If you're a PC gamer, Windows has historically been the easiest operating system to use. In recent years, technologies like Proton have made Linux a bit more viable, but if you want to make sure all the newest games are compatible and support the latest features, Windows 11 is where it's at.

However, that doesn't mean it is perfect out of the box. There are some settings you can change to make Windows 11 work much better for gaming, so let's go through them to make sure you will get the best experience possible.

Turn on Game Mode

Both Windows 10 and Windows 11 come with a built-in game optimizer tool called Game Mode, which you can use to optimize some settings for gaming. This feature reduces background activity while you're gaming, so things like Windows updates won't be installed, and you won't get notifications while playing, which improves performance and your ability to focus. It's enabled by default, but if you want to make sure it's on, follow the steps below.

1. Search for and open the Settings menu, or use the shortcut Win + I.
2. Choose Gaming.
3. Choose Game Mode.
4. Click on the toggle to enable the Game Mode, if it's not already enabled.

Set your power mode to "Best performance"

This one may seem obvious, but Windows 11 comes with a performance setting that can help you better manage how well your PC performs while gaming. If you want the best performance, you'll want to configure this option.

1. Search for and open the Settings menu, or use the shortcut Win + I.
2. Choose the System section from the sidebar.
3. Click on Power (on desktops) or Power and battery (on laptops).
4. Find the Power mode option and use the dropdown menu to choose the Best performance option.
5. If you have a laptop that will be gaming on battery, you may also want to expand the Battery saver section.
6. Here, click the Turn on battery saver at dropdown menu and choose Never.

Disable Memory Integrity from settings

Memory Integrity or HVCI (Hypervisor-protected code integrity) is a built-in Windows 11 security feature to protect your kernel from high-level malware attacks that can introduce malicious code into high-security processes. It's one of the many security features in Windows 11 that runs in the background, but it can take up a lot of CPU resources which you could be using to run games on your computer. Thankfully, you can disable this feature to free up some resources for your games.

Disabling this will make your PC more vulnerable to malicious attacks, so only disable it if you really need that extra performance.

1. Hit the on-screen Windows logo button or the Windows logo key on your keyboard, then search for Core isolation.
2. Select Core isolation to open a new window, and locate a toggle under Memory integrity option.
3. Click the toggle to turn it off, making sure you turn the toggle switch to Off.
4. You will need to Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Disable Virtual Machine Platform

Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) is a virtualization security feature that's known to have pretty drastic effects on system performance. This particular feature, in case you are wondering, uses hardware virtualization features to secure and isolate part of the memory from the OS. This isn't exclusive to Windows 11 as it was also implemented in Windows 10. Disabling it could free up a lot of system resources that you can use to get better performance in games. To disable it, complete the following steps.

1. Hit the on-screen Windows logo button or the Windows logo key on your keyboard and search for Windows features.
2. Select Turn Windows features on or off.
3. Locate the Virtual Machine Platform option within the Turn Windows features on or off window, and uncheck it.
4. Restart your PC.

Set your resolution and refresh rate settings

It's worth making sure your monitor's settings are set to the best possible options for gaming, particularly when it comes to refresh rate.

1. Open the Settings app and choose the System section on the left.
2. Choose the Display option, and ensure you've selected the recommended display resolution from the drop-down menu.
3. Enable the HDR option too, if your monitor supports it, and also make sure Auto HDR is enabled.
4. Go back to the main Display settings page, and choose Advanced Display.
5. Locate the Choose a refresh rate option and select the highest refresh rate from the drop-down menu. You can also choose the Dynamic option if your hardware supports it.

If you have a G-Sync compatible monitor, you may also want to enable that feature both in the monitor itself and in the Nvidia control panel. Likewise, you may have to do the same for monitors that support AMD FreeSync.

Adjust graphics settings

To make full use of a powerful dedicated GPU, you'll want to make sure your games are running on it rather than integrated graphics, and also enable hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.

1. Open the Windows 11 Settings app and choose System, then Display.
2. Choose Graphics, and then select an app on the list, or search for the name of your game.
3. Choose Options, and then click on High Performance, followed by Save.
4. Go back to the main Graphics settings page, and choose Change default graphics settings.
5. Make sure the switch for Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling is on.

Disable startup tasks

As you install more programs on your PC, many of them will create startup tasks, meaning they'll run as soon as you turn on your PC. This means you could have many tasks (likely unnecessary ones) running in the background and hogging resources, so it's a good idea to disable some of these startup tasks.

1. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar and choose Task Manager.
2. Click the Startup section on the left (the speedometer-looking icon)
3. Select any app you don't want running at startup and then choose Disable in the menu at the top. Repeat this process for all the startup apps you want to disable.

Turn off Enhance pointer precision

Another important setting to pay attention to is the Enhance pointer precision option. This is essentially a form of mouse acceleration, which is enabled by default on Windows to either speed up or slow down how your cursor moves based on how fast you're moving the mouse. It's better to disable this to improve mouse accuracy while you're playing games. To disable it, follow the steps below.

1. Search for and open the Settings menu, or use the shortcut Win + I.
2. Choose Bluetooth & devices from the menu on the left.
3. Click Mouse.
4. Locate the Additional mouse settings under the Related settings tab, and select it.
5. Choose the Pointer options tab and then uncheck Enhance pointer precision.
6. Click Apply and then OK.

Update your GPU drivers

It's crucial to make sure your graphics card uses the latest graphics driver for optimum performance. This applies to both integrated and dedicated graphics cards, so the next thing to do is update the drivers if you haven't done so in a while. Depending on the make and model of your GPU, you can click one of the links below to download the latest drivers:

• Intel
• Nvidia
• AMD

It is recommended that you use Nvidia's GeForce Experience and AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition to receive push notifications for new driver updates. That being said, it's better to leave auto-updates disabled to have control over the drivers you're installing.

Bonus: Use wired internet or 5GHz/6GHz Wi-Fi

As a quick additional note, if you're playing online, you'll also want to make sure you're using a reliable internet connection. You can either use a wired connection with an Ethernet cable, or try to make sure your Wi-Fi network is connected using the 5GHz or 6GHz bands. 2.4GHz networks are older and ideal for low-priority tasks like using a smart device instead.

Computers should use the 5GHz band by default when it's available, so make sure the option is enabled in your router. If it is and your computer isn't picking it up, check out the guide below to see how to force your PC to use 5GHz.

Your PC should be ready to go!

We've covered quite a few ways you can optimize Windows 11 for gaming. Keep in mind that optimizing Windows 11 for gaming doesn't mean you'll immediately get higher FPS in your games. Your GPU and other core components are also equally responsible for enabling smooth gameplay, so you may have to tweak some additional settings to boost your GPU performance for gaming.