How do I speed up a slow laptop?

The fastest laptop fixes are almost always boring. Install updates, remove startup apps you do not need, and make sure the drive still has plenty of free space.

On Windows, Microsoft points to updates, malware scans, and performance tuning as the first checks. On a Mac, Apple’s guidance starts with a restart, updates, Safe Mode if needed, and checking for heavy background tasks.

If the laptop is still slow after that, the problem is usually hardware age, not a single bad setting. At that point, cleaning up files helps a little, but replacing the battery, adding memory, or upgrading the machine is often the real answer.

If you’re leaning toward a replacement anyway and the old drive still works, an external SSD like this one makes moving your files painless and gives you a portable backup to keep.