My computer is slow: what to try, and when it is time to replace it
Updated 9 November 2026 · How-to
The usual causes of a slow computer, the fixes we try first, and the point at which a new machine costs less than lost time.
A slow computer is one of the most common complaints we hear and one of the most varied in its causes. Some fixes take two minutes; some mean a new machine. Here is how we think about it.
Things to try first
Restart properly, choosing Restart rather than shutting down, and let any pending updates finish. Close browser tabs: a browser with forty tabs open can use more memory than everything else combined. Check the disk is not nearly full; in Settings, System, Storage on Windows, or About This Mac, Storage on a Mac. A drive over about 90 percent full slows everything. Moving files to OneDrive and emptying Downloads often helps.
Is it the computer or something else?
If only websites and cloud apps are slow, the problem may be the network rather than the computer; see Fixing slow or dropping Wi-Fi. If one program is slow and the rest fine, the program is the place to look. If the computer is slow at everything, including opening the Start menu or a folder, read on.
What we check
Whether something is running in the background that should not be, from a stuck update to malware. How much memory the computer has and how much is in use; 8 GB is now the minimum for comfortable office work, and 16 GB is better. Whether the drive is a modern solid-state drive or an old spinning disk; replacing a spinning disk with a solid-state drive is the single most effective upgrade for an older computer and is often worth doing. Whether the disk is healthy, because a failing drive gets slow before it fails. And whether the computer is overheating and slowing itself down to cope, usually because of dust.
Upgrade or replace?
A computer under four years old with a slow disk or too little memory is often worth upgrading. A computer older than that, or one that cannot run Windows 11, usually is not: the money is better spent on a new machine that will last another five years. We give you the honest comparison for each machine. A rough rule: if someone loses ten minutes a day waiting, that is around forty hours a year, which costs more than a replacement.
Asking us
Email hello@bitnode.tech with the computer's name, what is slow, since when, and whether anything changed around then. On managed computers we can usually see the cause in our monitoring before we even connect.
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