If your Surface Pro is slow, it is often due to too many programs running, your hard drive lacking free space, or you could have picked up some malware. Turning off intensive apps, freeing up space, and running a virus scan can help speed it up.
I have used various tablets and laptops for work/personal use over the years, and have dealt with my fair share of performance issues. Knowing the reasons why your device is slow, and what you can do about it, is crucial to staying productive and getting more from your device.
This guide is going to take you through some of the possible reasons that your Surface Pro is slow, as well as some ways you can speed it up.
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Key Takeaways
- If your Surface Pro is slow, this issue can often be caused by running too many programs at once, yourn hard drive being full, or due to the presence of malware on your device.
- Thankfully, there are many ways to help your device become faster that range from turning off certain apps, to running a virus scan, to even simply restarting the device.
- In some cases, your device could experience damage or an internal failure that causes it to slow down.
Reasons Your Surface Pro is Slow
Let’s take a closer look at some of the reasons why your Surface Pro might be laggy or slow.
You Have Too Many Programs Running
If you have too many programs or apps running, this could be causing your problem. The more things you ask your device to do at once, the more difficult it will be for the Surface Pro to remain quick and snappy.
Also, be aware that certain things will run in the background. These things could be limiting your performance without you even knowing they are on. Having a ton of add-ons or extensions on your browser could also lead to slower-than-normal web browsing.
This issue of too many programs running can also cause the Surface Pro to overheat, so it is best to limit how much you are asking your device to take on at one time.
Your Hard Drive is Full
Your hard drive having little to no free space can contribute to poor performance. In general, it is recommended that people keep about 10-15% of their hard drive free. Any less and you run the risk of running into issues that slow your computer/make it difficult to complete certain tasks.
The reason this can have an impact on performance is because a full hard drive leaves no space for both writing new data, and hosting temporary files. This can have a noticeable impact not only within certain programs, but can hold back the performance of the device itself.
You Have Malware
The presence of malware can also dramatically reduce the performance of your Surface Pro. This often comes from opening fraudulent websites or links, downloading something you shouldn’t have, using compromised software or even using certain USB drives.
In addition to slowing your device down by damaging files or using up disk space, malware can also take over your browser, spam you with ads, steal passwords, and delete certain files. As a result, you want to deal with and remove malware as soon as possible.
Ways to Improve the Speed of Your Surface Pro
If your Surface Pro is currently slow, all is not lost. There are several different ways to increase the speed and boost the performance.
Some of these are in direct response to the potential reasons for the slow performance covered in the last section, but others are good options to try if you are not able to identify the cause of the slow performance.
Turn Off Some of Your Apps and Programs
One of the first things to try is to simply turn off some of those unused and unneeded programs that you have running. By going to the Task Manager, you get a glimpse of everything that is currently running, and how much of your computing power it is utilizing.
Go through the list and consider ending the tasks that you don’t feel you need at this particular moment, and you should very quickly be able to feel a difference in performance. Of course, be careful not to accidentally end important tasks, and only ones that you don’t need to have going.
Free Up Some Storage Space
Next, consider freeing up some space on your hard drive. Many of us have plenty of old programs that we never use any more, or mountains of old files taking up precious space, and neither needs to be on your Surface Pro and can be removed.
This ensures you have enough space to handle all of the temporary files that different programs or apps may need to create without a problem. If you want to see how much storage space you have available, and potentially free some up, the process is thankfully quite simple.
All you need to do is go to Settings > System > Storage. You will see a breakdown of how your storage is used, and be able to see how much storage different things are taking up.
Run a Virus Scan
If you think your poor performance could be due to malware, take some time to run a virus scan on your device. A quick scan can be helpful, but a full scan is often ideal and will search through more files. It can take a while, but the results are worth it.
If your full scan doesn’t find anything, then chances are the issue isn’t a virus or malware. If the scan does uncover something, make sure to delete it as soon as possible. Run these scans frequently, even if your device is not slow, to ensure you don’t have any malware present.
Check the Power Mode Setting You are Using
Checking the Power mode setting you are currently using is also a great way you can potentially unlock more performance and speed from your device. If you are running the Battery Saver mode, for example, you will be sacrificing speed and performance for better battery life.
Simply switch to a mode that prioritizes performance, and your problems with your Surface Pro being slow should go away.
Restart the Device
When all else fails, a good thing to try is to simply restart the device. It is simple, quick, and will often resolve the issue.
If a restart still doesn’t help you out, it’s possible your device could be damaged in one way or another. Damage to the hard drive or other internal components has the potential to contribute to performance issues, so take it in for an inspection if you think this might be the cause.
Final Thoughts
Whether it is a full hard drive or too many applications being run, there are many reasons why your Surface Pro might be running slower than it should be. We hope the solutions provided in this guide have been able to make it run a little faster and have boosted its performance.
What has been the best solution that you’ve used to speed up your Surface Pro or other device? Let us know in a comment!
