How To Optimize Windows 11 For Gaming

If you’re a PC gamer, Windows has historically been your only real option for an operating system. In recent years, technologies like Proton have made Linux a bit more viable, but if you want to make sure all the latest games are compatible and support the latest features, Windows 11 is where it’s at. However, that doesn’t mean it is perfect out of the box. There are some settings you can change to make Windows 11 work that much better for gaming, so let’s go through them to make sure you will get the best experience possible.

Related

Windows 11: Everything you need to know

Windows 11 is the latest and greatest operating system from Microsoft, and it packs a ton of changes. Here’s what you need to know.

Turn on Game Mode

Use Windows 11’s built-in game optimizer tool

Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 come with a built-in game optimizer tool called Game Mode, which you can use to optimize some operating system settings for gaming. This feature reduces background activity while you’re gaming, so things like Windows updates won’t be installed, and you won’t get notifications while playing, which improves performance and your ability to focus. It’s enabled by default, but if you want to make sure it’s on, follow these steps:

1. Hit the on-screen Windows logo button or the Windows logo key on your keyboard and select Settings (the gear icon) to open the Settings app.
2. Choose Gaming.

   

3. Choose Game Mode.

   

4. Click on the toggle to enable the Game Modeif it’s not already enabled.

   

There are some other game optimization tools out there too, including Nvidia’s own GeForce Experience, which changes settings in the games themselves to ensure they’ll run smoothly on your PC. This can be a bit hit or miss, though.

Set your power mode to Best performance

A simple, but helpful change

This one may seem obvious, but Windows 11 comes with a performance setting that can help you better manage how well your PC performs while gaming. If you want the best performance, you’ll want to configure this option:

1. Hit the on-screen Windows logo button or the Windows logo key on your keyboard and select Settings (the gear icon) to open the Settings app.
2. Choose the System section from the sidebar.
3. Click on Power (on desktops) or Power and battery (on laptops).

   

4. Find the Power mode option and use the dropdown menu to choose the Best performance option.

   

5. If you’re gaming on battery, you may also want to expand the Battery saver section.
6. Here, click the Turn on battery saver at dropdown menu and choose Never.

   

This will ensure games run as smoothly as possible while gaming on battery, even if your battery is running low. Many gaming laptops also come with their own game optimization apps, so make sure you enable the best performance mode in those apps, too.

Disable Memory Integrity from settings

Memory Integrity or HVC puts a lot of load on the CPU

Memory Integrity or HVCI (Hypervisor-protected code integrity) is a built-in Windows 11 security feature to protect your kernel from high-level malware attacks that can introduce malicious codes into high-security processes. It’s one of the many security features in Windows 11 that runs in the background, but it can take up a lot of CPU resources which you could use to run games on your computer. Thankfully, you can disable this feature to free up some resources for your games.

1. Hit the on-screen Windows logo button or the Windows logo key on your keyboard, then search for Core Isolation.

   

2. Select Core isolation to open a new window, and locate a toggle under Memory integrity option.

   

3. Click the toggle to turn it off. Turn the toggle switch to Off and restart your PC.

   

Disable Virtual Machine Platform

Another security feature that hogs system resources

Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) is a virtualization security feature that’s known to have pretty drastic effects on system performance. This particular feature, in case you are wondering, uses hardware virtualization features to secure and isolate part of the memory from the OS. This isn’t exclusive to Windows 11 as it was also implemented in Windows 10. Disabling it could free up a lot of system resources that you can use to get better performance in games. To disable it:

1. Hit the on-screen Windows logo button or the Windows logo key on your keyboard and search for Windows features.
2. Select Turn Windows features on or off.

   

3. Locate the Virtual Machine Platform option within the Turn Windows features on or off window, and uncheck it.

   

4. Restart your PC.

Set your resolution and refresh rate settings

Make sure things look right

It’s worth making sure your monitor’s settings are set to the best possible options for gaming, particularly when it comes to refresh rate.

1. Open the Settings app and choose the System section on the left.

   

2. Choose the Display option.
3. Ensure you’ve selected the recommended display resolution from the drop-down menu.

   

4. Enable the HDR option too, if your monitor supports it, and also make sure Auto HDR is enabled.

   

5. Go back to the main Display settings page, and choose Advanced Display.

   

6. Locate the Choose a refresh rate option and select the highest refresh rate from the drop-down menu. You can also choose the Dynamic option if your hardware supports it.

   

If you have a G-Sync compatible monitor, you may also want to enable that feature both in the monitor itself and in the Nvidia control panel. Likewise, you may have to do the same for monitors that support AMD FreeSync.

Adjust graphics settings

Get the most out of your GPU

To make full use of a powerful GPU, you’ll want to make sure your games are running on it rather than the integrated graphics, and also enable hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. Here’s how:

1. Open the Windows 11 Settings app and choose System, then Display.

   

2. Choose Graphicsand then select an app on the list, or search for the name of your game.

   

3. Choose Optionsand then click on High Performance, followed by Save.

   

4. Go back to the main Graphics settings page, and choose Change default graphics settings.

   

5. Make sure the switch for Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling is on.

   

Disable startup tasks

Avoid having too many apps running in the background

As you install more programs on your PC, many of them will create startup tasks, meaning they’ll run as soon as you turn on your PC. This means you’ll have more tasks (likely unnecessary ones) running in the background and hogging resources, so it’s a good idea to disable some of these startup tasks. Here’s how:

1. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar and choose Task Manager.
2. Click the Startup section on the left (the speedometer-looking icon).

