In Windows 11, Microsoft introduced a feature called “Efficiency Mode” within the Task Manager. When enabled, the operating system aggressively throttles the CPU priority of background applications and prevents them from consuming too much power. You will often see a small green leaf icon next to certain processes in the Task Manager.
While this is excellent for extending battery life on a laptop, it can be disastrous on a high-performance desktop PC. If you notice that Google Chrome is stuttering, or a background video rendering application is taking three times as long to complete, Windows might be forcing those apps into Efficiency Mode. You can manually disable this throttling on a per-app basis.
How to Turn Off Efficiency Mode for an App
You must use the Task Manager to instruct Windows to give an application full access to your CPU resources.
- Right-click on your taskbar and select Task Manager (or press Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
- If your Task Manager opens in a small window, click “More details” at the bottom to expand it.
- Navigate to the Processes tab on the left-hand sidebar.
- Scroll through the list of running apps and look for any process that has a small green leaf icon next to its status.
- Right-click on the throttled application.
- In the context menu, you will see Efficiency mode with a checkmark next to it.
- Click on Efficiency mode to uncheck the box and disable the feature for that specific app.
The green leaf will immediately disappear, and the application will instantly regain standard CPU priority. Note that certain core Windows processes (and some highly optimized browsers like Microsoft Edge) will automatically force themselves back into Efficiency Mode. However, for standard desktop applications, disabling this feature will dramatically improve their background performance.