few installed apps from doing so much unnecessary work in the background.
