When you first dive into Windows 11, it looks pretty impressive at first glance. But when the market hours hit, everything changes.
You need every ounce of processing power, and you need total focus.
With the default Windows 11 settings, you may discover that your high-performance trading computer may have come factory-loaded with bloated visual effects.
It may have also come with hidden background processes that are silently eating the system resources that your charting software desperately needs.
It also came with a chattering crowd of notifications that are bleeding your attention at every single turn.
I am going to walk you through the essential Windows 11 settings that every single trader needs to change right now.
You want lightning-fast execution.
You want zero distraction during trading hours.
You want a system that prioritizes your performance over Microsoft's data collection.
After years of watching traders lose money because their systems lag at critical moments, I've learned exactly which switches to flip.
Let's turn Windows from a bloated, distraction-filled platform back into a lean, mean, focused trading machine.
Tweak #1
Let's kill those start-up applications.
This is your number one performance killer during pre-market prep. Every unnecessary application that launches at start-up steals system resources.
Resources you need for your charting software, for your brokers' platform, and for your trading algorithm.
We're talking Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Xbox Services, Weather apps, News apps, and 100 others that are competing for your CPU and your RAM before you even open your trading terminal.
Here’s how to turn it off: Go ahead and press Ctrl + Shift + ESC all at the same time to open the Task Manager. Click Startup apps on the left sidebar. Be ruthless. Do you really need Spotify to launch? Does Candy Crush belong on a trading machine?
Select any unnecessary programs and apps, and go ahead and click Disable.
Your system will boot faster, use less memory, and be ready for action when the market opens.
Tweak #2
Disable visual effects for maximum performance.
Windows 11 loads up animations, shadows, and things that are called transparency effects. They look pretty, but every animation drains your graphics processing unit, your GPU. And traders don't need this extra eye candy; they need speed.
Here’s how to turn it off: Go ahead and click Start, then click System. Then click Advanced system settings and performance settings. And then under Visual effects, select Adjust for best performance. This disables animation, shadows, and transparent glass. Your system will feel snappier, and your GPU stop wasting cycles on transitions.
The best way to set this up is to just go ahead and click Custom, and then uncheck Animations, uncheck Smooth edges of fonts, Shadows, and transparency.
Every millisecond counts when you're managing live positions.
Tweak #3
Disable notification spam.
Don't you hate it when you're trading and you get those little pop-ups in the lower right corner? Microsoft loves to help you with constant tips and suggestions.
During market hours, every notification is a distraction that you can’t afford.
Here’s how to turn it off: Go ahead and click Start, then click Settings, System notifications. Turn off anything that isn't critical. Better yet, toggle notifications off completely. Focus on price action, not Windows tips.
Tweak #4
Stop background apps from draining your resources.
Why should apps like Solitaire or the weather run when you're not using them again?
Here’s how to turn it off: We're going to click Start, Settings. Now, click Apps and installed apps. Open each app and click Advanced options. Then, Background activity, and then set it to off.
Free Computer Guide
Now, before we continue, I highly recommend you get a copy of my Complete Guide to Trading Computers here. It covers the hardware, the software, the networking, and every optimization you need for a professional-grade trading setup.
Tweak #5
Close your browser, specifically Chrome, completely.
Did you know that Chrome keeps running after you close it? Hoarding memory and bandwidth.
Here’s how to turn it off: Open Chrome, go to the upper right corner, click those three dots, and click on Settings. Then, on the left sidebar, look for System. Once you get to System, go ahead and disable Continue running background apps when Chrome is closed. Switch that off.
Now, when you close Chrome, it actually closes all the way. No hidden processes. No drain on your memory.
Tweak #6
Stop Windows from spying on you and your searches.
Did you know that every start menu search gets logged and sent to Microsoft?
Here’s how to turn it off: Press Windows + the R key. Type in “regedit” and then navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Then look for Software. Then open that up and look for Policies. Then Microsoft, and then Windows. Once you have Windows open, look for a file called Explorer. If that file doesn't exist, right-click, then click New, then click key, and then name it Explorer.
Go ahead and click on Explorer, and in the right box, right-click, then click New, DWORD (32-bit) Value, and then name it “DisableSearchBoxSuggestions” with no spaces between the words. Then click Enter, and then right-click on it and set the value to “1”.
When you reboot the computer, your searches will now stay local, and they'll stay private.
Tweak #7
Remove those widgets and those silly news alerts.
This thing called widgets pushes MSN News and ads straight to your taskbar.
Here’s how to turn it off: Click Start. We want to go to Settings this time. Click Personalization on the left, then click Taskbar, then look for Widgets and set that to off.
Keep your desktop clean and focused on real-time charts, and you won't have those pop-ups coming up on your taskbar. So annoying.
Tweak #8
Disable Microsoft Telemetry.
Did you know Microsoft collects diagnostic data constantly?
Here’s how to turn it off: Go to Windows, click Settings, Privacy & Security. Then we want to look for Diagnostics and Feedback, and turn Send optional diagnostic data to off.
You're freeing bandwidth and CPU cycles for what matters, your market data tweak.
Tweak #10
Remove Cortana and Copilot (yes, we skipped #9).
Both are background listeners that consume memory.
Here’s how to turn it off: Go to Windows, Settings, and this time go to Apps. Go to Installed apps. Now, scroll down and look for Cortana, or more likely, you're going to find Copilot. And then go ahead and click uninstall.
You need focus, not built-in surveillance.
Tweak #11
Disable activity tracking.
Windows tracks what apps and files you use, and then syncs that data.
Here’s how to turn it off: Go ahead and click Windows, Settings, Privacy & Security. Then we're looking for Diagnostics and feedback again, and go ahead and click Delete diagnostic data.
Then, under Search permissions, turn off Cloud content, search, inking and typing, personalization, and speech recognition features.
Your trading activity then stays private.
Tweak #12
Control when your system reboots after an update.
Few things are worse than Windows rebooting mid-session, or you left your machine on only to find out that it's rebooted itself, and you haven't saved everything.
Here’s how to turn it off: Go to Start, Settings. Now, we're looking for Windows update and then the Advanced Options. Then we're going to look for Notify me when a restart is required and click Enable.
This way, it'll send you a notification when it's time to restart instead of automatically rebooting for you. You stay in control, then, not Microsoft.
Overview
These 11 changes transform Windows 11 from a data collection platform into a lean, mean, focused trading machine. Less corporate surveillance, fewer distractions, and most importantly, faster performance.
Every disabled startup program equals more CPU power, every block telemetry stream equals more bandwidth, and every silence notification means more focus for you as a trader.
Microsoft kind of hides these settings because their defaults serve their business model, not yours.
Take 30 minutes to apply these tweaks. Your system will be faster, cleaner, and dialed in for peak trading performance.
But stay vigilant. Big updates can reset these preferences, so go ahead and recheck them every quarter if you can.
Remember, your trading edge in the markets is built on speed, focus, and information, not distraction.
Make sure your operating system isn't sabotaging these.
May the trend be with you!
