win-optimizer combines Windows cleanup, app removal, privacy settings, desktop customization and system maintenance. It also provides hardware monitoring, process inspection and Windows diagnostics.
Preview settings in Test mode and review cleanup results before choosing what to apply.
Download win-optimizer for Windows 10 & 11
Open win-optimizer.Installer.exe, select regular or portable, then browse
or enter a destination folder. Regular installs register with Windows and support
shortcuts and uninstallation; portable installs use a movable app folder.
Updates and uninstallation preserve files that setup did not install. Changing
installation type requires another folder or removal of the existing installation.
See data and uninstallation before removing shared data.
x64 · .NET and Windows App SDK runtimes included.
Prefer PowerShell? Install with one command
irm "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sh1zen/win-optimizer/main/win-optimizer.ps1" | iexThe command downloads and opens the same setup wizard to choose regular or portable installation and its destination folder. Installation and in-app updates use the latest published stable release. System-level operations require the applicable Windows administrator permissions; some hardware tools also depend on compatible firmware or drivers.
User guide — features, settings and backups
Opening the app shows a loading window while settings and the main interface initialize.
- Pick a task. Open Software & Apps, Optimize, Cleaner or another section from the sidebar. Overview cards lead to individual tools; Optimize and Customize also offer search suggestions.
- Inspect your choices. Read the current values and available options. Use a setting's ⓘ button or Ctrl+D to inspect registry values, scripts and dependencies; close the dialog with Close, Escape or Ctrl+D.
- Preview settings when needed. Use the title-bar Test mode button to build a temporary configuration draft before applying supported settings to Windows.
- Review and confirm. Select scan results or changes, confirm the operation and follow its progress in the shared footer. Cancellation is available where supported; logs and history help you review the outcome.
Use Back/Forward or Alt+Left/Right to move between section overviews and subpages, including Settings categories. Selecting a sidebar destination opens its overview. App inventory has its own loading indicator.
| What you want to do | Where to start |
|---|---|
| Remove unwanted Windows apps and installed software | Software & Apps |
| Adjust privacy, gaming, power and desktop settings | Optimize and Customize |
| Clean temporary files, caches and broken shortcuts | Cleaner |
| Review antivirus, firewall and security settings | Security |
| Inspect unused drivers and available driver updates | Drivers |
| Watch hardware activity with desktop widgets | Extension |
| Manage system editors, battery charging, startup, processes and Windows health | Control |
| Prepare Windows installation media and reusable configurations | Advanced Tools |
Software & Apps lists Windows apps, capabilities, optional features and external software for selected uninstallation. Table, card and compact views share saved sorting by group, name, installation date, size or last usage. Dates/sizes sort newest/largest first, with unknowns last. Cards and compact views retain groups; table headers also offer column sorting.
Installation dates can reflect updates, sizes are estimates or packaged file sizes, and last usage depends on the interactive account's available shell launch history. Unavailable values appear as —. Show hidden or inactive installed apps is an administrator-only opt-in for catalogued AppX packages retained on the device without a current-account registration; inactive entries have orange indicators.
After uninstallation, review detected registry resources, files and folders before choosing Delete selected. Active, shared, restart-deferred and unverifiable resources remain protected, and coverage gaps are reported. Scan again refreshes the evidence. Every residue cleanup requires a verified backup, which you can restore in the review or through Uninstall cleanup backups.
Configuration imports can select apps for review or explicitly request removal; External Apps defaults to selection only.
App icons use artwork from installed Windows packages and desktop programs' registered local icons. Refresh reloads desktop icon references; entries without readable artwork use category glyphs.
External Apps combines its supported app catalogue with installed desktop programs registered by Windows for the machine or current account. Refresh discovers new installations. Programs outside the catalogue appear under Other Utilities; automatic reinstallation is available only for supported catalogue entries.
The Leftover tab lists verified obsolete app registrations, unused MSI/MSP/EXE installer-cache files and aged installation folders identified by stale registrations in Program Files, ProgramData and account AppData. Executable payloads, active references, unknown ownership, incomplete coverage, ongoing installation, pending restart or recent use exclude affected files/folders. Review paths and explanations, select entries and choose Delete selected. The summary includes selections hidden by search. Cleanup creates a verified backup under Uninstall cleanup backups; Refresh rescans. See the leftover scan guide for locations and eligibility.
