How To Clean Up A Windows Computer To Improve Its Performance

It’s time to optimize and speed up your Windows computer or laptop with a thorough cleaning (and free!). The effective methods that we present below will allow you to clean your Microsoft device so that it stops going so slow.

Is your computer slower than normal? Then the 5 methods to accelerate your PC that we present to you will go as a ring to your finger. They will serve to clean the hard disk of your Windows device and will also allow you to free up space.

To do this, you must delete applications that you no longer use, also delete temporary files that occupy space unnecessarily and organize the files that you have scattered on your computer’s desktop.

The tips you will find in this article are simple, but very effective, and although we have focused on PCs, you have to know that the same can be applied on Macs, MacBooks or any other computer.

On the other hand, one way to quickly clean, optimize and speed up your device is to use a cleaner like CCleaner , that is, a program thought precisely designed for it. Don’t forget to also install an best antivirus for mac to protect your PC.

Furthermore, we always recommend creating a backup of your files, programs and settings, as there is nothing more annoying than deleting a highly prized document or photo forever.

If the 5 tricks that we present below do not solve your problem, you will have no choice but to use a somewhat more radical method: restore Windows to its factory settings.

Method 1. Clean Your Hard Drive

Over the years, your computer or laptop hard drive fills up with information, whether in the form of documents, photos, or programs, making it more and more difficult to find and access a file saved on your device.

This is not the only problem with having a full or almost full hard drive, since this also leads to an inevitable deterioration in the performance of your device. The most advisable thing is to leave about 10 or 20 gigabytes free for the PC to work properly.

In this sense, you must delete temporary files and other unnecessary files as often as possible so that your computer or laptop does not lose responsiveness.

Think, for example, of the duplicate files you have stored on your hard drives, such as songs or photos. If you remove them, you will see how it improves the performance of your device. You can use a program like Easy Duplicate Finder to speed up the process.

On the other hand, you can also take advantage of integrated Windows tools to optimize your computer and free up space.

Recycling bin: Go to the ‘Recycle Bin’ that you will surely find on your desktop. Now, right-click, select ‘Empty Recycle Bin’ and confirm the action to get rid of all the files saved there.

Temporary Files: The ‘Windows Settings’ panel on your computer also includes the function of deleting all temporary files. Select ‘System’, followed by ‘Storage’, ‘This computer’, ‘Temporary files’ and finally ‘Remove files’.

Freeing Up Hard Drive Space: You can also erase all downloaded program files, temporary files, cache memory, trash files, or user file history with ‘Hard Drive Cleanup’.

With this tool, you will be able to know the number of gigabytes that you will be able to free if you delete all the files that Windows recommends. You can even consult the list of files to be deleted and deselect those you want to keep.

Method 2. Remove Programs You No Longer Use

Second, we recommend that you remove any program that you no longer use or need. To do so, all you have to do is use the tool that Windows has integrated, be it Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10.

You should look for an application with a name similar to ‘Add or remove programs’ (Windows 10), surely in the ‘Uninstall’ line in the ‘Programs’ section of your ‘Settings’ panel.

Be that as it may, you will see a list of all the programs that you have installed on your computer, as well as the hard disk space that each of them occupies. Browse through it until you find the program you want to delete and click on ‘Uninstall’.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to delete all the files related to your programs with this Windows tool. For this, you must use an application like Revo Uninstaller, with which you can scan and delete these files forever.

Method 3. Defragment Your Hard Drive

With unnecessary files and programs removed, now is the time to optimize your computer’s drives to help it run better, smoother, and faster. This process is known as defragmentation of the hard disk.

If you choose to defragment your hard drive, you will speed up your device. This is achieved by grouping the files that you have stored there to eliminate the empty spaces that are automatically created between them.

You should be aware that when your computer saves a file over and over on your hard drive, it creates small packets of information that are arbitrarily distributed across the disk. All this makes files more difficult to access.

Instead, with the tool that integrates Windows and once the spaces between these packages have been eliminated, you will make it faster to open the files. You will notice it because it will also improve the performance of your PC.

Please note that this method cannot be applied if you have a solid-state drive. In fact, defragmenting an SSD doesn’t make sense, since the technology it uses is completely different.

If you think that this method can be useful to you, you should go to the ‘Defragment and optimize drives’ application and select the hard disk you want to defragment. Click on the ‘Optimize’ button, but only if the disk is fragmented by 10% or more.

Also keep in mind that if you have Windows 8 and Windows 10 installed on your PC, your device will be defragmented by default every week. You can change the settings so that this process is carried out daily or monthly.

Method 4. Prevent Programs From Opening Automatically

In the second method in this list, we have explained how to remove the programs that you no longer use. However, it is not necessary to get rid of an application just to free up space, since you can also change its settings to speed up your PC.

Many programs open automatically, making your computer run slower than desired. In these cases, and if you think that you are going to use the program at another time, you can make it stop opening when you turn on the PC.

To do this, you must visit the ‘System Settings’ application, click the ‘Start’ tab, and deselect all the programs that you do not want to automatically open when you start your device.

Now, don’t run to remove all the programs you see on the list. Consult tools like Soluto to know which of them is not recommended to deselect. You can also check the list of services that your PC needs to start in ‘Services’.

If your computer has the Windows 8 or Windows 10 operating system installed, it will be easier for you to manage these programs with the ‘Task Manager’ tool. In the ‘Start’ tab, select the program in question and click ‘Disable’.

Method 5. Clean And Organize Your Desktop

Lastly, it never hurts to organize all the folders and files you have stored on your computer’s desktop. They will not only help you find what you are looking for faster but also improve the performance of your PC.

Also, if you organize your files into folders and give them a relevant name, you will see that it is much easier to use the Windows file search system, anchored in the Start bar in Windows 10, or with the wizard in Windows 7.

In fact, one way to organize your documents well is to save them in the same folder that includes the keyword in your name that you can use later to search for them. We also recommend adding the date, especially for photos.

We recommend not creating folders on your desktop and saving them all in the ‘Documents’ folder that you will find in ‘This computer’. Don’t forget to delete any shortcut you have created, as they take up space unnecessarily.