Improve Gaming Performance With Windows 11 Settings
Source-checked · About 10 minutes
Answer
Use Windows 11's supported gaming controls: turn on Game Mode, choose the appropriate graphics preference for a game, and enable windowed-game optimizations only for compatible DirectX 10 or 11 games.
Open Settings > System > About and confirm you use Windows 11. These windowed-game optimizations apply to compatible DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 games, so do not expect them to repair a game that cannot launch or meet its hardware requirements.
2
Enable Game Mode
Open Settings > Gaming > Game Mode and turn Game Mode on. This is Windows' supported performance control; avoid disabling services, editing the registry, or using generic booster utilities.
3
Open graphics settings
Open Settings > System > Display > Graphics. Find the game under Custom options for apps, or use Browse to add its executable only when you know it is the game's real program file.
4
Choose a GPU preference
Select the game, choose Options, then choose High performance only if the PC has more than one GPU and the game should use the higher-performance processor. Select Save, then fully close and reopen the game.
5
Enable windowed-game optimizations
In Settings > System > Display > Graphics, open Default settings and turn on Optimizations for windowed games when you play a compatible game in windowed or borderless windowed mode. Restart the game after changing the setting.
6
Test one change at a time
Use the same game area and graphics preset to compare frame rate, frame pacing, and input response. Keep a setting that demonstrably helps, and undo a change that causes stutter, visual problems, or worse battery life on a laptop.
If the Graphics page cannot find the game, add only the executable from the game's installed folder and restart the game after saving.
If performance remains poor, update Windows and the PC maker's graphics driver, then check the game's official requirements instead of applying registry or service tweaks.
ⓘ Sources and verification
Checked against official documentation on . Scope: Windows.
Follow the linked first-party guidance if labels differ after a platform or app update.