Optimize and Customize bring privacy, gaming, Windows Update, power, sound, notifications and desktop customization into searchable categories. Controls show current settings and available choices. Advertising, suggestions and promotional content have individual controls in Privacy & Security, Notifications and Start Menu. Configuration review shows queued changes matching your search.
- Context-menu customization: enable or disable a program's supported Explorer registrations together, or expand a group to change individual entries. Icons, enabled-entry counts, search and registry-location details help identify them. Changes apply immediately and can be reversed with the same toggle; machine registrations may require elevation. Group operations report partial failures. Registry commands, COM handlers and file-type registrations are supported; packaged Windows 11 extensions may not appear.
- Network tuning: inspect 25 controls for TCP behavior, offloading, IPv4/IPv6 limits and legacy name-resolution priorities. Confirm each edit and use Refresh to reread Windows values. Clear override removes a legacy priority override; those priorities may be ignored by modern resolution and require a restart after changes. Enhance network performance restores normal TCP receive-window auto-tuning and enables global RSS. Results depend on your network and adapter; these settings do not guarantee speed improvements. DNS, proxies, VPNs and adapter-specific choices remain intact. See the network controls guide.
- Optional Windows features: confirmed toggles control selected services, diagnostic data, Cortana, Copilot and advertising. On applies the named restriction; off restores related policies and declared service defaults. Previous custom service choices are not restored. The services toggle covers installed Retail Demo, Offline Maps and Fax services and requires a restart. Windows 10 also offers Timeline activity publishing. Home/Pro can still send required diagnostic data when telemetry restrictions are enabled.
- Copilot controls: apply Windows/Edge policies and remove the interactive account's standalone Microsoft Copilot app and local data. The toggle reflects policy state; turning it off restores policies. Reinstall the app from Microsoft Store if needed. Edge coverage depends on version and profile; web access remains available. Individual policy/service controls are also available under Privacy and Gaming and Performance.
- Update notifications: on shows standard Windows Update notifications; off suppresses them, including restart warnings. Recommended and Windows-default configurations leave notifications on.
Context-menu, network and optional-feature tools block changes in Test mode and configuration review. Network edits verify Windows readback and expose discovery errors. Optional-feature tools run separately from configuration presets and exports.
Cleaner covers privacy traces, junk files, shortcuts, registry cleanup, registry defragmentation and disk optimization. Scan first, expand grouped results, select actionable findings and confirm cleanup. Scan choices save automatically; changing options requires another scan. Failed or cancelled scans provide no cleanup plan. Disk analysis displays the selected drive and the full, selectable Windows report.
Use Settings → Cleaner to choose scan targets, file age, registry categories, deep scanning, cache locations and the drive to optimize. Privacy, junk, registry and shortcut scans have independent account selections. The interactive account is selected initially; clearing all accounts skips user data while enabled common locations still run. Unavailable profiles produce notices.
Cleanup coverage, protected files and recovery
- Junk files: user/Windows temporary folders, diagnostic logs (CBS archives, DISM, setup and Windows Update), WER reports, crash dumps, temporary Internet files, thumbnails and DirectX shader caches are enabled by default. Saved exclusions are respected. Installed-app LocalCache/TempState folders are separate opt-ins. Windows Installer, component-store and Prefetch files are outside these rules; event-channel maintenance is available from Cleaner.
- File age and activity: all detected junk appears in results, but the default seven-day modification-age limit protects recent files with disabled selection and a reason. Choose 0–365 days; zero includes recent inactive files. Locked files and files accessed after scanning begins remain protected. Close their app and rescan before cleaning unavailable files.
- Privacy traces: supported browser caches/history and Windows/application traces use known locations. Office/WinRAR history, jump lists, offline browser caches and Defender support logs are separate opt-ins. Clearing jump lists also clears pinned items. Active or locked files show a reason and cannot be selected; portable apps and custom data paths may fall outside coverage.
