GoKawiilKyle Kucharski/ZDNET
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ZDNET's key takeaways
Dozens of processes run in the background on your PC, and each takes a bit of memory.
Most are necessary and helpful, but some can be disabled to optimize performance.
Checking to see which ones load automatically is a good place to start.
PC feeling a little sluggish? There are myriad possible reasons, but one of the best places to start is checking what's tying up your memory.
If you open the task manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and sort the programs by memory usage, you'll find the usual culprits (your browser, Microsoft Office apps) at the top of the list, and a handful of others you probably can't identify.
Also: How I disabled 'fast startup' on my Windows 11 laptop to stop overnight battery drain
Unfortunately, many of these processes are necessary and/or inconsequential in terms of overall memory usage. But there are certainly some processes that can speed things up when killed -- especially if you're on a slower PC.
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