I found the apps slowing down my PC - how to kill the biggest memory hogs

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Dozens of processes run in the background on your PC, and each takes a bit of memory.
• Most are necessary and helpful, but some can be disabled to optimize performance. 
• Checking to see which ones load automatically is a good place to start. 

PC feeling a little sluggish? There are myriad possible reasons, but one of the best places to start is checking what's tying up your memory. 

If you open the task manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and sort the programs by memory usage, you'll find the usual culprits (your browser, Microsoft Office apps) at the top of the list, and a handful of others you probably can't identify.

Also: How I disabled 'fast startup' on my Windows 11 laptop to stop overnight battery drain

Unfortunately, many of these processes ...