- Broken shortcuts: selected Desktop, Start menu and recent-document locations are checked for confirmed missing local targets. Unresolved or unavailable network targets are retained. Recent-document scanning defaults on independently of privacy history, and overlapping findings appear once.
- Registry maintenance: cleanup checks typed references in applicable registry views and requires explicit selection of values. Service, virtual-device and firewall findings are diagnostic. References and file evidence are rechecked before changes. Compaction uses selected registry accounts; deep scanning also analyzes machine hives.
- Backups: file/value backup and whole-hive backup options default on. Backup preparation must finish before selected resources change. Restore file/value backups from Settings; conflicting current data is preserved. Whole-hive backups include offline recovery notes. Cancellation retains completed work and backups; active native hive operations finish before stopping.
Use Cleaner → Events cleanup to select and confirm event channels to clear. Windows creates EVTX backups; per-channel results report failures and archive-verification errors. Partial cleanup shows a completion summary; complete failures and archive issues show an error. Open archives in Event Viewer.
Security checks antivirus protection, Windows Firewall profiles, known active Defender threats, UAC and pending security/critical updates in the local Windows Update cache. Empty cached update results need an online Windows Update check. Threat inspection reads existing detections; use Windows Security for a current malware scan and verify third-party antivirus registrations with their provider.
Deep scan adds optional hardening and privacy checks for ISATAP, Teredo, Firefox
homepage protection, language-list access and app-launch tracking. Select supported
findings and confirm Apply selected fixes. Network changes can affect managed
networks or games. Firefox protection locks its policy homepage, using about:home
when no policy URL exists, and requires a browser restart. Custom Firefox policies
and portable installations need manual review.
Fixes recheck evidence and verify readback, with explicit results for changed, unavailable, managed or tamper-protected settings. Rescan before retrying attempted fixes. Cancellation retains completed changes. Test/review modes allow scanning and block fixes; UAC, threats and updates require review in Windows settings or your antivirus.
Drivers scans unreferenced driver-store packages, disconnected device registrations and applicable offers from Microsoft's public Windows Update service. Only show WHQL-tested driver updates defaults on in Settings → Drivers; verification uses matching INF/catalog evidence, rather than a trusted signature alone. Scanning may download packages for inspection, but does not install updates or automatically accept licenses. Online failures are reported separately from empty results.
Select unused packages or disconnected devices and confirm Uninstall selected. Removal requires elevation and a fresh inventory check; bound, changed, inbox and boot-critical packages are protected. Removing a disconnected device retains its package, and that device may still be needed. Cancellation stops between native removals and reports completed work, failures and restart requirements.
The Extension section provides desktop widgets:
- SysMonitor: follow CPU, memory, network and available hardware sensors in a movable compact or expanded desktop widget. Customize theme, refresh interval, always-on-top behavior, expanded sections and scale (50–200%, default 100%). Preferences save automatically; scale changes apply immediately. Expanded GPU, clock, power, voltage and storage cards show 60-sample charts with colored legends and full sensor/device names on hover.
SysMonitor stays active when you close the main window; use its gear or launch the app again to reopen the window. Disabling the last widget while the window is hidden exits the process. Start with Windows is opt-in and requires an administrator desktop account. Reopen a moved portable installation to update the logon task path. Low-level sensors use LibreHardwareMonitor and may require elevation and PawnIO, linked from Settings; install it and restart the app for supported readings.
Sensor support depends on hardware, firmware and drivers.
Open Control for system editors, battery charging, connection management, diagnostics and maintenance:
- Environment variables editor: edit user/system variables and ordered PATH entries, or use raw text, then Save. Values remain unexpanded; user edits target the interactive account even under alternate-account elevation. Restart existing processes when needed to pick up changes.
- Hosts File Editor: edit IPv4/IPv6 mappings, aliases, comments and enable switches, or use text mode. Save changes validates the draft, rejects external changes, verifies a backup and preserves encoding and permissions. Undo last save uses the same save workflow to restore it.
