On Windows 11 , you can use the Wintoys app to manage many aspects of the system and maintain your computer optimized and healthy, and in this guide, you will learn how to use it. Wintoys is a non-Microsoft application that makes it easier to change and tweak settings, debloat, optimize, and repair the operating system, taking all the complications out of the equation.

Although Windows 11 includes many features to optimize, troubleshoot, and resolve issues, they’re usually challenging for the average user since many can only be accessed through Command Prompt or PowerShell or Registry, and many other features are buried among different settings. Wintoys groups and makes a slew of features easily accessible for everyone to understand and use.

This guide will teach you the basics to get started with the Wintoys app on Windows 11. (The tool also works on Windows 10 .)

Optimize Windows 11 using Wintoys

You can install Wintoys from the Microsoft Store or through the Windows Package Manager with the winget install –id 9P8LTPGCBZXD command. The app is divided into six pages that offer different functionalities.

Home

When you open the Wintoys app, you will access the main page with basic details about your system, including hardware and system information.

In addition, the Home will display the number of apps, running processes and services, and hardware utilization in real-time.

Wintoys home page - 1

Wintoys home page

Apps

The “Apps” page allows you to quickly remove apps, even those considered system apps that Windows 11 doesn’t allow you to remove.

If you want to debloat your computer, you can use the option in the top-right to filter between traditional and Microsoft Store apps, in addition to the sorting option. The search box makes it easy to find virtually any installed on the system.

To remove apps using Wintoys on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Wintoys .
  2. Click on Apps .
  3. Click the menu (three-dots) button and select the Uninstall option.
  4. Continue with the on-screen directions (if applicable).

Once you complete the steps, the app will uninstall immediately without confirmation. The menu also includes options to terminate the application, open the folder location, reset, and more.

You can also use these instructions to debloat Windows 11 completely.

Services

The “Services” page is a modern take on the “Services” console available in the operating system, making it easy to view and manage services.

The page shows the friendly name of each service along with the location path in the system, the state (running or stopped), and whether the service is configured to run automatically or manually.

To manage services with Wintoys, use these steps:

  1. Open Wintoys .
  2. Click on Services .
  3. Confirm the service status and configuration.
  4. Select the services to manage.
  5. Click the menu (three-dots) button and choose the action, including “Start,” “Stop,” “Restart,” “Browse,” or “Search.” Quick note: From the “Mode” submenu, you can set the service to start automatically or manually, and you can disable the service.

After you complete the steps, the system will apply the action to the service.

Boost

The “Boost” page groups various features that can help to improve system performance. For instance, you can turn off indexing, manage startup apps, change power plans, and more.

To control features to boost system performance on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Wintoys .
  2. Click on Boost .
  3. Customize the feature to boost system performance on Windows 11.

On this page, you can manage many features, including:

  • Ultimate Performance Power Plan: Allows components to the power they need for maximum performance.
  • Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling: Offloads high-frequency graphics tasks managed by the processor to the dedicated graphics processor.
  • Virtualization-based security: Create an isolated virtual section of memory to increase protection against vulnerabilities and malicious exploits.
  • Startup Apps: Apps that are automatically running when your system starts.
  • Restartable Apps: Automatically relaunches apps at startup.
  • Background Apps: Allows apps to run in the background.
  • Activity History: Keeps track of apps and services.
  • Visual Settings: Allows to change visual effects settings to boost performance (especially on low-end hardware).
  • Gaming Settings: Allows to adjust gaming settings settings, including Game Mode, Background recording, and Superfetch.
  • Search Indexing : Allows indexing to run in the background, providing faster search results.
  • Delivery optimization: Controls update downloads with other devices in the local network and over the internet.
  • Network Adapter Onboard Processor: Offloads the network processing from the processor to the network adapter.

Once you complete the steps, the settings will apply to improve system performance.

Health

The “Health” page rounds up features that can help maintain the health of the system.

To improve the system health on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Wintoys .
  2. Click on Health .
  3. Turn on or off the features you want to enable or disable on the system.
  4. Use the available tools to repair, clean, or fix the installation.

On this page, you can turn Fast Startup and Hibernation on or off with a single click. You can manage updates , graphics drivers, clear thumbnail cache , and more.

The “Repair” option is really interesting because it allows you to run the Deployment Imaging Servicing Management (DISM), System File Checker (SFC), and Check Disk (CHKDSK) tools, which are essential command utilities to fix virtually any storage problem, including crashes, freezes, blue screens, and failed updates.

The “Cleanup” option allows you to quickly delete junk files to free up space. In addition, you can clear the cache for the Microsoft Store and DNS.

