A slow running computer can be really frustrating to use. It’s one thing when you’re asking a lot of the computer -for example, if you’ve got hundreds of tabs open in Chrome, it’s expected that your computer will struggle. But, it’s quite another, when you struggle to do something simple, like checking your email without Windows using its resources for something else in the background that you don’t really want.
It’s possible to configure Windows to prioritise foreground apps or background services. This guide will cover how to ensure that Windows 10 is configured to prioritise processing power for foreground applications.
To ensure that Windows prioritises programs over background services you need to open the Windows Performance options. You can open this menu by pressing the Windows key, typing “Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows” and hitting enter.
The processor priority options are on the “Advanced” tab of the Performance options. Once in the Advanced tab, ensure that “Adjust for best performance of:” is set to Programs.
Tip: By default, Windows is configured to prioritise programs over background services. However, checking that this setting has not been accidentally changed can be a good idea as this may resolve some performance issues.
Doing this makes sure that when there is a choice of a foreground app and a background service, resources go to the foreground one first!
