If Windows 11 is slower after updating, you can try the following steps to restore performance. 1. Check the high resource occupancy process in the Task Manager, such as Windows Search, Windows Update, etc., and restart or suspend related services if necessary. 2. Use the command prompt to run DISM and disk cleaning tools to clear old update files. 3. Turn off visual effects and animations in system settings to improve responsiveness. 4. Update device drivers, especially graphics card and chipset drivers. In most cases, the above methods can effectively solve the problem of system lag after update.

If your Windows 11 PC has become painfully slow after an update, you're not alone. Updates can sometimes cause performance issues, especially if your system is older or certain background processes get stuck. The good news is that there are several practical steps you can take to get things running smoothly again — and you don't always need to reset your PC or reinstall Windows.

Check for Background Processes Hogging Resources

After a major update, Windows often runs background tasks like indexing, updating drivers, or syncing settings. These can max out your CPU or disk usage, making the system feel sluggish.

• Open Task Manager (Ctrl Shift Esc) and check the CPU, Memory, and Disk tabs to see what's using the most resources.
• If you see Windows Search , Windows Update , or Antimalware Service Executable using a lot of CPU or disk, it's likely part of the post-update cleanup. These usually settle down after a few hours.
• If they stay high for more than a day, consider restarting your PC or manually pausing some services:
  • Press Win R , type services.msc , and look for SysMain (formerly Superfetch). Right-click and choose Stop to temporarily disable it.
  • Also check Windows Search and Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) — stopping them briefly can help reduce load.

Clear Out Temporary Update Files

Windows keeps old update files just in case you need to roll back. But those files can take up a lot of space and sometimes interfere with system performance.

• Open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

   DISM /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

  This clears out old update components and frees up space.

• Also run:

   %windir%\System32\cleanmgr.exe /sageset:65535

  Then select Windows Update Cleanup and delete those files.

  

Don't worry — once the system has settled after the update, it's safe to remove those old files.

Disable Visual Effects and Animations

Sometimes the slowdown is more about how Windows is rendering things than actual performance. If your hardware isn't top-of-the-line, the new visual effects in Windows 11 can be a bit much.

• Go to Settings > System > About > Advanced system settings .
• Under the Advanced tab, click Settings in the Performance section.
• Choose Adjust for best performance , or manually uncheck effects like animations, shadows, and transparency.

This won't speed up your hardware, but it makes the system feel faster, which can be just as helpful.

Make Sure Your Drivers Are Up to Date

Sometimes a slow PC after an update is actually due to outdated or incompatible drivers — especially graphics or chipset drivers.

• Open Device Manager and look for any yellow exclamation marks.
• Right-click and select Update driver for any suspicious entries.
• Alternatively, go to your PC manufacturer's support site (or motherboard if it's a custom build) and download the latest drivers manually.

A fresh driver install can often resolve performance issues that look like general system slowness.

That's about it. Most of the time, a slow Windows 11 PC after an update is fixed without drastic steps. Try the above in order — most of the time, it's either background processes or leftover update files causing the slowdown. If things still aren't right after a couple of days, then it might be time to consider a clean boot or even a fresh install. But for now, these steps should help you get back to a smoother experience.

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