Quick Answer
To improve performance on Windows 11, you can safely end processes like unused apps, bloatware (e.g., Copilot, Phone Link), high-resource processes, and peripheral-related programs via Task Manager. Avoid stopping essential system processes or those linked to active apps. Uninstalling unnecessary programs can further enhance your PC’s speed.
When you turn on your Windows PC, hundreds of processes run along with the programs in the background. As they are not visible, we focus on programs or windows that we see. From the startup apps to the processes needed by other programs, our PC can run fine without many processes running in the background.
With the increase in the number of background processes, the performance suffers. The PC becomes sluggish, and it becomes hard to work on multiple programs at a time. To improve the performance, we need to disable or end those background processes. Follow this guide to know more about the processes we can end safely without breaking the PC to make it run faster.
Table of Contents
Which Windows Background Processes Can I End on Windows 11?
We can see the list of programs and processes actively running on our PC in the Task Manager. We can find how much of the system resources are being used by a program or process. Inspecting the programs and the processes, we can end or disable the high resources using ones. On a normal Windows 11 PC, you can end the following processes safely.
Programs That You Do Not Use
As said earlier, when we start a Windows PC, start-up apps and their allied processes run in the background. These programs consume a lot of system resources, making it difficult for other programs to run at their best. Open the Task Manager on your PC using the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keyboard shortcut and see what programs are running on your PC. You can find most of the programs under Apps. Right-click on the program that you are not using currently, and select End task in the context menu options.
Repeat the process until you end all the programs that you do not use. Some programs go under Background processes, such as VPNs, screenshot programs, etc. Find programs that you do not use under the Background processes and end them. This improves your PC’s performance significantly.
Windows 11 Bloatware Programs
When you install Windows 11, you will see a lot of programs like Microsoft Teams, Phone Link, Copilot, Microsoft ClipChamp, and a lot installed by default on your PC. Many of us do not use even a fraction of all the pre-installed programs. Some of these programs run as processes in the background automatically. Find them under the background processes and end them.
Some of the programs or processes you can end are:
- Copilot
- Dev Home
- Family
- Feedback Hub
- Game Bar
- Maps
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft To Do
- Mixed Reality Portal
- MSN News or News
- OneNote
- Microsoft 365 apps
- People
- Phone Link
- Xbox
- OneDrive
You can end those programs or processes safely without any issues. Most of us ignore Microsoft Edge and use Google Chrome or some other browser we are used to. Even if we do not use Microsoft Edge, it runs in the background automatically. Ensure you end it if you are not a fan of it.
As it becomes tedious to end these processes every time we use our PC, we can uninstall these programs, which we do not use, using free third-party uninstallers like BCUninstaller.
High Resource-Consuming Processes
In the Task Manager, along with the list of programs and processes, we see how much each program or process is using on our PC. It gives an idea of why our PC is performing slowly. See if the processes have more Memory or CPU consumption and end those processes. You cannot end critical processes as the end button greys out when you select them.
Make sure you do not end the processes related to the program you are using actively. If you are using Adobe Creative Suite products, they come with a bundle of background processes that use a lot of system resources. End only such processes that you don’t use but consume high system resources.
Processes Related to External Peripherals
We connect a lot of external peripherals to our PC, from keyboard and mouse to external hard drives. These come with programs that enable us to customize them. When we install them on our PC, they are set to run automatically at the Startup. We do not need them running all the time as they hinder the PC’s performance by using the system resources.
Open the Task Manager, find the programs related to your external peripherals, and end them. If you find any trouble using the peripherals after ending them, restart the PC to start them again. Let the process that hindered the functionality of the external accessory run and end the rest of the processes.
End Unnecessary Programs Running in the Background on Windows
We do not need a lot of programs that run in the background on our PC. They run at the startup without us starting or noticing them. Most of these programs are enabled to run during the installation. You can end when you do not use them or just disable the startup apps for the efficient performance of your PC. Most of the processes and programs that run in the background are bloatware that comes pre-installed on Windows. Uninstalling the unnecessary programs is the ultimate solution. Do not end processes that you do not understand, as you may break the functionality of some critical programs.
FAQs on Windows Background Processes
1. How do I know which background processes are unnecessary?
The processes on Task Manager are categorized into three types: App, Background process, and Window process. Click on the Type tab to sort them accordingly. Then, go through the list of processes and check if there are processes related to apps that you do not use, processes that are consuming high resources, or anything that you find suspicious. Right-click on them and select End task. If the process is necessary for Windows, you will see “The operation could not be completed. Access is denied.” error. If not, the process will end as you selected. You have to go through every process and verify if they can be ended to optimize your PC.
2. How to see how many processes are running in Windows 11?
Open the Task Manager on your PC. You will find processes under three categories: Apps, Background Processes, and Windows processes, along with the number of processes running in each category. If you add the count shown by the three categories, you will know how many processes are running on your Windows 11 PC.
