How to disable Efficiency Mode in Windows?

Efficiency mode is a Task Manager feature in Windows 11 (version 22H2 and later). A process in Efficiency mode gets a low base priority and is scheduled in a power-saving way, so it uses less CPU and battery. Windows 10 Task Manager does not have it. Most people notice it when Chrome, Edge or another app turns sluggish and Task Manager shows a green leaf icon next to it.

Why it happens

• The app turns it on itself. Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome put their background tabs and helper processes into Efficiency mode automatically. You did not enable anything; the browser did.
• Someone enabled it in Task Manager. The setting applies to that running process only. It is gone when the process restarts.
• Battery or Energy saver is on. When Windows is saving power it limits background activity, which makes throttled apps feel slower still.
• The option is greyed out when you select an app group (a row with several processes under it) or a protected Windows process. You can only switch it for a single process.

Fix 1: Turn off Efficiency mode in Task Manager

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager and go to Processes.
2. Find the app with the green leaf icon in the Status column. If it is a group, click the arrow to expand it.
3. Right-click the individual process that shows the leaf and clear Efficiency mode. You can also select it and click Efficiency mode in the toolbar at the top (widen the window if you do not see it).
4. Repeat for each child process that shows the leaf.

This lasts until the process closes. If the app turns the mode back on by itself, use Fix 2 or Fix 3.

Fix 2: Turn off Efficiency mode inside Microsoft Edge

Edge has its own Efficiency mode that throttles tabs and works with the Windows feature.

1. Open Edge and go to edge://settings/system (Settings > System and performance).
2. Under Performance, switch off Efficiency mode.
3. Restart Edge and check Task Manager again.

Fix 3: Turn off Energy saver in Chrome

1. Open Chrome and go to chrome://settings/performance.
2. Switch off Energy saver.
3. Restart Chrome.

Chrome still marks some background processes with the leaf. That is normal and only affects tabs you are not looking at. If the active tab is slow, the cause is usually something else: try clearing the browser data (Clear the browser cache and cookies).

Fix 4: Stop Windows from saving power so aggressively

1. Plug in a laptop and set the power mode to Best performance: Change the power mode.
2. In Settings > System > Power & battery, make sure Energy saver (or Battery saver on older builds) is off.
3. If the app only needs to run when you use it, stop it from running in the background instead: Stop apps from running in the background.

FAQ

Can I disable Efficiency mode for the whole system?

No. Windows has no switch or supported policy that turns the feature off everywhere. You control it per process in Task Manager and in each app's own settings.

Is Efficiency mode bad for my PC?

No. It only lowers the priority of a process. Turn it off when an app you are actively using feels slow; leave it on for things running in the background.

Why does the leaf come back after I turn it off?

The setting is not saved. When the app starts a new process, or when the browser decides a tab is in the background, the mode is applied again.