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How to Speed Up a Slow Laptop: 12 Tips for Windows and Mac

Learn how to speed up a slow laptop with 12 proven tips for Windows and Mac, from startup apps to storage, settings and upgrades. Most take under 10 minutes!

· · Updated · 8 min read
Laptop, notebook and a cup of coffee on a wooden desk
In this article
  1. Before You Start: Find Out What’s Slowing It Down
  2. Quick Ways to Speed Up a Slow Laptop in Under 5 Minutes
  3. Free Up Storage Space
  4. Tune Your System Settings
  5. Hardware Fixes That Make the Biggest Difference
  6. Windows vs Mac: Where to Find Each Setting
  7. When It’s Time to Replace Your Laptop
  8. The Bottom Line

A laptop that takes two minutes to boot and stalls every time you open a new browser tab is more than annoying; it quietly eats hours out of your week. The good news is that you can usually speed up a slow laptop without buying a new one. These 12 tips work on Windows 11, Windows 10 and macOS, start with the quickest fixes, and need no technical background.

Key takeaways

  • Find the real bottleneck first with Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac).
  • Restarting, closing tabs and disabling startup apps fix most everyday slowdowns.
  • Keep at least 15–20% of your drive free and install updates regularly.
  • Skip “PC cleaner” apps; the built-in tools do the job safely.
  • If your laptop still has a hard drive, an SSD upgrade is the biggest single improvement.

Before You Start: Find Out What’s Slowing It Down

Guessing wastes time. Spend two minutes checking what your laptop is actually struggling with.

  • On Windows: press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. On the Processes tab, click the CPU, Memory and Disk column headers to sort by what’s using the most.
  • On a Mac: open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities (or press Cmd + Space and type its name). Check the CPU tab, then the Memory tab and its Memory Pressure graph at the bottom.

If one app is hogging resources, close or update it. If memory pressure is yellow or red, or your disk sits near 100% for minutes at a time, the tips below will tell you what to fix.

Back up first

Most tips here are safe, but before you uninstall software or change system settings, back up your important files with File History or OneDrive on Windows, or Time Machine or iCloud on a Mac.

Quick Ways to Speed Up a Slow Laptop in Under 5 Minutes

Start here. These four steps solve a surprising number of “my laptop is so slow” moments, and none of them cost anything.

Hands typing on a laptop next to a cup of coffee
Quick wins first: restart, update and close what you don’t need

1. Restart Your Laptop Properly

A restart clears memory, ends stuck background processes and finishes pending updates. On Windows, choose Restart rather than Shut down. On a Mac, a restart once a week is a good habit.

Did you know?

Windows Fast Startup works by saving a snapshot of the system’s core to a file on your drive, so the next boot is quicker. The catch: a laptop you only ever shut down never gets a truly fresh start. Restart skips the snapshot, which is why it clears up more problems.

2. Close Tabs and Remove Browser Extensions

Every open tab uses memory, and some extensions run constantly in the background. Close tabs you aren’t using, remove extensions you don’t recognize, and turn on built-in tab-saving features such as Chrome’s Memory Saver or Edge’s sleeping tabs.

3. Disable Startup Apps

Many apps quietly add themselves to startup, slowing every boot.

  • Windows 11: open Task Manager > Startup apps, then right-click anything you don’t need right away and choose Disable.
  • Mac: go to System Settings > General > Login Items (called Login Items & Extensions on newer macOS versions) and remove apps you don’t need at login.

Keep your antivirus, cloud sync and anything you rely on daily; disable the rest.

Sort by Startup impact

In Task Manager > Startup apps, click the Startup impact column to sort the list. Disable the apps marked High first, as long as you don’t need them the moment you sign in. Disabling is reversible: if something stops working, switch the app back to Enabled.

4. Install System and Driver Updates

Updates often include performance and stability fixes. On Windows, go to Settings > Windows Update and also check Advanced options > Optional updates for driver updates. On a Mac, open System Settings > General > Software Update.

Free Up Storage Space

A nearly full drive slows everything down, because your system needs room for updates, temporary files and virtual memory.

Portable external hard drive connected to a laptop on a desk
An external drive is the quickest way to clear space without deleting anything

5. Keep at Least 15–20% of Your Drive Free

  • Windows: go to Settings > System > Storage, review Cleanup recommendations, and turn on Storage Sense to clear temporary files automatically.
  • Mac: open System Settings > General > Storage to see recommendations such as Optimize Storage and Empty Trash Automatically.

6. Uninstall Apps You Don’t Use

Trial software, old games and duplicate tools add up. On Windows, use Settings > Apps > Installed apps. On a Mac, drag unwanted apps from the Applications folder to the Trash, or use the app’s own uninstaller if it has one.

7. Move Big Files Off Your Laptop

Videos, photo libraries and old downloads are usually the biggest space hogs. Move them to an external drive, or use OneDrive Files On-Demand or iCloud Drive’s Optimize Mac Storage so files stay in the cloud until you open them. Your phone fills up the same way, so see how to free up iPhone storage without deleting photos.

