Microsoft is Working on ‘Low Latency Profile’ for Windows 11

Microsoft is reportedly working on a new “Low Latency Profile” for Windows 11 that will improve performance and responsiveness for various tasks by briefly boosting CPU speeds. According to Windows Central, Microsoft has already started testing the new mode with Insiders, and the performance improvements are noticeable when launching apps, accessing flyout menus on the taskbar, and more.

“When enabled, the boost can reportedly result in up to 40% faster app launch times for in-box apps like Edge and Outlook, and up to 70% faster launch times for interfaces like the Start menu and context menus. The feature is also said to positively impact the launch speed of most common third-party apps, too,” Windows Central’s Zac Bowden reported.

TESTED: Windows 11's upcoming "Low Latency Profile" mode brings genuine performance improvements to the OS, speeding up flyout and app launches significantly.

We've benchmarked opening some apps on video with the Low Latency Profile enabled and disabled, and you can see… pic.twitter.com/BCNtsXmx31

— Windows Central (@WindowsCentral) May 8, 2026

This new “Low Latency Profile” currently works automatically, and it may not be something Windows 11 users have control over. The brief CPU clock spikes also don’t last long enough to impact battery life or thermal performance.

While Microsoft has yet to officially announce the feature, Scott Hanselman, VP, Member of Technical Staff at Microsoft/GitHub, confirmed its existence and responded to messages on X criticizing it as a reflection of the poorly optimized state of Windows 11. However, the exec acknowledged that the Windows 11 Start Menu and search in File Explorer are slower than they were on previous versions of Windows.

Speaking about the Start Menu specifically, Hanselman said, “It is doing a bunch of stuff that it shouldn’t be doing, and yes there’s a full court press to make it faster with modern techniques process of variety of disciplines. Put it simply, I think it’s just doing too much and it needs to do less. And when we compare it to systems 20 or 30 years old, those systems were doing far less and making no network calls.”

Start menu is not React Native, and yes it is doing a bunch of stuff that it shouldn’t be doing, and yes there’s a full court press to make it faster with modern techniques process of variety of disciplines. Put it simply, I think it’s just doing too much and it needs to do less.…

— Scott Hanselman 🌮 (@shanselman) May 9, 2026

Still, regarding this new “Low Latency Profile” for Windows 11, Hanselman said that this is something Linux and other platforms already do. “Your smartphone already does this. Constantly. Every touch wakes cores, boosts clocks, renders a frame, then drops back to idle milliseconds later,” Hanselman explained, adding in another message that “Apple does this and y’all love it.”

Overall, Microsoft seems to be hard at work on fixing the fundamentals of Windows 11 this year, and this will certainly take some time. The company is also trying to make Windows 11 a better gaming operating system, and a new Xbox mode offering a controller-optimized, full-screen experience will start rolling out to all users later this month.