If you have upgraded to Windows 11 and something just feels . . . off, you are not imagining it. Your computer is not broken, and you are not going crazy. Many of our customers come in saying the same thing: "It was fine on Windows 10, but now everything just feels sluggish." There is a real explanation for this, and it comes down to some choices Microsoft made when designing the new system.
Windows 11 is doing a lot more behind the scenes
Right from the moment you turn your computer on, Windows 11 is running more background tasks than Windows 10 ever did. We are talking about things such as the Widgets panel, constantly pulling in news and weather, Microsoft's AI assistant Copilot sitting in the background, cloud syncing, and extra data collection that sends usage information back to Microsoft.
Each of these on its own is not a big deal, but together, they quietly chew through your computer's memory and processing power before you have even opened a single program.
The new look comes with a hidden cost
Windows 11 genuinely looks nicer than Windows 10: the rounded corners, frosted-glass effects, smooth animations, and soft shadows are all a step up visually. But those visual touches are not free. Your computer has to work to produce them, and on anything that isn't a brand-new machine, that extra work is noticeable.
A developer and researcher who looked closely at Windows 11's code found that even a simple right-click menu now runs through far more complex software layers than it used to. Instead of your computer handling it quickly with the processor, it is now routing through graphics hardware just to show you a menu.
Those tiny delays happen dozens of times a day, and they add up to a system that just feels less snappy overall.
File Explorer and everyday tasks feel different, too
Windows 11 rebuilt many of the common tools you use every day, including File Explorer, the right-click menu, and the Start Menu. The rebuild added cloud features and new integrations, which sounds nice on paper.
In practice though, it means these everyday tasks now take a fraction longer to respond. Opening a folder, right-clicking on a file, or searching for something all have a small extra delay baked in. It is not dramatic, but for people who were used to Windows 10 feeling immediate and responsive, it’s noticeable.
More features are now tied to your internet connection
The Start Menu, search results, and even some settings now reach out to the internet to pull in information. If your internet connection has a slow moment, Windows 11 can feel as if it’s waiting. Windows 10 handled most of these things locally, so it didn’t have this dependency. It’s a small thing, but it’s one more reason the system can feel less responsive on an average home connection.
So, is Windows 11 just bad?
Not at all. With the right hardware and settings, Windows 11 runs very well. The problem is that Microsoft turned on every feature and visual effect by default, and most home computers were never set up with all of that in mind. The good news is that most of these slowdowns are completely fixable. It just takes knowing where to look and what to adjust.
We can sort this out for you.
If your computer has felt slow since upgrading to Windows 11, give us a call. We tune Windows 11 regularly for users, and in most cases, we can have things running smoothly without you needing to buy anything new.