Find your biggest files in seconds

On Windows, open File Explorer, click This PC and type size:gigantic in the search box to list every file over 128 MB. On a Mac, press Cmd + F in Finder, click the Kind menu, choose Other > File Size, then set it to “is greater than” 500 MB. Sort the results by size and you’ll see exactly which files are worth moving first.

Tune Your System Settings

8. Choose the Right Power Mode

Battery-saving modes deliberately slow your processor. On Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Power & battery and set Power mode to Best performance while you’re plugged in. On a Mac, check System Settings > Battery and make sure Low Power Mode isn’t switched on when you need speed.

9. Reduce Visual Effects

Animations and transparency look nice but cost resources on older machines. On Windows, go to Settings > Accessibility > Visual effects and turn off Animation effects and Transparency effects. On a Mac, open System Settings > Accessibility > Display and turn on Reduce motion and Reduce transparency.

10. Scan for Malware

Malware and adware can run silently and slow everything down. On Windows, open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection and run a scan. Macs have built-in protection called XProtect that runs automatically, so keeping macOS updated matters most.

Skip the “cleaner” apps

Registry cleaners and “speed booster” apps often promise dramatic results, and some are adware themselves. Microsoft and Apple both provide everything you need for routine cleanup, so stick with the built-in tools.

Hardware Fixes That Make the Biggest Difference

11. Upgrade to an SSD or Add RAM (If Your Laptop Allows It)

If your laptop still has a spinning hard drive, replacing it with a solid-state drive (SSD) is usually the single biggest speed boost you can buy; boot times can drop from minutes to seconds.

Did you know?

A traditional hard drive reads data with a tiny head that moves across spinning platters, a bit like a record player. An SSD stores data on flash memory chips with no moving parts, so it can reach any file almost instantly. That’s why swapping the drive often feels like getting a new laptop.

More RAM helps if you regularly hit memory limits: 8 GB is a sensible minimum for everyday multitasking on Windows 11, and 16 GB feels comfortable. Many thin laptops, including all Apple silicon Macs, have memory and storage soldered to the board, so check your model before buying parts.

Check what kind of drive you have

On Windows, open Task Manager > Performance and click your disk: it will say SSD or HDD. On a Mac, hold the Option key, choose Apple menu > System Information, select Storage and look for Medium Type.

12. Clean the Vents and Watch the Heat

When a laptop overheats, it automatically slows its processor to cool down. Use it on a hard, flat surface rather than a bed or sofa, and with the laptop powered off, blow dust out of the vents with short bursts of compressed air. A simple laptop stand improves airflow too. While you’re at it, our guide to cleaning a laptop keyboard safely shows the right way to use compressed air and wipes.

Inside of an opened laptop showing the cooling fan and memory
Dust-clogged fans and vents are a common reason laptops run hot and slow down

Windows vs Mac: Where to Find Each Setting

TaskWindows 11macOS
See what’s using resourcesTask Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc)Activity Monitor
Manage startup appsTask Manager > Startup appsSystem Settings > General > Login Items
Free up storageSettings > System > StorageSystem Settings > General > Storage
Install updatesSettings > Windows UpdateSystem Settings > General > Software Update
Power settingsSettings > System > Power & batterySystem Settings > Battery
Malware protectionWindows SecurityXProtect (built in, automatic)

For more detail, see Microsoft’s guide to improving PC performance in Windows and Apple’s If your Mac runs slowly page.

When It’s Time to Replace Your Laptop

Sometimes no tweak is enough. It may be time to upgrade if:

  • Your laptop can’t run a supported operating system version. Windows 10 reached end of support in October 2025, so a machine that can’t run Windows 11 is on borrowed time.
  • It has 4 GB of soldered RAM, or slow eMMC storage that can’t be replaced.
  • The battery is swollen, or the laptop overheats even after cleaning.
  • Repairs would cost more than half the price of a comparable new model.

The Bottom Line

Most slow laptops don’t need replacing. They need a restart, fewer startup apps, more free space and up-to-date software. Work through the quick fixes today, then make a 10-minute monthly tune-up a habit, just as weekly meal prep saves you time on busy weeknights. A laptop that boots fast also makes for a calmer start to the day; pair it with these morning routine ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my laptop suddenly so slow?
Sudden slowdowns are usually caused by a background update, a new startup app, a nearly full drive or a browser with too many tabs. Open Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on a Mac to see which process is using the most CPU, memory or disk.
Does restarting a laptop really make it faster?
Often, yes. A restart clears memory, ends stuck processes and finishes pending updates. On Windows, choose Restart rather than Shut down, because Fast Startup means a shutdown doesn't fully reset the system.
How much free storage should a laptop have?
Aim to keep at least 15–20% of your drive free. The operating system needs room for updates, temporary files and virtual memory, and nearly full drives tend to slow down.
Is it worth upgrading to an SSD or adding RAM?
If your laptop still uses a traditional hard drive, switching to an SSD is usually the single biggest speed boost. Extra RAM helps if you regularly run out of memory, but many newer laptops, including Apple silicon Macs, have memory that can't be upgraded.

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