Microsoft has made huge additions and improvements to one of the most popular Windows tools: the Task Manager, with the first annual Windows 11 Update (also known as 22H2 Update). The update included almost completely redesigning the tool's graphical interface to align with the design format used in Windows 11, in addition to supporting Dark Mode.
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| What is Efficiency Mode in Windows 11 and how to activate it? |
What is Efficiency Mode?
As you probably know, dozens of processes are running in the background while using Windows, each taking up a percentage of the device's resources in general, whether the processor, RAM, hard disk, or Internet connection. Most of these processes are responsible for controlling the consumption of resources by the Windows system, as it identifies a lower percentage of unnecessary processes while prioritizing other processes according to the user's activity. However, Windows does not interfere with the processes of installed programs that run in the background as soon as the computer is turned on and consumes a large percentage of resources even when it is in idle mode. As a result, if your computer is limited, with a large number of processes active in the background, only a small percentage of the resources will be available to applications and programs that you are already using, such as a web browser. Over time, in this case, you will suffer from problems such as constant irritation or slow program response to commands.
In such a scenario, the common solution is to open the Task Manager tool and find the processes that are consuming the most processor, RAM, or hard drive, and then close them to save resource consumption and improve computer performance. However, this procedure sometimes causes other problems such as a failure to update a program or corruption of data before it can be saved. Here is the role of the new Efficiency Mode in Windows 11, which gives the user the option to reduce pressure on resources without closing any programs. Specifically, if you find that there is a program that consumes device resources, especially the processor (CPU) exaggeratedly, then this mode will help you to reduce the tasks that the program performs in the background and thus reduce its consumption so that it gives room for other processes to operate without slowing down, which leads to Faster response and better battery efficiency.
According to Microsoft, when Efficiency Mode is activated for an individual process or program, Windows lowers the priority of that process, as by default the system assigns priority to each process based on its requirements and current task but sometimes an error can occur in estimating this priority or requesting it wrongly through program or process. In this case, the process will consume a higher percentage of resources in a way that hinders the tasks that other high-priority processes perform. Ultimately, this leads to higher power consumption, delayed response to commands, and in the worst case, a complete system crash.
Efficiency Mode solves this problem by lowering the priority of the user-selected process so that it gets the least amount of resources possible without interfering with other processes. Once this happens, Windows also enters this process into a phase called "EcoQoS" which forces it to run in such a way that it does not consume the maximum speed of the processor. All these actions are carried out in a flash as soon as the "efficiency mode" of any process is activated. Microsoft says that using this mode can provide approximately 14 to 76% better performance in software responsiveness - particularly on weaker hardware.
It is worth noting that Microsoft offers developers a PowerThrottling API that can be adopted in programs and applications, which will help the Windows system activate efficiency mode automatically in the background when it senses the need for it so that it adapts to the system and does not waste resources when using the program on a computer with limited capabilities. Indeed, this interface is used in Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers, and therefore you will not need to manually activate Efficiency mode to improve efficiency when using any of these programs.
How to activate Efficiency Mode
If you notice that commands are slow to respond while using your computer, or some programs are consuming processor/ram/hard capabilities excessively, or you want to save as many resources as possible to smoothly carry out somewhat heavy tasks such as running a game or editing a video, here it is Instead of closing a bunch of background tasks, you can try enabling Efficiency Mode — as long as you're using Windows 11 version 22H2 or higher.
All you have to do is open the "Task Manager" tool by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc together on the keyboard or pressing the Win + X keys, and from the menu that appears, select "Task Manager". After opening the tool, press the menu button ( ☰ ) in the upper left corner and select "Processes" to view all the processes running in the background. Now find the program that is consuming a large number of resources. To make it easier, click on the CPU or Memory column header to re-sort the processes in ascending order and display those consuming the most in front.
After selecting the process, click on the "Efficiency mode" option from the top bar. But if you find this option unusable, it is because the process that you selected belongs to the Windows system and you cannot use efficiency mode with it, otherwise, it will directly affect the performance of the system. If the option is available, after clicking on it, a message will appear to confirm that you want to activate the efficiency mode for this process, so click on “Turn on Efficiency mode” for confirmation. Once you do, you won't notice immediate changes to resource consumption and the process will still run but in a restricted way as we explained earlier.
You can enable Efficiency mode for any number of processes as long as it is allowed, and an icon will appear in the "Status" column indicating that Efficiency mode is on for your selected processes so that they can be easily distinguished from other processes. If you want to cancel this mode, right-click on the process name and select "Efficiency mode" from the list.
In short, Efficiency Mode in Windows 11 is the latest invention from Microsoft to improve battery life and resource consumption in the most efficient way to maintain stable performance on weak devices by decreasing the priority of processes or tasks and preventing maximum CPU speed from being used by running tasks. the background.
