My laptop is from 2019. In computer years that is approximately seventy. It used to boot up in fifteen seconds. By last month it was taking almost three minutes. Opening Chrome felt like asking a favor. The fan ran at full speed any time I had more than three tabs open.

I almost bought a new one. I had the model picked out and everything. Then I spent an afternoon doing five things that cost zero dollars and my laptop now feels — I will not say “new,” but it no longer makes me want to throw it out a window. Here is what I did.

1. Kill your startup programs

On Windows, hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager. Click the Startup tab. You will see a list of every program that launches when your computer turns on. Half of them you never use. Spotify, Adobe updater, some printer utility from 2017. Right-click and disable anything you do not need immediately at boot.

On Mac: System Settings → General → Login Items. Same deal — remove anything unnecessary.

2. Free up disk space (at least 15% free)

When your hard drive is more than 85% full, your computer slows down because the operating system has to shuffle data around to find space. Check your storage. Delete old downloads, duplicates, and applications you have not opened in a year.

On Windows, run the built-in Disk Cleanup tool. On Mac, Apple Menu → About This Mac → Storage → Manage. Empty your trash and downloads folder. You will probably free up five to ten gigabytes just from that.

3. Limit browser tabs and extensions

I had thirty-seven tabs open and fourteen Chrome extensions installed. Chrome was using four gigabytes of RAM all by itself. I closed all but five tabs and disabled extensions I did not use daily. The fan stopped running. Instantly.

Switch to Firefox or Edge if Chrome is too heavy. They use less memory. Or use Chrome’s Memory Saver setting (Settings → Performance) which frees up memory from inactive tabs.

4. Turn off visual effects

Animations and transparency effects look nice but cost processing power. On Windows, search for “Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows” and select “Adjust for best performance.” On Mac, System Settings → Accessibility → Display → Reduce motion and Reduce transparency.

5. Update everything

Run system updates. Update your drivers, especially graphics drivers. These updates often include performance fixes. I had been ignoring a Windows update for two months because I did not want to restart. It included a fix for a memory leak that was the cause of about half my slowdown.