8 Annoying Details of Windows 11 (and How to Disable Them)

When you use Windows 11, you’ll notice some annoying things that weren’t as obvious in previous versions. My pet peeves are the daily performance issues caused by too many background processes. Many users aren’t excited about applications like Widgets, Edge or Copilot. Here we’ll look at the top Windows 11 annoyances you can easily turn off.

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1. CPU-Hogging Startup Apps

Unnecessary startup apps have always been a problem for Windows. They slow down your computer by using up valuable CPU resources. Even with 32 GB of RAM on my Windows 11 laptop, I still experience startup delays, which is extremely annoying.

Windows 11 has more bloatware than Windows 10, and it’s common to experience 100% CPU or 100% disk usage problems. The more programs you have, the more background processes, which all make the startup less pleasant.

But you don’t have to be at the mercy of these resource-consuming startup apps. You can easily outsmart them with three simple activities.

Make the SSD switch: for me, the main reason for startup delays is that I’m still using an HDD, and I don’t want to change because it’s a good working component. But if you have an SSD or are thinking of getting one, you’re already more than halfway to achieving faster startups.
End background processes in Task Manager: open the Task Manager windows using Ctrl + Alt + Del. Right-click to end any process tasks tied to uninstalled or unused applications.
Disable unnecessary startup apps: go to Settings -> Apps -> Startup and disable almost everything except audio services like Realtek. We all need the audio to work correctly after a PC restart. Everything else including browser windows are optional.

Tip: there’s a simple registry fix for faster startups that you may want to consider. Uninstalling unnecessary programs also helps with a faster PC.

2. Annoying Taskbar Widgets

If Windows 11 were a human body, the widgets would be like wisdom teeth – something we don’t need. They were meant to add news feeds and social media to your Windows PC, but they’re not popular. With all the news we already get on multiple devices, who wants another system app using up resources?

Luckily, you can easily turn off this annoying feature. Just go to Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar -> Taskbar items and disable Widgets. While you’re at it, disable as many System tray icons as possible. I’ve got none enabled, and it doesn’t affect my features accessibility or PC performance.

3. The Unnecessary OneDrive Backup

If there were awards for poorly designed Windows 11 features, the OneDrive backup would win first place. What could have been the most amazing feature is ruined by Microsoft’s aggressive push to sell their Microsoft 365 plan. Yes, online backups are necessary, but they need to be more affordable than what Microsoft currently offers.

The way the OneDrive app works, it automatically syncs all your file backups to the OneDrive cloud. You can also move each file manually to OneDrive through a right-click. But every Windows PC only gives you 5 GB of combined email and OneDrive space, which fills up very fast, forcing you to upgrade. It’s a shady marketing tactic by Microsoft that isn’t winning anyone over.

What leaves a bad taste is that I actually like Microsoft 365 and was using its Personal plan before, and will consider switching again. It gives 1 TB of cloud storage, and 6 TB on a Microsoft 365 Family plan. But it’s optional, and if I don’t want to pay for it, I shouldn’t be forced to. Microsoft is pushing users to upgrade to Microsoft 365 even though they already paid for a Windows 11 license.

Luckily, you can not only uninstall OneDrive from a Windows 11 PC, but also keep it disabled by not signing in. If you’ve already logged into a OneDrive account, you might have noticed all the annoying OneDrive backup icons next to each file. Unless you have an active Microsoft 365 subscription, sign out for good.

4. The Unremovable Edge Browser

As of October 2024, Microsoft Edge is the second most popular browser on desktop devices. According to Statcounter, it holds a 15.62% market share in the United States, just slightly ahead of Safari at 15.2%. However, many users feel Edge got to this position unfairly, as it’s the default on all Windows 11 devices.

It’s nearly impossible to uninstall Edge from a Windows 11 PC – the Uninstall option is conveniently greyed out. Edge is also the default browser for opening files like PDF, HTML, XML, or FTP. You can manually change these settings but with each new Windows update, the Edge defaults tend to return.

In my experience, trying to remove Edge from Windows 11 is a losing battle. You can, however, unpin the browser from the taskbar with a simple right-click and disable it in the System tray and startup apps, as mentioned earlier. You can also set another browser as your default, minimizing the disruptions due to Edge.

Tip: consider using the private Brave browser on a Windows 11 device. In my experience, it consumes far less CPU and is faster than Edge.

5. Copilot: More Hype than Help

With the release of 24H2, Windows 11 made a big announcement. The star of the show is the Copilot app, which is key to Microsoft’s plan to promote its next-generation Copilot+ PCs. Currently, the app is clunky, unresponsive at start, and seems to take forever to load. The good thing to know is the app is easy to uninstall from your device.

While Microsoft works on fixing the bugs in Copilot app, don’t let it use up your system resources. Even if you don’t want to uninstall it, disable it from the System tray and startup apps. You can still access Copilot on any browser when signed into Outlook/Hotmail.

6. Game Bar: Not Winning Over Non-Gamers

The Windows Game Bar is actually a great application. With the keyboard shortcut Win + G, you get access to video screenshots and more. However, left unchecked, it can use up a lot of CPU and RAM. If you keep it running even when you’re not playing a game, it will consume important resources that could be used for other tasks.

To disable the Game Bar, go to Settings -> Gaming -> Game Bar and turn off the Allow your controller to open Game Bar option. Also, under Gaming -> Game mode, turn off Game mode.

Related: If you still need to take screenshots or video recordings, the Printscreen key and Snipping Tool will work just fine.

7. Constant Distractions Due to App Badges

Of all the Windows 11 annoyances, the app badges are the ones most universally disliked. They keep popping up when you’re doing something important. Everything from my banking websites to browser extensions constantly send me these annoying reminders we can do without.

Thankfully, it’s very easy to disable the app badges. Go to Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar -> Taskbar behaviors, and uncheck both badges and flashing on the taskbar apps.

8. Search Highlights: Highlighting What’s Not Needed

When it comes to unnecessary clutter and irrelevant information, nothing is more annoying than the new Search Highlights feature. Whether you’re looking for an important app or file, you’ll be distracted by all the extra information and may get redirected to unwanted web pages.

Fortunately, it’s easy to turn off all this noise. Just go to Settings -> Privacy & Security -> More settings, and turn off Show search highlights.

More Windows 11 Annoyances

We have covered the topmost annoying features of Windows 11, and ways to deal with them quickly before they become intrusive. But there’s even more.

For example, never before in the history of the Windows operating systems, we have experienced so many updates and patches. It’s almost every week it seems that Windows 11 has a new update, or fixes as they call it. It’s becoming difficult to keep up with that pace. And the issues with each new update are so many, that we have to keep track of them every month.

Another annoying feature is the deprecated Start menu, which used to be a prominent feature in all previous Windows versions. It was possible to navigate to every thing in Windows directly from the Start menu. Now the feature has been reduced to a small button and you’re expected to remember the search query for each and every settings. Thankfully, there’s a tweak that will make the start menu usable again.

Image Credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Sayak Boral.

Sayak Boral –
Staff Writer

Sayak Boral is a technology writer with over eleven years of experience working in different industries including semiconductors, IoT, enterprise IT, telecommunications OSS/BSS, and network security. He has been writing for MakeTechEasier on a wide range of technical topics including Windows, Android, Internet, Hardware Guides, Browsers, Software Tools, and Product Reviews.

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