The Definitive Windows 11 Gaming Tweaks (Safe & Reversible)
If you’ve ever loaded into a match and thought, “Why does my PC feel like it’s running through molasses today?”, welcome to the club. Windows 11 is great in many ways, but it also loves doing random background nonsense that steals your FPS without asking.
The good news? You can fix most of it with a handful of simple, safe, and fully reversible tweaks that won’t break your system or turn your PC into a science experiment. These are the tweaks I personally apply every time I set up a fresh gaming rig.
1. Turn Off Fancy Background Apps You Don’t Need
Windows loves running apps in the background “for your convenience.” Spoiler: these apps don’t help your K/D.
Go to your settings and disable background permissions for any app you don’t actively use.
You’ll free up RAM, CPU threads, and improve responsiveness — especially in CPU‑bound games.
2. Disable Startup Junk
Your PC probably launches more apps at startup than you realize. Some of them you installed three years ago and forgot existed.
Cleaning this list does two things:
- decreases boot time
- reduces CPU usage in-game
Every time I help someone with FPS drops, startup apps are usually the first problem.
3. Enable Hardware‑Accelerated GPU Scheduling
This one’s easy: flip it on.
It hands more scheduling work to your GPU instead of the CPU, reducing latency and stabilizing FPS in many titles.
It won’t double your frames, but you’ll feel smoother gameplay — especially in shooters.
4. Set Your Power Mode to “High Performance”
Windows defaults to “Balanced,” which is great for saving electricity but terrible for gaming.
Switching to “High Performance” or “Ultimate Performance” gives your CPU permission to actually be a CPU.
Suddenly your game stops acting like it’s afraid to use your hardware.
5. Clean Up Your Game Mode Settings
Windows 11’s Game Mode used to be kind of useless, but now it actually helps.
Just make sure:
- Game Mode is ON
- Xbox Game Bar is NOT running while gaming
- Captures (auto DVR) are disabled unless you stream or clip things intentionally
This prevents background recording from stealing frames.
6. Update Your Graphics Drivers — But Smartly
Don’t install every driver the second it drops. Sometimes “hot new driver” means “enjoy your new bugs.”
My rule:
- if you’re playing a newly released game → update
- if your system is running perfectly → don’t fix what isn’t broken
7. Kill Browser Tabs Before Gaming
Chrome alone can eat more RAM than some low‑budget PCs even have.
Close your tabs. Yes, all 32 of them.
Your GPU and CPU will thank you.
Final Thoughts
None of these tweaks are extreme. They’re just small, smart adjustments that get Windows out of your way so your hardware can actually breathe.
Try them out — and if you’ve got a weird performance mystery going on, tell me. I love diagnosing that stuff.