Fix Windows 11 Slow Boot: 7 Steps That Work in 2026

By ToolNerdy Editorial Team Updated May 2026 3 min read

The verdict

Is Windows 11 taking more than a minute to boot? Seven practical fixes — from disabling startup apps and updating drivers to upgrading the SSD, with Reset as a last resort.

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Is Windows 11 taking longer than a minute to boot? This guide collects 7 fixes that actually work in 2026, with notes on which symptoms point to which cause — work through them in order from easiest to hardest, no clean install required.

Why your Windows 11 PC boots slowly

In general, a modern PC with an SSD should reach the desktop within 15–30 seconds. If yours takes much longer, the usual suspects are a small set: too many startup apps, outdated drivers, a full disk, Fast Startup conflicting with hardware, or a spinning HDD still doing duty — as the Microsoft Q&A team summarizes from thousands of popular troubleshooting threads.

Step 1 — Disable unnecessary startup apps

This is the number one cause of slow boots. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) → the Startup apps tab → sort by Startup impact → right-click anything marked “High” and choose Disable. Keep only what’s essential, like an antivirus. Spotify, Steam, Discord, and OneDrive can all go. Per EaseUS’s guide.

Step 2 — Toggle Fast Startup and try both states

Fast Startup speeds up boot by saving the system state — but on some PCs (especially dual-boot setups or machines with older drivers) it actually slows things down due to conflicts. Try both settings:
Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Change settings that are currently unavailable → check or uncheck Turn on fast startup

Step 3 — Free up disk space

If your C: drive has less than 15–20% free space, Windows slows down across the board, including boot. Use Storage Sense (Settings → System → Storage) to clear temp files, the Recycle Bin, Windows.old, and app caches.

Step 4 — Update drivers, especially chipset, GPU, and NVMe

Old drivers cause boot stutters and slow hardware initialization. Visit your motherboard or laptop manufacturer’s site for the latest chipset driver, and update your GPU driver directly from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. Don’t rely on Windows Update alone — per Microsoft Learn’s guidance.

Step 5 — Run SFC and DISM

Corrupted system files can slow boot. Open Command Prompt (Run as administrator) and run, in order:

sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

If you hit errors that can’t be repaired, re-run after booting into Safe Mode.

Step 6 — Disable unnecessary visual effects

Settings → System → About → Advanced system settings → Advanced tab → Performance → Settings → choose Adjust for best performance, or pick only the effects you want. This helps both boot and Start menu responsiveness.

Step 7 — If you’re still on an HDD, upgrade to an SSD

If you’ve worked through everything above and still see boot times over a minute, the bottleneck is probably hardware. Swapping an HDD for an SSD (SATA or NVMe) is the single most impactful upgrade you can make. A 500 GB SSD is now widely available at a low price.

If nothing has worked — the last resort

Go to Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Keep my files. This reinstalls Windows 11 while preserving your personal files, and usually restores boot speed to like-new. It takes 30–60 minutes (back up first, just in case).