Make Your PC Faster with This Free Microsoft Tool
Want an easy way to make your PC faster? Take a look at the Microsoft PC Manager tool for Windows. It’s free and improves system performance.
Is your Windows PC running slow and sluggishly? You can adjust settings to make your PC faster. However, if you need a free and easy-to-use tool to improve system performance, check out Microsoft PC Manager.
The cool thing about this utility is that you can use it on Windows 10 or 11 with the same functionality. It helps maintain your PC’s health by providing various options to free up drive space, fix high memory usage, disable unneeded processes, scan for malware, and more.
The utility is like other third-party utilities like CCleaner without a registry cleaner, which isn’t necessary on modern PCs with Windows 10 or above anyway.
Getting Started with Microsoft PC Manager
If you want to begin using this utility, you can install it from the Microsoft Store by clicking Get or Install.
Once installed, it will be available in the Start menu like any other app you install.
When you open it, a welcome screen will appear on the left side of the screen. If you don’t want it to run during startup, uncheck the Start automatically when sign in to Windows box and click the Start button.
Microsoft PC Manager Features
The app begins with the Home button, where you can access most of its most important features. These include the PC boost, Health check, Process, Deep cleanup, and Startup sections. Let’s look at each of the available functions.
- PC Boost is the prominent feature at the top and displays current memory usage and the number of temporary files. Click the Boost button to kill unnecessary background processes, free up resources, and delete temp files. Note that doing this will not require you to restart Windows.
- Health check lists temp files you can select and delete and the apps you can disable from startup to improve boot time.
- Process allows you to go through the Process management screen and end app process to help improve overall system performance.
- Deep clean is a section where you can clean up discarded system processes that will help speed up your PC. For instance, it can do a deep clean to reclaim storage space from Windows Update.
- Startup allows you to enable or disable apps that run during startup. As previously noted, turning off startup apps helps speed boot time and improve performance since several apps won’t run when you sign in. The apps are separated between those you can choose to run or not and ones Microsoft recommends you keep, like the OneDrive app.
System Protection Options in Microsoft PC Manager
The Windows Security app provides a centralized location to manage virus and threat protection. Clicking the Protection button in PC Manager provides more straightforward ways to protect your system.
For instance, you can use it to run a virus scan, grab Windows updates, change default browser settings, restore default apps, manage popups, and restore default apps. The Taskbar repair option is helpful to restore it to default settings and turn off additional toolbars if needed.
Storage Options in PC Manager
Click the Storage button on the left side panel to access storage options. This is where you can do a deep disk cleanup and manage large and duplicate files (ones you don’t need that are wasting space) with a single click. You can also manage Storage Sense settings to clean up temporary files automatically.
App Management Options
Click the Apps button in the left sidebar to access app management options. Think of this section as a simplified version of Task Manager on Windows. It will show you running processes and turn off startup apps. You also get the option to access apps installed from the Microsoft Store and elsewhere.
Using the Toolbox in Microsoft PC Manager
Another helpful section to note is the Toolbox. Click the Toolbox button in the left side panel to see helpful Windows tools like Sound Recorder, Notepad, Microsoft Edge, Custom links, Captions, Bing translator, Currency converter, the Snipping Tool, and your screenshot folder. However, it’s important to note that the available tools may vary between versions of Windows and the hardware you’re running it on.
Microsoft PC Manager Settings
Of course, an app isn’t without some settings you can configure. Click on Settings (gear icon) in the left panel to access PC Manager options. The notable option is turning on Smart boot which will automatically optimize memory and temp files when your PC’s memory usage is high or temp files reach 1 GB.
What is Microsoft PC Manager?
Microsoft’s PC Manager is a free app that provides straightforward ways to improve the performance of your Windows PC. While it may not give you the level of management offered by options in other built-in system tools, it is a good start. Getting more out of your PC is just a few clicks away.
If you have an overworked PC or are still rocking an older computer, using Microsoft PC Manager will help you see significant performance benefits. Plus, it’s free!