Windows updates add a lot of good features and security patches to your system. But as useful as these updates are, they can also make your computer slow down after you've installed them.

If your copy of Windows 10 has crawled to a slow after an update, these tips should help you troubleshoot the problem and get it back to its original state.

Is Windows 10 Slow After Applying an Update? Here's Why

Windows 10 updates are good. In fact, they are your first line of defense against harmful malware and viruses, even before you install some of the best antivirus programs on Windows.

These updates also patch any bugs that make applications crash and add some nice quality-of-life features and settings. In short, every update aims to make your computer function better.

So if they're aimed at making your PC better, why does your computer sometimes run slower after a Windows update? Throughout our research, we have found these to be the top causes of a slow computer after a Windows update:

  1. While Windows updates are near-essential, they aren't perfect. Sometimes, a bug in an update introduces some new performance problems.
  2. If some of your Windows system files have corrupted, they can cause your PC to slow down.
  3. Finally, background apps can sometimes mess with how your PC assigns its resources.

Now that we know the main causes, it's time to fix a slow Windows 10 for good.

How to Fix a Slower Windows 10 After an Update

While the above points cover most cases of a Windows 10 slowdown after an update, they don't cover all of them for sure. So whatever the cause of the slowdown of your Windows 10 computer, if you follow the methods listed in this guide to the end, your PC should speed back up in no time.

1. Restart Windows 10

windows boot up

In most cases when you get an update for your Windows 10, your PC will restart on its own during the course of the update. But if your PC skipped this crucial step for some reason, a quick manual reboot is well worth the effort. A reboot frees up your memory from apps that were previously using it (but are somehow still occupying that space even now).

While this is bad for a variety of reasons, in this case, it could help you fix your Windows 10 slowed caused by updates.

2. Roll Back the Most Recent Windows Updates

If new updates have caused Windows 10 to slow down, rolling back the updates should undo the issue. Fortunately, Microsoft has made this easy by allowing you to manually uninstall Windows updates. Delete the most recent update and hold off from updating your Windows PC until Microsoft can iron out any bugs with it.

3. Repair Corrupted or Damaged System Files

Sometimes the system-critical Windows files might end up corrupted or damaged after an update. System Files on Windows are critical for your computer's smooth operation, so if they become damaged, they can cause slowdown issues in Windows 10.

Fortunately, you can repair the damage through the System File Checker, a free tool developed by Microsoft that comes in handy for corruption issues such as this one. The tool works by scanning your entire PC and then repairing whatever issues it can.

After the scan is complete, reboot your system. If a recent update did cause any corruption, this should fix it.

If the SFC command fails to recover your files, use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) command instead. This is another Windows diagnostic tool created by Microsoft, and while there are some differences between SFC and DISM, it basically tries to solve similar types of problems. Run a DISM scan, then run the SFC command again to repair any errors.

If you're not sure how to run either of these commands, check out how to repair corrupt Windows files with Windows' built-in tools.

4. Disable Background Apps

Sometimes, unnecessary background apps can cause Windows 10 to slow down after an update. As such, you can try disabling them to see if that fixes the problem.

Windows 10 comes with many pre-installed apps from day one. And in many cases, these apps will keep running in the background—even when you are not using them. They don't need to, though, as a good percentage of them are not really required for Windows 10 to function.

Unfortunately, these apps eat away at your computer's resources. As such, you can fix too many background processes running on a Windows PC and see if that helps.

5. Perform a Clean Boot

A clean boot is performed by starting a computer with minimal drivers and applications. This allows the PC to operate without any unneeded interference from most applications, which can help with diagnosing if an app is causing your PC's slow down.

Start off by performing a clean boot on Windows 10. If your PC feels much quicker after a clean boot, that means one of the apps you disabled earlier was the culprit.

Now you can continue clean booting your PC, but slowly re-adding your apps one by one. The moment your PC begins to suffer again, whatever app you just enabled is behind the problem.

6. Run Windows System Restore

System Restore is a free tool that works by taking your Windows back to a point in time where everything worked fine on your computer. It's a great tool, especially when you need to revert your PC to a state where everything was functioning normally.

As such, you can use System Restore to revert Windows and undo whatever change is causing your PC to slow down. Remember, you need to have created a System Restore point on Windows in the past before you can use this feature.

7. Remove Unnecessary Programs

If you have a boatload of unnecessary apps occupying your PC’s memory that you haven’t used in a while, now might be a good time as any to clean everything up. Indeed, if the number of apps is too large, you will see an instant bump in your PC’s speed as soon as you remove them.

  1. Head to the Start menu search bar, type in ‘remove’, and select the best match.
  2. The Settings menu will be launched, and you will get the list of all your installed apps on Windows.
    uninstall windows  apps
  3. Now, scroll down through the whole list, go through the apps, and then uninstall the ones you think that are occupying your PC’s space unnecessarily.

Restart your PC after this, and you should notice a nice increase in your PC's speed.

8. Perform a Factory Reset

The last resort for a slow Windows 10 PC is to perform a Windows factory reset and start from scratch. Be warned though; this is a nuclear option that will take your computer to the original, fresh state when you bought it.

Speed Up Windows 10 After an Update

Facing a computer slow down after a Windows 10 update is a big nuisance; one that you might face one day as well. Hopefully, one of the methods listed above restored your PC back to its original performance.