How to Speed Up Your Computer (Without Paying a Dime)

Why Your Computer Is Slow (It’s Probably Not What You Think)

Before you start tweaking settings or downloading “PC optimizer” software (please don’t — more on that later), you need to understand why your computer got slow in the first place.

Nine times out of ten, it’s one of these four things:

Too many programs running at startup. Every app that launches when you turn on your computer eats RAM and CPU cycles. Over time, software installations pile up startup entries. That gaming laptop that used to boot in 15 seconds? Now it takes 2 minutes because Spotify, Discord, OneDrive, Adobe Creative Cloud, and 12 other programs all fight for resources the moment you hit the power button.

Low disk space. When your hard drive or SSD gets above 85% capacity, your computer struggles. It needs free space for virtual memory (swap files), temporary files, and system updates. If your C: drive is showing red in File Explorer, that’s your problem right there.

Outdated hardware trying to run modern software. Windows 11 and the latest macOS versions are more resource-hungry than their predecessors. If your computer has 4GB of RAM and a mechanical hard drive, no amount of software optimization will make it feel fast.

Malware or bloatware. Pre-installed manufacturer software (looking at you, Lenovo and HP) and actual malware can both bog your system down. If you’re seeing random pop-ups, your browser homepage keeps changing, or your fan runs constantly even when you’re not doing anything — something is eating your resources.

Now let’s fix each of these, step by step.

Step 1: Clean Up Your Startup Programs (5 Minutes)

This single change makes the biggest difference for most people. Here’s how to do it on both Windows and Mac.

On Windows 10 or 11:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
2. Click the Startup tab (in Windows 11, it might be under “Startup apps” in Settings)
3. Look at the “Startup impact” column — anything rated “High” is a priority target
4. Right-click and select Disable for anything you don’t need immediately when your computer turns on

Safe to disable: Spotify, Discord, Steam, Adobe updaters, Skype, Microsoft Teams (if you don’t use it), OneDrive (if you don’t rely on cloud sync), manufacturer utilities like “HP Support Assistant”

Do NOT disable: Your antivirus, audio drivers (like Realtek), or Windows Security.

On Mac:

1. Go to System Settings → General → Login Items
2. Remove anything you don’t need launching at startup
3. Also check “Allow in the Background” — disable apps you don’t need running constantly

I did this on a client’s three-year-old Windows laptop last month. Boot time went from 1 minute 45 seconds to 28 seconds. No hardware changes. Just disabling 14 unnecessary startup programs.

Step 2: Free Up Disk Space (10 Minutes)

Full disks kill performance. Here’s the fastest way to reclaim space:

On Windows:

1. Open Settings → System → Storage
2. Turn on Storage Sense — this automatically cleans temp files
3. Click Temporary files and check everything except “Downloads” (unless you want to clear those too)
4. Click Remove files

For a deeper clean, open Command Prompt as admin and run:
cleanmgr /d C:
Select “Clean up system files” for the full treatment. This often recovers 2–15 GB by clearing old Windows Update files.

On Mac:

1. Click the Apple menu → About This Mac → Storage → Manage
2. Enable “Empty Trash Automatically” and “Reduce Clutter”
3. Review large files and move what you don’t need to an external drive

Bonus tip: Check your Downloads folder. It’s the digital junk drawer most people never clean. I’ve seen Downloads folders with 40+ GB of old installers, PDFs, and duplicate photos. If you’ve been meaning to clear storage on your iPhone, the same principle applies to your computer — digital clutter accumulates faster than you’d expect.

Step 3: Uninstall Software You Don’t Use (10 Minutes)

Every installed program takes up space, and many run background processes even when you’re not using them.

On Windows:

1. Go to Settings → Apps → Installed apps
2. Sort by Size (largest first)
3. Uninstall anything you haven’t used in the last 3 months

Common space hogs to remove: old games you don’t play, trial software that expired, manufacturer bloatware (HP Support Solutions, Lenovo Vantage, McAfee if you have Windows Defender), outdated browsers, and any “PC cleaner” or “driver updater” tools.

Speaking of which: never install “PC optimizer” software. Programs like CCleaner, IOBit, or “Driver Booster” are at best unnecessary and at worst harmful. They can delete important registry entries, bundle adware, and create more problems than they solve. Windows has built-in tools for everything they claim to do.

On Mac: Drag unwanted apps to the Trash from Applications. For a thorough removal that gets associated files too, use the free app AppCleaner.

Step 4: Check for Malware (15 Minutes)

If your computer suddenly got slow — not gradually over months, but noticeably worse in a week or two — malware might be the culprit.

On Windows:

1. Open Windows Security (search for it in the Start menu)
2. Click Virus & threat protection → Scan options
3. Select Full scan and let it run

Windows Defender is genuinely good now. You don’t need to pay for Norton or McAfee anymore — Microsoft’s built-in protection catches 99.5% of known threats according to independent testing by AV-TEST.

