Key Points
- Microsoft’s PC Manager is now available for everyone on Microsoft Store, which is a similar tool to CCleaner.
- PC Manager optimizes system performance by monitoring and clearing the RAM, offers to delete unnecessary files like temporary and old Windows files, scans the system for security and performance gains, manages popups, and more.
If you find yourself cleaning up your Windows PC often, like deleting temporary files, emptying the recycle bin, and terminating the background tasks to free up the resources, then Microsoft has you covered – finally!
After being submitted to the Microsoft Store almost 2 years ago, the “PC Manager” is finally out of its Beta-testing phase and generally available to all Windows 10 and 11 users using the 64-bit architecture. It was available to select users in certain regions only, but recently, has been made available at Microsoft Store for everyone.
The PC Manager is Microsoft’s application that aids in monitoring your system’s health and optimizing its performance by giving quick one-click solutions. Rather than navigating through the confusing settings app and looking for various settings, you can now optimize your PC’s various components under one roof which will enhance its performance by freeing up system resources.
Download & Install Microsoft PC Manager
Installing PC Manager was a simple process, as it is with all apps available on the Microsoft Store. Not only that, but I was also able to navigate across the different tabs inside the PC Manager without looking at any tutorials; the user-friendliness is definitely that good – but we’ll get back to that later.
Here is how you can download and install Microsoft PC Manager on your Windows computer:
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Open the Microsoft PC Manager Store page.
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Click Download.
Download PC Manager -
[Conditional] If asked, click “Open Microsoft Store“.
Open in Microsoft Store The Store app will now launch.
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Click Get.
Get Microsoft PC Manager The PC Manager app will now begin downloading and then install automatically.
When the application is installed, you may click Open to run it, or search for it from the search bar and then open it from there.
What can Microsoft PC Manager do?
The PC Manager has been constructed to match the offerings of the third-party CCleaner app. But instead of getting a paid app for PC optimizations, you get the PC Manager for free. Microsoft describes this tool as a “desktop security tool aimed at global users”. Microsoft even has a dedicated PC Manager page that advertises the capabilities of the tool.
After installing PC Manager, I found its user interface quite simple, which was good. It made monitoring the health of the system, such as the active RAM consumption, much easier. Navigating through the tool was also convenient as the PC Manager offers various control settings for the system that are laid out across different categorized tabs.
On the Home tab, you get to see the memory usage as well as the space occupied by temporary files. Clicking on the “Boost” button instantly deletes all temporary files, which is safe, and also reduces the memory consumption. Both of these result in instant performance gains.
You can also access the “Health check” and the “Deep cleanup” sections which will scan the computer for unnecessary files and folders, and suggest to you which ones can be cleaned up/deleted. You may then select the ones that you do not need and then click Proceed to optimize the PC.
You can also kill the background processes directly from the PC Manager in the “Process” section on the Home tab. With this ability, you no longer have to access the Task Manager for this purpose.
The “Protection” tab on the left offers security and troubleshooting tools, such as running scans using Windows Security, installing Windows updates, etc. The tool is so good that it even tells you about the optional updates. For example, I was unaware that my PC had a firmware update, but using PC Manager made me see it.
This tab also allows you to set a default browser, because we all know what a hassle it is if we try to set a default browser from the Windows 11 Settings app. The following image is a screenshot of the Protection tab in PC Manager.
As you can see, it also has a “Pop-up management” section, which blocks any third-party pop-ups when enabled.
From the Storage tab, you can handle Storage Sense settings as well as clean up large files. This tool will scan your PC and suggest whatever files that can be removed, such as old Windows files, temporary files, items in the recycle bin, etc.
The Apps tab only allows managing two settings – the background processes, which at this point is redundant, and the Startup apps.
That said, the highlight of the tool is remaining, which is the Toolbox tab. This is perhaps the most exciting and will be the most-used tab the PC Manager has to offer.
The PC Manager Toolbox offers shortcuts to the most-used elements of the Windows operating system. It allows for instant screenshots, with a dedicated button to access the screenshot folder. You also get instant access to voice recorded, closed captions, Notepad, the Calculator app, and some web-based tools like Bing Translator, etc.
You can also toggle a floating toolbar that will remain on top of apps so you can access these elements while doing other work.
Moreover, from the PC Manager’s settings, you can also enable Smart Boost – where the PC Manager will automatically boost the PC settings when it detects high resource consumption.
Conclusion
I believe that the PC Manager is the application we all knew we needed, but relied on third-party tools to meet our needs. That said, the tool still has a long way to go to include more optimization and monitoring tools, even after staying in the beta testing phase for nearly two years.
Even so, installing the PC Manager app right now isn’t so bad. It is made by Microsoft, so no one knows better what optimizations to make and how to make them. This tool is all you may need to spontaneously boost your system’s performance when it is lagging, stuttering, or experiencing other performance issues.