   

3. Select any app you don’t want running at startup and then choose Disable in the menu at the top.

   

4. Repeat this process for all the startup apps you want to disable.

Turn off Enhanced pointer precision

Mouse acceleration is no good for gaming

Another important setting to pay attention to is called enhanced pointer precision. This is essentially a form of mouse acceleration, which is enabled by default on Windows to either speed up or slow down how your cursor moves based on how fast you’re moving the mouse. It’s better to disable this to improve mouse accuracy while you’re playing games. To disable it:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Bluetooth & devices from the menu on the left.

   

3. Click Mouse.

   

4. Locate the Additional mouse settings under the Related settings tab, and select it.

   

5. Choose the Pointer options tab and then uncheck Enhance pointer precision.

   

6. Click Apply and then OK.

Update the GPU drivers

A simple, yet essential step to ensure smooth gaming performance

It’s crucial to make sure your graphics card uses the latest graphics driver for optimum performance. This applies to both integrated as well as dedicated graphics cards, so the next thing to do is update the drivers if you haven’t done so in a while. Depending on the make and model of your GPU, you can click one of the links below to download the latest drivers:

• Intel
• Nvidia
• AMD

It is recommended that you use Nvidia’s GeForce Experience and AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition to receive push notifications for new driver updates. That being said, it’s better to leave auto-updates disabled to have control over the drivers you’re installing.

Disable Game Bar

There are better overlays out there if you really need one

On paper, the Xbox Game Bar is a one-stop destination for gamers on Windows with all the right tools and settings. But on top of being a severely lackluster overlay, the Game Bar is borderline distracting. Seriously, there’s nothing more annoying than accidentally triggering it in the middle of the game, and having your entire screen taken over by a cluttered overlay. There are a few ways Microsoft can improve the Xbox Game Bar on PC, but it’s best to completely uninstall it, as it doesn’t add much value to the experience in any way and hogs system resources by running in the background. To do that:

1. Search for Terminal on the Start Menu and open Windows Terminal.
2. Enter the following command and press Enter.

   Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay | Remove-AppxPackage

   

3. The process should only take a few seconds, but it will completely remove the Game Bar from your computer.

Don’t worry, you can always bring back the Xbox Game Bar by simply reinstalling it from the Microsoft Store.

Optimize game graphics settings

Find that happy medium between graphics and framerates

Unlike game consoles, computers can be equipped with a variety of components and hardware builds, and you can further customize your PC by replacing many of these computer parts. While different GPUs, CPUs, and RAM chips can cater to budgets of almost every size, not all are created equal. In order to get the most out of a game, you need to change graphics settings to match your computer’s capabilities.

In addition to adjusting Windows settings, the best way to optimize your computer for gaming is to tweak a title’s graphics directly. You can access these settings from a game’s main menu, often by going to the Options section and then selecting choices such as Graphics Settings, Graphics, or Video. However, once you reach this tab, you will have to start experimenting. Some games offer a glut of options that you can turn up or down, including more GPU-intensive settings such as ray tracing and volumetric fog. Others, meanwhile, are restrictively coded and you can only alter certain settings but not others. But once you are done with your changes, how do you know whether the settings adjustments made a positive difference? Again, it depends on the game. Some provide a live update that tells you how much VRAM each setting uses as you change them, while other games force you to load up a level and use your own two eyes to judge the changes. Even if a game includes a built-in benchmarking tool, you are better off trying out the new settings on your own.

As previously stated, Nvidia offers a push-button optimization service through Nvidia Geforce Experience, and AMD also provides its own analogous optimization suite, Adrenalin Edition. While these programs scan your computer and can offer graphics settings suggestions, they aren’t foolproof. These programs often provide solid advice on what settings to use, but occasionally they get things wrong. Moreover, Geforce Experience and Adrenalin Edition can only optimize supported games. For instance, Geforce Experience can help you with titles such as Monster Hunter World, The Witcher 3: Wild Huntand Dark Souls Remasteredbut it doesn’t recognize games like Victor Vran, Battle Chasers: Nightwaror Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus.

When optimizing Windows 11 for gaming, graphics are king. Finding the Goldilocks zone of settings is key for any video game experience, and while some games and programs help achieve that goal, in many cases this will be up to your own experimentation.

Bonus: Use wired internet or 5GHz/6GHz Wi-Fi

Stable internet is essential for online gaming

As a quick additional note, if you’re playing online, you’ll also want to make sure you’re using a reliable internet connection. You can either use a wired connection with an Ethernet cable, or try to make sure your Wi-Fi network is connected on the 5GHz or 6GHz bands. 2.4GHz networks are older and ideal for low-priority tasks like using a smart device.

Computers should use the 5GHz band by default when it’s available, so make sure the option is enabled in your router. If it is and your computer isn’t picking it up, check out the guide below to see how to force your PC to use 5GHz.

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How to force 5GHz Wi-Fi on Windows 11

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Closing thoughts

Those are a few ways you can optimize Windows 11 for gaming. Keep in mind that optimizing Windows 11 for gaming doesn’t mean you’ll immediately get higher FPS in your games. Your GPU and other core components are also equally responsible for enabling smooth gameplay, so you may have to tweak some additional settings to boost your GPU performance for gaming.