If you suspect something deeper, download Malwarebytes Free (malwarebytes.com) and run a scan. It catches things that Windows Defender occasionally misses, particularly adware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs).

On Mac: Macs aren’t immune to malware. Run Malwarebytes for Mac (free version) if things feel off. Also check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Profiles — if you see profiles you didn’t install, that’s a red flag.

Step 5: Upgrade Your RAM (The Biggest Bang for Your Buck)

If you’ve done everything above and your computer is still sluggish, it’s time to consider hardware. And the single best hardware upgrade you can make is adding more RAM.

Here’s the reality: 4GB of RAM is not enough for anything in 2026. Even basic web browsing with 10 Chrome tabs uses 3–4 GB. Windows 11 itself wants about 2 GB just to run.

The sweet spot is 16GB of RAM. That handles web browsing, office work, video calls, and light photo editing without breaking a sweat. If you’re a video editor or run virtual machines, go for 32 GB.

How to check your current RAM:

• Windows: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc → Performance tab → Memory
• Mac: Apple menu → About This Mac

RAM upgrades are cheap. A 16 GB kit (2×8 GB) for a laptop runs $25–$45. For a desktop, same price range. YouTube has model-specific installation guides for almost every laptop and desktop ever made. It’s usually 5 screws and a click.

Important note: Most modern MacBooks (M1/M2/M3/M4) have soldered RAM that can’t be upgraded after purchase. If you have a Mac, this decision was made when you bought it.

Step 6: Replace Your Hard Drive With an SSD

If your computer still has a traditional spinning hard drive (HDD), replacing it with a solid-state drive (SSD) is the closest thing to magic in the computer world.

The difference is dramatic:

• Boot time: 60+ seconds → 10–15 seconds
• Opening programs: 5–15 seconds → 1–3 seconds
• File transfers: 80–160 MB/s → 500–3,500 MB/s

A 500 GB SSD costs about $35–$50 in 2026. A 1 TB SSD is around $60–$80. For a computer that’s 3–5 years old with a mechanical drive, this upgrade makes it feel like a brand-new machine.

You can clone your existing drive to the new SSD using free software like Macrium Reflect (Windows) or Carbon Copy Cloner (Mac), so you don’t have to reinstall everything.

Step 7: Quick Windows-Specific Tweaks

These small adjustments add up, especially on older hardware:

Turn off visual effects:

1. Search for “Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows”
2. Select “Adjust for best performance” — or manually uncheck animations, shadows, and transparency effects
3. This frees up GPU and CPU resources for actual work

Disable search indexing (if you rarely use Windows Search):

1. Open Services (search “services.msc”)
2. Find “Windows Search”
3. Set it to “Disabled” and stop the service
4. This can noticeably help older computers with mechanical hard drives

Keep Windows updated: I know updates are annoying. But they include performance fixes, driver updates, and security patches. Running an outdated Windows version is both a performance and security risk.

Use a lightweight browser: If Chrome is eating all your RAM, try Firefox or Microsoft Edge. Edge, ironically, uses less memory than Chrome despite being built on the same engine. If you typically have 20+ tabs open, install an extension like “Auto Tab Discard” to suspend tabs you’re not actively using.

What NOT to Do

A few things that won’t help and might actually make things worse:

Don’t defragment an SSD. Defragmentation was useful for old spinning hard drives. On an SSD, it does nothing helpful and actually shortens the drive’s lifespan. Windows is smart enough not to defrag SSDs automatically, but some third-party tools will try.

Don’t clean your registry. Registry cleaners are snake oil. The Windows registry is enormous, and deleting entries you don’t understand can break things. Microsoft themselves say not to do this.

Don’t disable Windows services you don’t understand. There are “optimization guides” online that tell you to disable 30+ Windows services. Most of these guides are outdated, and disabling the wrong service can cause crashes, broken features, or security vulnerabilities.

Don’t buy a new computer just because yours feels slow. In most cases, a $50 SSD upgrade and a startup cleanup will make a 5-year-old computer perfectly usable for everyday tasks. Save the money — or put it toward your emergency fund instead.

The Priority Order (If You’re Short on Time)

Here’s exactly what to do, ranked by impact:

1. Clean up startup programs — 5 minutes, free, immediately noticeable
2. Free up disk space — 10 minutes, free, helps if your drive is over 85% full
3. Run a malware scan — 15 minutes, free, essential if slowdown was sudden
4. Uninstall unused software — 10 minutes, free, prevents background resource drain
5. Upgrade to an SSD — $35–$80, the single biggest performance improvement possible
6. Add more RAM — $25–$45, critical if you’re running 4–8 GB

Most people only need steps 1–4 to see a real difference. If those don’t cut it, the SSD upgrade will. I’ve done this exact process on dozens of computers, and I’ve only seen one or two cases where the machine was genuinely too old to save (we’re talking 10+ year old hardware with failing components).

Your computer probably isn’t dying. It just needs a cleanup. Give it 30 minutes and see what happens.