- Battery charge limit: discover supported OEM controls, select an advertised threshold and choose Apply limit. Only matching firmware readback confirms success. Discovery selects 80% when available without applying it. Compatible Dell, HP, ASUS and Acer endpoints have direct providers; other devices receive manufacturer guidance. Install OEM support… opens an official installation route; Recheck support repeats discovery. Battery health, capacity and available power readings accompany the controls. See battery provider coverage.
- Connection: inspect adapters, DNS, Windows VPN profiles, 30 days of retained usage and a live 15-minute traffic window while the page is open. DNS changes require Apply; VPN management opens the interactive user's Windows Settings. Test/review modes allow reads and block changes.
- Saved Wi-Fi passwords: view saved profiles, adapter/security details and readable passwords on a separate page. Windows permissions govern access; open networks, enterprise authentication and unavailable keys have distinct labels. Credentials stay in memory and clear on leaving the page. Use the signed-in account; alternate-account elevation cannot read this inventory.
- Autorun management: review startup entries grouped by user, shared and system scope. Search, filter and confirm supported native enable/disable actions. Mode changes load automatically; Advanced mode uses Microsoft Autorunsc after explicit license/download consent and starts its first scan. Advanced entries are for inspection. See the autorun guide.
- Process monitor: explore a process tree, CPU/memory/I/O, process details and TCP/UDP ports. Sort by Process, PID, CPU or Memory; click again to reverse, or choose Process tree to restore the hierarchy. Open-file queries use Microsoft Handle after license/download consent. File queries and optional ETW traffic observation require elevation; traffic stops on selection change, navigation or shutdown. See the measurement guide.
- Windows status and restore: run quick health checks, full diagnosis, DISM/SFC repair or separately confirmed component cleanup. Opening the page starts no servicing. Pending restarts block repair/cleanup; the app never restarts Windows. Cancellation stops the worker and its child processes, retaining completed results. See the Windows servicing guide for repair sources, ResetBase consequences and cancellation.
Battery support depends on hardware, firmware and drivers. System-variable, hosts and firmware writes require the applicable Windows/BIOS permissions and are blocked in Test mode and configuration review.
Advanced Tools provides:
- WIMUtil: customize Windows installation media, add drivers, and generate an answer file from current selections or select a local XML file.
- Autounattend generator: build a Windows unattended-installation XML file from selected settings.
- System information: collect a dated snapshot of hardware, Windows and installed drivers. Later visits reuse it until Refresh; unavailable data is identified, and cancellation retains the prior snapshot. Driver signature metadata is separate from Drivers-page WHQL verification.
- Restore: import/export configurations, apply managed Windows defaults after confirmation, and create, list or delete Windows restore points. Test mode allows listing and configuration export while blocking system changes.
Use Test mode in the title bar to prepare a temporary draft of current compatible
settings. Edits stay in the draft. Export typed values and app selections to a
.win-optimizer file, or exit with Export config, Apply changes or Discard.
Closing the exit dialog discards the draft; cancelled or failed exports retain it.
Apply runs only edited settings through the normal configuration workflow.
System-changing actions are guarded during the session; preferences and read-only
Cleaner scans remain available.
Logs and history groups saved sessions and change receipts by topic, newest first. Expand topics, search activity or filter changes, diagnostics and problems. Setting changes show Before/After values, and technical details retain exceptions and record provenance. Load older activity continues through saved records. Clear app logs confirms and clears diagnostics while retaining change history.
Backup and restore options depend on the tool. Cleaner provides file/value and whole-hive backup options, app-residue cleanup requires a verified backup, and the Restore tools manage Windows restore points. Review the relevant operation's results and recovery options before proceeding.
Settings offers searchable categories with automatic saves. Adjust language, theme, app color and expanded/compact navigation. Restore configuration resets the open category; Reset all settings resets all preferences exposed by the page.
Settings → Info includes manual update checks and independent automatic app and removal-script update switches, both enabled by default. Automatic checks start after a 30-second delay and run at most daily across restarts; manual checks are independent of those switches.
Application data lives under %ProgramData%\win-optimizer, shared across
installations. Account-dependent data uses Users\<SID> folders. See the
storage reference for paths, permissions and retention.
