How to disable background apps in Windows 11/10

How to disable background apps in Windows 11/10: In the Windows operating system, many applications run in the background, while they consume some computer resources and communicate over the Internet. Therefore, users are interested in the answer to the question of how to disable background applications in Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems.

These applications are constantly running on the computer, even if you have not launched them. The useless operation of background applications, for example, affects the battery life of a laptop, consumes Internet traffic, and affects the overall system load.

Content:

1. How to disable background apps in Windows 11
2. How to disable background apps in Windows 10
3. How to disable background apps on PC in group policy
4. Disable Background Applications in Registry Editor
5. Article Conclusions
6. How to disable background apps in Windows 11 and Windows 10 (video)

Taking these circumstances into account, users need to learn about how to turn off applications running in the background. This will slightly reduce the overall load on the device.

After disabling a background application, you can launch this application yourself when you need it. Otherwise, when running in the background, this application will waste your PC resources.

The Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems have GUI functionality to disable background applications, and built-in tools are also available.

This guide applies to apps shipped with the operating system or installed from the Microsoft Store. Classic programs are not affected by this functionality because they work on different principles. To disable the background operation of a regular application, you must disable the launch of this program in startup or from the settings of the application itself.

In this article, you will find instructions on how to disable background apps in Windows 11 and Windows 10 in several ways. You can use the Settings application GUI to do this, and you can use other options to make changes to system settings in the Local Group Policy Editor or in the Windows Registry.

How to disable background apps in Windows 11

First, let’s see how to disable background applications in Windows 11. You can solve the problem by changing the operating system settings in the settings.

Do the following:

1. Right click on the start menu.
2. In the context menu that opens, select Options.
3. The Settings app will open on the screen.
4. Go to the “Apps” tab and then click on “Apps & Features”.

1. Click on the button with three dots next to the application you want to stop running in the background.
2. Select “Advanced Options” from the drop-down menu.

Please note that classic, regular applications do not have this settings item.

1. In the settings of this application, in the “Permissions for background applications” section, in the “Allow an application to run in the background” option, set the value to “Never”. Also note that in the “Starts at login” section, the application is disabled in startup. This setting affects some applications that are added to autorun.

If necessary, you can launch a disabled application at any time to use this program for solving application problems. But it will not automatically start to run in the background.

How to disable background apps in Windows 10

In the Windows 10 operating system, the user can immediately completely disable all background applications. You also have the option to select individual apps that can run in the background while disabling others.

Go through the steps:

1. Enter the Start menu to launch the Settings app.
2. Open “Privacy”.
3. In the privacy settings, go to the “Background Applications” tab.
4. In the “Allow apps to run in the background” option, slide the switch to the “Disabled” position.

If you require a background application to run on your computer, you can allow background applications to run. In the “Choose which apps can run in the background” section, select a specific background app, and then disable other apps.

Also Read: How to Uninstall Windows 11 Preinstalled Apps

How to disable background apps on PC in group policy

On Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems, in Pro (Professional) and Enterprise (Corporate) editions, you can disable background applications using changes in the Local Group Policy Editor.

Do the following:

1. Press the “Win” + “R” keys.
2. In the “Run” dialog box, in the “Open:” field, enter the command – “gpedit.msc”.
3. Press the “Enter” key.

1. In the “Local Group Policy Editor” window, follow the path:

Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Application Privacy

1. Double click on “Allow Windows apps to run in the background”.

1. In the “Let Windows apps run in the background” window, set the option to “Enabled”, and in the “Default for all apps:” option, set the option to “Force deny”.
2. Click on the “OK” button.

Disable Background Applications in Registry Editor

Users of all versions of Windows, including home editions of the operating system, can use an alternative method: change the necessary settings in the Windows system registry.

To disable background applications for all computer users in the registry editor, do the following:

1. Open the registry editor on your computer.
2. Follow the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

1. Right-click on the “Windows” section.
2. From the context menu, first select New and then Partition.

1. Name this section “AppPrivacy”.
2. Right-click on the “AppPrivacy” section, select “New” from the menu that opens, and then “DWORD (32-bit) Value”.

1. Right-click on the created parameter, select “Rename”.
2. Name this setting as follows – “LetAppsRunInBackground”.
3. Right-click on the “LetAppsRunInBackground” parameter, select “Edit …” from the context menu.
4. In the “Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value” window, enter “2” in the value field, and then click on the “OK” button.

Disabling background applications for the current user takes place in the following registry branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\BackgroundAccessApplications

Create a “DWORD (32-bit) Value” named “GlobalUserDisabled”. Change the “GlobalUserDisabled” setting to set its value to “1”.

Article Conclusions

Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems use background apps. These applications, when not used by the user, uselessly consume computer resources, send and receive data from the Internet. To avoid unnecessary load, it is necessary to disable background programs.

The user can independently disable background applications from the Windows settings, or using the local group policy editor and the registry editor. If necessary, disabled applications are started manually.