Windows 11 already does a lot of game-related work in the background. You do not need a long list of "debloat" tweaks, registry edits or third-party "optimisers" to get a sensible setup. Microsoft's own gaming pages recommend a short list of settings to check, and that is the list this guide follows.
Forge PC has not benchmarked these settings against each other, and we have not measured a frame-rate change from any of them. The steps and feature descriptions below come from Microsoft's Windows 11 gaming pages and DirectX documentation, read on 13 November 2026. Menu names can change between Windows versions.
If you are still installing the operating system, start with our Windows 11 install guide. If a game is already running poorly, our performance checklist is the wider pass, including drivers and background apps. This page is only about the built-in Windows settings.
1. Turn Game Mode on
Microsoft says Game Mode should be on by default, but it is still worth checking. The path it gives is Settings > Gaming > Game Mode.
Game Mode is the setting Microsoft tells people to confirm first when they ask how to optimise Windows 11 for gaming. We will not invent a percentage gain for it. If it is off, turn it on, restart a game, and see whether anything feels different before you touch anything else.
2. Open the Graphics settings page
The other options live under Settings > System > Display > Graphics. Microsoft's public gaming FAQ tells you to choose Change default graphics settings (the wording on a current Windows 11 PC may be a slightly shorter "Default graphics settings" or similar). From there, you can check three features, if your hardware supports them:
Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling (HAGS). Microsoft's DirectX documentation says this lets Windows offload most GPU scheduling work to dedicated hardware on the graphics card, which reduces the load on the CPU. The toggle only appears if your GPU and driver support it. When Microsoft introduced the feature, it was an opt-in, and the company said most people should not notice a dramatic change. If the option is there, you can turn it on, restart, and keep it if games remain stable. If a game misbehaves afterwards, turn it off again; that is a fair test, not a promise of more frames.
Optimisations for windowed games. This is also on the default graphics settings page. It is aimed at games running in a window or in borderless windowed mode. Microsoft lets you set it system-wide or per app.
Auto HDR. Microsoft says Auto HDR requires an HDR monitor and works with titles that use DirectX 11 or later. Only turn this on if you actually have an HDR display and have already run Windows' HDR calibration. On a standard SDR monitor it is not a free image upgrade.
On the same Graphics page you can also set a GPU preference for individual games, which matters on a laptop with both integrated and dedicated graphics. For a desktop with a single graphics card it is usually less important.
3. Use Game Bar when you need an overlay, not all the time
Press Windows logo key + G to open Xbox Game Bar. Microsoft describes it as a built-in overlay for performance metrics, screen capture, volume and some Xbox social features, so you do not have to Alt-Tab out of a game.
To record, Microsoft's Game Bar page says: open the overlay, use Record from now to start a clip and Stop recording to finish, or Take screenshot for a still. In full-screen games, Windows logo key + Alt + G starts and stops recording. Captures are then available from See my captures in the Capture widget.
You do not need Game Bar running for games to perform well. If you already use an overlay you prefer, such as the NVIDIA app or MSI Afterburner, you can leave Game Bar alone. If its shortcuts clash with a game, you can turn the overlay off in Settings > Gaming > Game Bar.
4. Check DirectStorage, but do not expect a switch to flick
DirectStorage is a Microsoft feature that can improve game load times on compatible hardware. Microsoft says it works automatically when your PC and the game support it. The way it gives to check support is: open Game Bar (Win + G), open the gear icon, and choose Gaming Features.
Microsoft's footnotes say DirectStorage depends on an NVMe SSD that uses the standard NVM Express controller driver, and a DirectX 12 GPU with Shader Model 6.0 support. There is no separate "turn DirectStorage on" toggle in the usual Settings app. If your PC supports it and a game uses it, it is already in play. If you want the storage side of the picture, our SSD buying guide covers current drives.
5. Keep graphics drivers and Windows itself up to date
This is not a hidden setting, but it matters more than most of the toggles above. Install graphics drivers from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel the way our driver update guide describes, and let Windows Update deliver quality and security fixes.
One Windows security setting is now on by default for many PCs and can affect games: memory integrity (part of Core isolation). Our Memory Integrity note explains what Microsoft changed and how to check it.
What we are not recommending
You will find plenty of videos and lists that tell you to disable services, uninstall built-in apps, turn off visual effects globally, or run third-party "Windows tweakers". Microsoft does not recommend that as a gaming setup process, and we are not going to either. Some of those changes are hard to reverse, and some "optimisers" are simply unsafe to download.
If a game stutters, measure first with HWiNFO or an overlay, then look at drivers, temperatures, RAM running at its rated speed, and background software. The Windows settings on this page are the ones Microsoft actually documents for gaming.
Our verdict
Check Game Mode is on, then look at Settings > System > Display > Graphics for hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling, windowed-game optimisations and Auto HDR if you have an HDR screen. Use Game Bar (Windows key + G) if you want a built-in overlay or recorder, and use its Gaming Features panel to see whether the PC supports DirectStorage. Keep graphics drivers current. We have not measured frame rates from these toggles; the steps come from Microsoft's own Windows 11 gaming documentation.