Uninstallation keeps this store by default so reinstalling retains preferences, backups and history. Full cleanup removes the entire store, including cached tools and scripts; it does not undo Windows changes. Restore settings that depend on these scripts before choosing full cleanup, and close the app first. Administrator access may be required to remove protected data. If cleanup fails, uninstall stops and reports the remaining-data location so you can retry or keep it.
Silent uninstallation also keeps data by default. Administrators can explicitly
use unins000.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /DATA=remove for full
cleanup, or /DATA=keep to retain data. An invalid data option aborts uninstallation.
Developer guide — build, tests and architecture
Use Windows, the .NET SDK selected by global.json, Visual Studio 2026 / Build Tools with MSBuild 18+, the .NET desktop and C++ desktop workloads, and the Windows SDK. Open win-optimizer.sln in Visual Studio.
./build.ps1
./build.ps1 -Configuration Debug
./build.ps1 -BuildRoot ./build/isolatedThe default is Release/x64 at build/win-optimizer.exe, with logs in
build/logs/build.log. -Clean rebuilds; -MSBuildPath selects MSBuild explicitly.
-BuildRoot redirects generated output together, useful while another build is running.
Version.props is the single source for the application's YY.MM.DD version,
defaulting to the build machine's local date. ./build.ps1 -Version 26.01.05
selects an explicit release date. Visual Studio uses the same version file.
Product/file metadata uses YY.MM.DD; application update tags use vYY.MM.DD.
Test commands, focused suites and isolation requirements are in the test guide.
Packaging uses ./extras/build-and-package.ps1 with Inno Setup 6 and a
YY.MM.DD version (-Version, defaulting through Version.props to the current date).
It resolves the version once for the application and installer, builds Release,
runs checks and produces an installer under
build/installers/. See PIPELINE.md for ordering.
Use -SkipSigning to create an unsigned package without signing prompts, and
-InnoCompiler <path-to-ISCC.exe> for a portable Inno Setup installation. Packaging
uses the clean MSBuild payload under build/publish/, including the application's
win-optimizer.pri compiled UI resources. Requested signing failures
stop packaging.
The Build Windows installer GitHub Actions workflow runs on pushes/pull requests
to main and through Actions → Build Windows installer → Run workflow. Its optional
version accepts YY.MM.DD, defaulting to the build date. It runs the packaging script,
main suites, installer checks, UI compilation and portable-payload validation,
including the required application resource index.
Installer, published app and installed app must have matching product/file versions,
including numeric Windows metadata, before upload. Download the unsigned installer
from Artifacts → win-optimizer-windows-x64-vYY.MM.DD after success.
Installers are retained for 30 days; test results/build logs for 14 days, including failures.
Validation artifacts use win-optimizer-validation-vYY.MM.DD (or vunresolved
if version resolution fails).
The Release workflow runs when a tag matching vYY.MM.DD is pushed. It reuses
the installer workflow, validates the calendar date and builds with that exact version.
After all checks succeed, it publishes a stable GitHub Release with generated notes
and the unsigned win-optimizer.Installer.exe asset used by installation and in-app updates.
For example, after committing the desired sources and workflows:
git tag v26.10.21
git push origin v26.10.21ARCHITECTURE.md describes ownership and storage; PIPELINE.md describes execution, cancellation and recovery. Application artwork and sponsor data instructions cover those assets.
The Custom icon pack uses original vector drawings. Edit their authoring definitions
in extras/generate-icons.py, then run python extras/generate-icons.py to update
the resources and name lookup. python extras/generate-icons.py --check verifies
the generated files; generation uses Python's standard library.
Found a problem or have a feature idea? Use the GitHub issue tracker.
To support development, open the heart icon in the title bar or Settings → Info → Support win-optimizer, then choose Buy me a coffee. You can also donate through PayPal.
win-optimizer is an independent project, unaffiliated with Microsoft. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Except where otherwise stated (see THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt), the content of this repository is provided under the PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 license by Andrea Frolli. See LICENSE.txt for the full terms.