How to enable Optimizations for windowed games in Windows 11

If you want to enable or disable Optimizations for windowed games in Windows 11, here is how you can do that. Microsoft recently included this option so that users can get better performance from a windows game. Whether a minimalist or high-end game, you can turn on or off the Optimizations for windowed games feature for that particular or all games.

What is a windowed game?

Windowed game is such a game that doesn’t cover the entire space of your monitor. Any game or app that doesn’t take the entire screen to run on the PC and runs in a window is called a windowed game or app.

At times, your computer’s graphics might not comply with the game window, and thus, you might get problems such as lagging, hanging, etc., at times. You can also find FPS drop issue while playing the game on your PC. To fix such problems, Microsoft included a feature called Optimizations for windowed games in the Windows Settings panel.

How to enable Optimizations for windowed games in Windows 11

To disable or enable Optimizations for windowed games in Windows 11, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+I to open Windows Settings.
2. Go to System > Display.
3. Click on the Graphics option.
4. Click the Change default graphics settings option.
5. Toggle the Optimizations for windowed games button to turn it on.

To get started, you need to open the Windows 11 Gaming Settings first. For that, press Win+I on your computer. Once it is opened, make sure that you are in the System tab.

If so, click on the Display menu visible on the right-hand side. Then, click on the Graphics option and select the Change default graphics settings option.

After that, toggle the Optimizations for windowed games button to turn it on.

Alternatively, if you want to disable this feature, you need to toggle the same button in Windows Settings.

Read: Tips to improve gaming performance on Windows 11

How to disable Optimizations for windowed game for a specific game

To disable Optimizations for a windowed game for a specific game, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+I to open Windows Settings.
2. Go to System > Display > Graphics.
3. Select a game by clicking on it.
4. Select the Options.
5. Tick the Don’t use optimizations for windowed games checkbox.
6. Click the Save button.

Let’s check out these steps in detail.

First, press Win+I to open Windows Settings. Then, go to System > Display > Graphics. Here you can find all the installed games.

You need to select a game by clicking on it once. Once the panel is expanded, click on the Options button.

Then, tick the Don’t use optimizations for windowed games checkbox and click the Save button.

Following that, the in-built optimizations will not work for that specific game.

How to turn on or off Optimizations for windowed games using Registry

To turn on or off Optimizations for windowed games using Registry, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
2. Type regedit and press the Enter button.
3. Click the Yes button.
4. Navigate to GraphicsSettings in HKCU.
5. Right-click on GraphicsSettings > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
6. Name it as SwapEffectUpgradeCache.
7. Double-click on it to set the value data as 1.
8. Click the OK button.
9. Navigate to UserGpuPreferences in HKCU.
10. Right-click on UserGpuPreferences > New > String value.
11. Name it as DirectXUserGlobalSettings.
12. Double-click on it to set Value data as SwapEffectUpgradeEnable=1;
13. Click the OK button and restart your computer.

Let’s find out more about these steps.

To get started, press Win+R, type regedit, hit the Enter button, and click on the Yes option to open the Registry Editor. Then, navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\DirectX\GraphicsSettings

Right-click on GraphicsSettings > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it as SwapEffectUpgradeCache.

Then, double-click on it to set the Value data as 1 and click the OK button.

After that, navigate to this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\DirectX\UserGpuPreferences

Right-click on UserGpuPreferences > New > String Value and name it as DirectXUserGlobalSettings.

Double-click on it to set the Value data as SwapEffectUpgradeEnable=1;.

Click the OK button and restart your computer.

However, if you cannot find GraphicsSettings and UserGpuPreferences keys, you need to create them manually. For that, right-click on DirectX > New > Key and name as mentioned above.

Read: How to enable or disable Game DVR or Game Bar in Windows 11/10

Is Windows 11 ready for games?

Yes, Windows 11 is more than ready for games. Whether you want to play a simple windowed game or a high-end game on your Windows 11 PC, you can do that without any problem. In fact, you can find a much better user experience while using Windows 11 than Windows 10.

How do I enable games in windowed mode?

Windowed mode depends on the game development. If the developers have given the support, you can press Alt+Enter to view the game in a windowed mode. However, if the game doesn’t support the windowed mode, you will get problems playing the game on your PC.

Also read: 30 Popular PC games available in Microsoft Store.