If you have installed or upgraded to Windows 11 and you are facing some issues or problems, this article will help you fix them. Here are some of the most common and known problems that users are facing and reporting on various public forums. Although Microsoft has been rolling out updates to fix most issues, this article will be an additional resource to troubleshoot common Windows 11 issues and problems.
Fix Windows 11 Problems and Issues
Some of the common Windows 11 problems and issues are:
- This PC doesn’t currently meet Windows 11 system requirements
- Unable to activate
- Unable to drag and drop items to the Taskbar
- Blank widgets
- Unable to download apps from Microsoft Store
- Slow internet connection or not working
- Slow boot time
- Printer not working
- Windows 11 draining battery fast
- Unable to change the default browser
- High CPU and Memory usage
- Slow File Explorer
- Full of bloatware
- Blank screen
- Slow performance
To learn more about these problems in detail, continue reading.
1] This PC doesn’t currently meet Windows 11 system requirements
This error appears even before installing Windows 11 when you try to check the hardware requirements using the PC Health Check app. As Windows 11 requires Trusted Platform Module 2.0, Secure Boot, etc., to be installed, you might get this issue on old hardware. However, you have several options to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware. For example, you can replace the DLL file, add Registry entries, etc. Apart from that, you can clean install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware.
2] Unable to activate
If you are upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11, your copy of Windows 11 should be activated automatically. However, it has not been activated and is showing some error codes; you might need to fix them as soon as possible. Otherwise, you will get Activate Windows watermark on the desktop. It is required to follow this tutorial to activate Windows 11.
3] Unable to drag and drop items to the Taskbar
Although Microsoft added so many new features in Windows 11, they removed some of the handy options as well. For example, users cannot pin items to the Taskbar using the drag and drop technique that was possible earlier. However, if you want to add drag and drop support to Windows 11 Taskbar, you need to download the Windows11DragAndDropToTaskbarFix from GitHub.
4] Blank widgets
Although Windows 10 has Widgets on the Taskbar, which is named News and Interests, Windows 11 has more flexibility and options. However, if you cannot use Widgets on Windows 11 or it appears as blank or not loading, you can fix them. All you need to do is to sign in to your Microsoft account. Apart from that, there are some other options and things to do. For that, you need to follow this tutorial to fix the blank Widgets issue on Windows 11.
5] Unable to download apps from Microsoft Store
It is another issue people are facing on Windows 11. They cannot download any app or game from Microsoft Store (formerly, Windows Store). If you are one of them, you need to check if you have signed in to your Microsoft account, your date and time setting is correct, you have a valid license, etc. You can also follow this tutorial to fix Something happened and this app couldn’t be installed error when downloading apps from Microsoft Store.
6] Slow internet connection or not working
Many new Windows 11 users have been facing this issue on their computers – specially on a laptop. At times, internet speed is comparatively slower than other devices, 5GHz Wi-Fi is not working or disconnecting frequently, it is not detecting Wi-Fi at all, etc. If you are one of the victims, you need to follow this tutorial to fix the slow internet issue on Windows 11. Apart from that, you can install the Wi-Fi driver, run Network Adapter Troubleshooter, etc.
7] Slow boot time
You could do several things to fix the slow boot time issue and make it run faster. The most important thing is the startup apps. If you have loads of apps assigned to be run at startup, you will undoubtedly get a slow boot time. Therefore, you need to follow this tutorial to disable startup programs in Windows 11. The more your reduce, the better startup time you will get. However, it also depends on the weight of the apps.
8] Printer is slow or not working
There are mainly things happening with Windows 11 users – printer is not working at all, printer is working but very slowly, printer is not printing in colors. If your printer is not working with Windows 11, you need to uninstall the existing driver or client and re-install it. However, if your printer is working very slowly, you need to hard reset the printer, check printer preferences, restart the Printer Spooler service, etc. If your printer is not printing in color, you have comparatively fewer issues than others. All you need to do is to change a setting.
9] Windows 11 draining battery fast
If Windows 11 is draining the battery faster than Windows 10 or any other older operating system, you can do several things to fix that issue. For example, you can turn on Battery Saver Mode, check battery usage by apps to know which app is consuming more battery, troubleshoot the Power problems, etc. You can also follow this guide to fix the battery draining issue in Windows 11. The most important thing is the hardware and number of app you use every day. If you use several heavyweight apps simultaneously, you will certainly get bad battery backup.
10] Unable to change the default browser
Microsoft has made it a lot harder to change the default browser on Windows 11, and that is messing with the regular users. Earlier, it was possible to change the default browser with one click. However, things are different now. At this point, you need to change the browser for each file extension. If you do not want to use Edge as your default browser and want to opt for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or any other browser, you need to follow this guide to know how to change the default browser on Windows 11.
11] High CPU and Memory usage
If you have a low amount of RAM or an older CPU, you might get this high CPU or Memory usage issue after installing Windows 11. Most of the victims have such hardware running Windows 11. If you are using Windows 11 and it is showing 100% Disk, CPU, and Memory usage in Task Manager, you need to follow this guide to fix the issue. Basically, you need to identify the app causing the problem, change a few settings, run the Chkdsk command, etc.
12] Slow File Explorer
As Microsoft included a new or revamped File Explorer, many people are facing different issues with it. One of the most common problems is that it is very slow to open on their computer. At times, File Explorer is crashing, freezing, and showing contents a lot slower than Windows 10’s old File Explorer. If it is happening with you, you can enable the old File Explorer on Windows 11. That way, it won’t run the File Explorer as a separate process, and you won’t get the slowness anymore. The best thing about this tutorial is that you will get the old context menu back.
13] Full of bloatware
Windows 11 comes with tons of bloatware or additional apps that you may not need or find unnecessary. For example, you can find Netflix, Spotify, Facebook, etc. If you want to remove bloatware from Windows 11 PC, you can use the Windows Settings panel. It is possible to remove almost all the additional apps from your Windows 11 computer.
14] Blank screen
If you have installed Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, you might get this blank or black screen with a blinking cursor problem. However, you can fix it by removing additional external devices, changing the boot source, etc. However, if you are getting a black screen after shutdown, you need to update your graphics driver, modify Power Management, enable boot logging, etc.
15] Slow performance
According to some people, Windows 11 is a lot slower than Windows 10. If you feel the same, you can change a few settings before downgrading to Windows 10 again. You can restrict the number of apps at startup, remove pre-installed apps, enable Fast Startup, disable visual effects, etc. It would be better to follow this guide to make Windows 11 fast.
These are some of the most common issues people are facing with Windows 11. However, you can always comment below if we have missed anything and you face something.
NOTES:
- Click here if you can’t find your problem and search for it. Chances are high that you will find some help.
- For most of these problems, there are some basic things you need to do. Follow these suggestions and chances are very high that most of your problems will be resolved. While these five universal Windows fixes will fix most of your Windows problems and issues, if you need specific troubleshooting advice, do follow the links to the several solutions I have mentioned in this post.
- Microsoft has made it easier for you to contact Microsoft Support if you face any problems. You may also post your issues here below in the comments and we will try to help you.
Are there any major issues with Windows 11?
As of now, there are no major issues with Windows 11. No matter whether you want to use this OS for app development, gaming, or regular purposes, you can use Windows 11 without any problem. However, the compatibility depends on the app and settings you want to use on your PC.
Why is Windows 11 so laggy?
Windows 11 is not laggy on supported hardware. However, you might feel the lag when in different situations. It entirely depends on the hardware you have, the apps you are using, the number of apps you have opened, the weight of the apps, etc. However, if you tweak this operating system a bit, you might not get any lag.
