How to turn off apps running in the background Windows 11, How to reduce RAM consumption on Windows 11

On Windows 10 you can easily find a page dedicated to managing background apps. However, on Windows 11 this will be a bit more difficult. However, Windows 11 still allows you to turn off background applications. You can set up for individual applications or for all applications, setting up a single user to activate all users on the computer.

Note: What TipsMake.com instructs you in this article only works with apps you install from the Microsoft Store. All apps you download from other sources will not have settings to set to run in the background. Also, stopping apps from running in the background doesn't mean you can't use them. You can still run these apps normally.

There are several ways for you to disable background applications on Windows 11. Here are the details on how to do it:

Turn off background apps in Settings

Step 1. Open Settings in Windows 11. You can use the shortcut Win + I to quickly open or use other methods.

Step 2. Click on App then continue to click Apps & features.

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Step 3. Find the app you want to disable from running in the background. Click the 3 dots and then select Advanced options.

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Step 4. Find the Background apps permissions section and select the mode you want. By default, Windows 11 will be set to Power optimized mode. It allows Windows to self-manage how an application behaves in the background. For example, the system will automatically turn off all background applications if you enable battery saving mode.

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Step 5. Select Never mode to prevent the application from running in the background. However, if after selecting Never the application crashes, does not send notifications, does not update data, you should switch its settings back to Power optimized or Always.

Step 6. Repeat the above operation with other applications.

In Windows 11's Settings there is no button for you to turn off all background applications at once. Therefore, we will continue to the next section, using the Registry.

Turn off all background applications on Windows 11 using Registry

Step 1. You press Win + R to open Run then type regedit and press Enter.

Step 2. Access the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/BackgroundAccessApplications

Step 3. In the right window, edit or create a DWORD (32-bit) Value named GlobalUserDisabled.

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Step 4. Put 1 in the Value data box to prevent all background applications on Windows 11.

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Step 5. Reboot the device to apply the change.

To undo the changes, simply adjust the value of GlobalUserDisabled to 0 and you're done.

Use pre-made REG files

If you don't want to waste time editing the Registry, you can download the REG file that TipsMake.com makes available.

Step 1. Download the ZIP archive of the pre-made REG file here.

Step 2. Extract to any folder.

Step 3. Double-click the closeapp.reg file to close all apps running in the background.

Step 4. Confirm the action and then restart the machine.

You can undo the change by double-clicking the openapp.reg file in the ZIP file you just downloaded.

Turn off apps running in the background on Windows 11 for all users with Group Policy

Besides the Registry, you can use Group Policy to turn off apps running in the background on Windows 11 with all users on one computer. With Windows 11 Home unable to open Group Policy, we will also provide a pre-edited REG file.

Step 1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor by pressing Win + R and then typing gpedit.msc then pressing Enter.

Step 2. Navigate to the folder: Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/App Privacy

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Step 3. On the right pane, find and click Let Windows apps run in the background and select Enabled.

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Step 4. In the Default for all app menu, select Force Deny. Click Apply and OK.

So you've turned off the background app for all users on a computer running Windows 11.

As mentioned, Windows 11 Home does not allow you to use the Local Group Policy Editor, so you have to use the Registry to turn off background apps for all users.

Turn off apps running in the background on Windows 11 for all users using Registry

Step 1. You press Win + R to open Run then type regedit and press Enter.

Step 2. Access the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Policies/Microsoft/Windows/AppPrivacy

If you can't find AppPrivacy, you can create a new one yourself by right-clicking on Windows and then selecting New > Key.

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Step 3. Once you have AppPrivacy, click in the right box to create a DWORD (32-bit) Value named LetAppsRunInBackground and set the value to 2.

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Step 4. Restart the computer.

Use pre-made REG files

As usual, TipsMake.com has pre-made REG files for you to download to quickly change the Registry. There are two REG files, closeappalluser.reg and openappalluser.reg, respectively with the function of turning off and on the app running in the background, you download the ZIP file and then extract and use:

1. Download the REG file to turn off the app running in the background for all users here

Good luck!

Jessica Tanner

Update 08 October 2021