Tweaks

To use the Tweaks settings from Wintoys, use these steps:

  1. Open Wintoys .
  2. Click on Tweaks .
  3. Select the settings you want to customize.
  4. Turn on or off or adjust the features as necessary.

On the page, you will find a slew of tweaks to apply to Windows 11. For example, in the “Desktop” settings, you can enable the classic context menu or change the quality of the desktop background without editing the Registry manually.

In the “Start menu” settings, you can quickly disable Bing search results . In the “File Explorer” settings, it’s possible to enable an option to show the “Recycle Bin” on the left navigation page.

Although Wintoys doesn’t include every setting or tweak you can apply to Windows 11, it does a great job of rounding up the configurations and features users should consider changing to optimize and improve the performance of Windows 11. Also, while many of the settings can be found in the Settings app, the tool offers the ability to modify the system settings, which can only be possible by modifying the Registry.

Although modern printers can come with a built-in print server to make it easy to share the device with computers in the network, you may still use Windows 11 to share a printer with other users if it doesn’t have that functionality.

However, if the printer sharing isn’t working, you’re unable to find the printer in the network, or for whatever other reason, you can use several troubleshooting steps to resolve this problem on Windows 11.

This guide will teach you the different ways to troubleshoot and fix problems when sharing a printer on the network.

  • Fix printer sharing by updating driver
  • Fix printer sharing by removing recent update
  • Fix printer sharing with Troubleshooter
  • Fix printer sharing with firewall troubleshooting
  • Fix printer sharing with reshare configuration

Fix printer sharing by updating driver

To fix a shared printer on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings on Windows 11.
  2. Click on Windows Update .
  3. Click the Advanced options tab.
  4. Under the “Additional options” section, click the Optional updates setting.
  5. Select the printer driver update.
  6. Click the “Download and install” button.

Once you complete the steps, try to send a print job to confirm the printer is working.

Fix printer sharing by removing recent update

To remove a problematic update conflicting with the printer driver or networking settings, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings .
  2. Click on Windows Update .
  3. Click the Update history tab.
  4. Under the “Related settings” section, click the Uninstall updates option.
  5. Click the Uninstall button for the most recent update.

After you complete the steps, you may need to restart the computer, and upon restart, send a new print job to confirm the printer is working.

Fix printer sharing with Troubleshooter

To run the printer troubleshooter to resolve common sharing problems, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings .
  2. Click on Bluetooth & devices .
  3. Click the Printers & scanners tab.
  4. Under the “Related settings” section, click the Troubleshoot option.
  5. Select the shared printer with the problem.
  6. Click the Next button.
  7. Continue with the on-screen directions (if necessary).

Once you complete the steps, the Troubleshooter should be able to detect and resolve the sharing or any other problem affecting the printer.

Fix printer sharing with firewall troubleshooting

To resolve firewall problems sharing a printer on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Windows Security .
  2. Click on Firewall & network protection .
  3. Click the active network – for example, “Private network.”
  4. Turn off the “Microsoft Defender Firewall” toggle switch.
  5. Clear the “Blocks all incoming connections, including those in the list of allowed apps” option.

Once you complete the steps, try to print one more time, and if the print job is sent successfully, then the problem may be related to the firewall configuration.

Allow printer over firewall

To allow a printer over the firewall on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Windows Security .
  2. Click on Firewall & network protection .
  3. Click the “Allow an app through firewall” setting.
  4. Click the Change settings button.
  5. Check the “Network Discovery” option with the Private option (and select the Public option if you are in a public network).
  6. Check the “File and Printer Sharing” option with the Private option (and choose the “Public” option if you’re in a public network).

If you’re troubleshooting devices that use the SMB protocol, refer to this Microsoft documentation page .

Fix printer sharing with reshare configuration

To reshare a printer, you must first stop the current configuration and reconfigure the share settings.

Stop printer share

To stop sharing a printer on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings .
  2. Click on Bluetooth & devices .
  3. Click the Printers & scanners tab.
  4. Select the shared printer in the network.
  5. Click the Printer settings tab.
  6. Click the Printer properties setting.
  7. Click the Sharing tab.
  8. Clear the “Share this printer” option.
  9. Click the Apply button.
  10. Click the OK button.

After completing the steps, confirm you can print to the printer locally and then share the printer again.

Start printer share

To share a printer in the network on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings .
  2. Click on Bluetooth & devices .
  3. Click the Printers & scanners tab.
  4. Select the shared printer in the network.
  5. Click the Printer settings tab.
  6. Click the Printer properties setting.
  7. Click the Sharing tab.
  8. Check the “Share this printer” option.
  9. Click the Apply button.
  10. Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, you should be able to print again to the shared printer.