(It’s the fourth icon from the top.) It displays a list of the programs and services that launch when you start Windows. There's a lot you can use Task Manager for, but here we’re focusing only on killing unnecessary programs that run at startup.Ĭlick the Startup apps icon on the left side of the screen. To do it, first launch the Task Manager in one of these ways: Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc, right-click the lower-right corner of your screen and select Task Manager, or type task manager into the Windows 11 search box and press Enter. Your PC will run faster if you stop them from running.
Your Windows 11 PC could be a laggard if programs you rarely or never use are running in the background. If you have Windows 10, see our Windows 10 speed tips. If you have an earlier release of Windows 11, some things may be slightly different. Note: This story covers Windows 11 version 22H2.