If you’re a gaming enthusiast, you’ll know that every detail can make the difference between a smooth session and a frustrating experience. Windows 11 , despite being optimized for performance , hides some settings that can be tweaked to get the most out of your favorite games.
In this guide, we’ll explore the best strategies for optimizing Windows 11 for gaming , improving FPS , reducing lag, and ensuring a more responsive experience. I’ll not only provide a list of steps to follow, but I’ll also explain the rationale behind each change, so you can customize your system to your needs.
Activate game mode
Windows 11 includes a built-in Game Mode designed to improve performance while gaming. This feature prioritizes system resources for the current game, reducing the impact of background processes.
Here are the steps for Game Mode on Windows 11:
- open Settings with the key combination “ Win + I “;
- Go to “ Games” then to “Game Mode”, finally activate the switch.
In addition to Game Mode, Windows 11 also offers a settings panel for games , which you can call up with the “ Win+G ” key combination where you can configure options such as:
- recording game highlights;
- optimization for broadcast and streaming;
- disabling notifications during gameplay.
If you use apps like Xbox Game Bar , make sure you configure it correctly to avoid unnecessary overhead.
Make sure you use the dedicated GPU for gaming
One of the most common mistakes gamers make, often without realizing it, is letting the system use the integrated graphics card instead of the dedicated one. If you have a gaming PC, you almost certainly have a discrete GPU (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel Arc), but Windows sometimes prefers to save power by relying on the CPU’s integrated graphics, especially on laptops. The result is simply disappointing performance, low FPS, and inexplicable lag.
Luckily, Windows 11 makes it easy to force the use of your dedicated GPU . Simply go to ” Settings,” then ” System,” then ” Display , “ then “Graphics,” and find the executable file for the game you want to optimize. Once selected, click ” Options” and set it to ” High Performance “ to ensure your system takes full advantage of your graphics card’s power.
The importance of updates
When playing on PC, I’ve had countless issues (bugs, poor performance) with newly released games, even when they fully met the requirements . Often, this wasn’t entirely due to pre-release testing by the manufacturers, which now seems to be a thing of the past, but also to the graphics card drivers. Several times, updating improved performance and fixed many issues.
In the world of PC gaming, keeping your system up to date isn’t optional, it’s an absolute necessity. Hardware manufacturers constantly release drivers optimized specifically for new titles. NVIDIA , for example, often releases ” Game Ready Drivers ” in the weeks leading up to the launch of the most anticipated games, with improvements that can reach up to 10-15% more FPS than previous versions.
To get started, set up automatic GPU updates:
- NVIDIA graphics card users can rely on GeForce Experience , which in addition to updates offers useful features such as automatic optimization of game settings;
- Those who own AMD cards will find Adrenalin Software to be a valuable ally , with options for performance tuning and gameplay recording;
- Finally, Intel is also making great strides with its Intel Arc Control , which is increasingly complete even for managing updates.
Don’t forget that Windows itself plays a crucial role . Microsoft’s monthly updates often include fixes for performance issues and new gaming-related features, such as improvements to DirectX or resource management.
Even the most up-to-date drivers for individual titles are often considered minor updates and aren’t installed automatically. For this reason, it’s a good idea to manually check them , especially when playing newly released AAA titles.
If you want to know everything about video card driver updates, check out our guide.
Free up resources by managing background processes
Windows 11, by its very nature, tends to keep many non-essential services and applications running . From the update client to the manufacturer’s utilities, from peripheral software to various system processes, everything conspires to steal CPU, RAM, and even GPU bandwidth that could otherwise be dedicated to gaming.
The first tip is to clear out the autostart menu. It’s really simple. Open Task Manager with the ” Ctrl+Shift+Esc ” key combination, go to the ” Startup ” tab, and disable all non-essential programs . That cloud client or peripheral app you use once a month? Better if they only start when you call them.
The second is to check the active processes. Still in the Task Manager, check which applications are consuming the most resources in the “ Processes ” tab. Do you have browsers with dozens of tabs open? Messaging clients? Streaming software? Close anything you don’t need during your gaming session .
If you’re bored of manually closing unnecessary processes when you start your gaming session, luckily there are handy tools that do it for you. An excellent free solution is Razer Cortex , which automatically frees up RAM and optimizes performance when you launch your games. The result is a more responsive system and more stable FPS, without having to manually close dozens of applications every time.
More energy means better performance
You’ve probably noticed, but Windows 11 is factory-set to prioritize power saving, limiting the consumption of some very energy-hungry components like the processor and graphics card. That “balanced plan” the operating system promotes is actually a brake on your gaming performance.
Switching to the High Performance plan is like finally taking the brake off your CPU and GPU . Suddenly, your processor cores can maintain higher clocks for longer, your graphics card is no longer artificially throttled, and those annoying stutters during intense gameplay are a thing of the past.
To activate it:
- search for “ Power Options ” by typing it in the Start menu;
- then click on “ Choose power plan ”;
- then, press on “ Show additional plans ”
- then select the “ High performance ” option.
Windows Pro edition users can unlock the legendary Ultimate Performance plan via PowerShell:
- just open PowerShell (you can search for it on Start by typing “Powershell” and pressing the Enter key );
- Paste the command “powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61″ (without quotes and press “ Enter ”).
The Ultimate Performance plan will be activated, an even more aggressive configuration that eliminates any possible energy limitations.
Be careful if you have a laptop, though: these plans consume more battery, so only use them when you’re plugged in . You could gain up to 10-15% more FPS in CPU-intensive games.
The importance of storage
Remember the endless loading times of games on old mechanical hard drives ? Today, with SSDs , those times have been dramatically reduced, but you can push them even further. Windows 11 offers some little-known tricks to turn your storage into a gaming rocket.
If you have an NVMe SSD , the first step is to enable TRIM , a feature that maintains maximum write speed while preventing performance degradation. To enable it, simply:
- open PowerShell as administrator (you can search for it on Start by typing “Powershell” and pressing the Enter key );
- Paste the command “ fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0 ” (without quotes and press Enter ) .
Then, do your SSD a favor by disabling drive indexing , to proceed:
- open Windows Explorer, go to “ Computer ”;
- then right click on the SSD drive;
- then in the context menu press on “ Properties ”;
- in the window, uncheck the “ Allow content indexing ” item , then click on “ Apply ”;
- A dialog box will open, choose to apply the setting to subfolders too and press “ OK ”.
You will save space and reduce unnecessary write operations.
But the real game-changer is DirectStorage , the technology that allows games to load textures directly into the GPU, bypassing the CPU. To take advantage of it:
- make sure you have Windows 11 up to date;
- use an NVMe SSD (preferably PCIe 4.0);
- Look for games that support the technology (like Forspoken, or Horizon Forbidden West).
And if you’re still using an HDD to store some games, defragmenting it at least every six months is recommended, as it can help maintain decent performance. But seriously, it’s definitely time to upgrade to an SSD.
The problem of distractions
While playing, I’ve found myself hyper-focused on taking down a particularly tough enemy, or on the verge of a spectacular kill, only to be interrupted by a Windows notification right at the crucial moment . Frustration has led me to knock down a fair number of (innocent) Saints from heaven.
If you’ve had this unpleasant experience, or if you’d rather avoid it, you should know that there is a Do Not Disturb mode for gamers on Windows. Here are the steps to enable it:
- open Windows Settings;
- then go to the “ System ” item, and then to “ Notifications ”;
- scroll to “ Automatically activate Do Not Disturb status ”;
- Click and check the “ While playing a game ” and “ While using an app in full-screen mode ” boxes .
