Best Windows 11 settings for gaming
Turn on Game Mode, use the Best performance power mode, set your monitor to its highest refresh rate, keep your GPU driver current, and cut startup apps. Those five cover most of what Windows lets you change in Settings.
Fastplay team · Updated
Steps
- Restore point first. Start > type "Create a restore point" > Create. Name it and wait a minute.
- Game Mode on. Settings > Gaming > Game Mode.
- Power mode. Settings > System > Power & battery > Power mode > Best performance. Laptops: plug in.
- Refresh rate. Settings > System > Display > Advanced display > pick the highest rate.
- Graphics preference. Settings > System > Display > Graphics. Add your game's .exe, set High performance. Matters most on laptops with two GPUs.
- Mouse acceleration off. Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mouse > Additional mouse settings > Pointer Options > untick Enhance pointer precision.
- Startup apps. Task Manager > Startup apps. Disable what you don't need right when you log in.
- GPU driver. Get it from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel directly.
- Restart. Then play a few rounds before changing anything else, so you know what helped.
- Check what changed. Play the same mode for a few rounds and note how fights, aim and loading feel. Change one thing at a time so you know what helped.
What these settings do not reach
Game Mode, power mode and refresh rate are the controls Windows exposes. How Windows prioritizes the game under load, handles input, services network traffic and wakes your drive is set underneath, outside the Settings app. Fastplay modules work there.
Per game: what to change where
- Fortnite, Apex, Warzone, PUBG, Battlefield 6: big maps that stream a lot. Background apps and storage are the first things to check.
- Valorant, CS2, Overwatch 2, Rainbow Six Siege: cap your frame rate a little above your refresh rate for steadier frame times.
- League of Legends, Rocket League, Marvel Rivals: usually light on the GPU; refresh rate and mouse settings matter most.
Want to go further?
The steps above are the settings Windows and your driver show you, and they are worth doing either way. Underneath them is a deeper layer of Windows scheduling, input, network and storage behavior that the normal menus do not expose. That is what Fastplay builds for, from a team working on gaming regedit optimization since 2015, with modules developed and tested over years. See what each module does.
Run a free scanFAQ
Does Game Mode actually do anything?
It tells Windows to hold back updates and background work while you play. Leave it on.
Should I turn off hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling?
Try it both ways. Some PCs feel better with it, some without.
Can I undo all this?
Every step is a setting you can flip back, and the restore point covers the rest.