Look for programs that you’ve minimized but haven’t actually closed.

After you’re finished with a tab, close it. If you are keeping it open as a “reminder” to do something, write yourself a note or send yourself an email instead. [2] X Research source

Try looking your your applications folder for old or unused programs to delete or uninstall.

Only close programs that you are familiar with. The memory filter will sort the programs by the amount of memory they are using. The program using the most memory will appear at the top of the list.

Select “Dock”. Change the “Minimize windows using” preference from “Genie effect” to “Scale effect”. Return to “System Preferences” main menu and open “Accessibility”. Check the box next to “Reduce transparency”. This will decrease the transparency of drop-down menus, the dock, etc. [7] X Research source

Right-click in the lower right corner of your screen and select “Task Manager” to open. Click “More Details”. Open the “Startup” tab. Right-click on a program or app and select “Disable”. This will not delete the program. It will only prevent the program or app from launching when you turn on your computer. [9] X Research source

Click “Start” then type “perform / report” in the search box. Hit ↵ Enter. This will launch the Performance Monitor. It will take the program a few minutes to compile a report. Read through the report and fix problems. Take time to peruse the report. Follow the instructions to fix any issues it identifies. [10] X Research source

Select “Start”, then “Settings”. Click “Privacy” and select “Background Apps”. Identify the apps you don’t want to run and slide the toggle switch to “off”. If you want to use these programs, you can open them manually. [11] X Research source

Click the Start button and type “Defragment and Optimize Drives” in the search bar. Launch the tool. Select your hard drive and hit “Analyze”. Select “Optimize” to defragment your hard drive. Do not use your computer while the hard drive is being defragmented. [13] X Research source

Click the Start button and type “Disk cleanup” in the search bar. Launch the program from the results list. Select the drive you want to clean. Check the boxes next to the types of files you would like to delete. You can read a brief description of the file type by clicking on the item. Click “Ok” to clean up your disks. [14] X Research source

Press ⊞ Win+R to open the run command. Type “sysdm. cpl” in the command prompt and press ↵ Enter. Select the “Advanced” tab. Under “Performance,” select “Settings” then “Custom”. Uncheck the boxes next to each animation option and click “Apply”. [15] X Research source

Swipe from the right side of the screen towards the center and select “Settings”. Click “Change PC settings” and select “Update and recovery”. Choose “Check now”. Windows will search for available updates. Click “Install Updates”, accept the terms, and click “Finish”. [16] X Research source

Click “Start” then select “Task Manager”. [17] X Research source Open the “Startup” tab. Select a program you want to disable. Click “Disable”.

Right-click on the desktop taskbar and select “Task Manager” from the pop-up menu. Click on the “Processes” tab to view the results. Select tasks that are using a lot of your computer’s resources (these are highlighted) and/or tasks that are running in the background (found under “Background Processes). Only select programs that you are familiar with. Click “End Task”.

Click the Start button and type “Defragment” in the search box. Select “Disk Defragmenter” from the results. Select a drive and click “Analyze disk”. Click “Defragment disk”.

Swipe from the right of your screen towards the center and select “Settings”. Click “Control Panel” and select “Administrative Tools”. Double-click “Disk Cleanup”, then select the drive you want to clean and click “Ok”. Check the boxes next to the types of files you would like to remove and click “Ok”. Select “Delete Files”. [19] X Research source

Click the Start button and type “Control Panel” in the search bar. Press ↵ Enter. Select “Apps” then click “Ease of Access”, followed by “Ease of Access Center”. Select “Make the computer easier to see”. Check the box next to “Turn off all unnecessary animations” and click “Apply”. [20] X Research source

Click “Start”, followed by “All Programs” and “Windows Update”. Click on “Check for updates”. Windows will search for available updates. Select “Install updates”. [21] X Research source

Click the Start button and type “Disk Defragmenter” in the search box. Select “Disk Defragmenter” from the results. Select a drive you want to defragment and click “Analyze disk”. Enter in your administrator password if prompted. Click “Defragment disk”. Enter in your administrator password if prompted. [23] X Research source

Select the Start button and type “Disk Cleanup” in the search box. Select “Disk Cleanup” from the search results. Click the disk you want to clean and press “Ok”. Select “Delete Files”. [24] X Research source

Click the Start button and select “Control Panel”. Select “System and Maintenance” then “Performance Information and Tools”. Select “Adjust visual effects” followed by “Custom”. Uncheck the boxes next to every animation” and click “Apply”. [25] X Research source