Microsoft released its PC Manager tool globally a couple of months ago. The tool helps you with cleaning up your computer, and resetting default settings, and offers you a quick access toolbox to useful tools.
PC Cleaners have been around for ages. They claim to make your computer faster by removing obsolete files or programs. However, the problem with these tools is that most are not needed at all, or do even more harm than good.
In this article
In this article, we will take a look at what PC Manager has to offer and if you really need it.
PC Manager Features
Microsoft PC Manager combines a couple of existing management tools with some new tools and brings it all together into one easy-to-use interface. When you open the app, you will quickly see how much memory your system is using, the number of processes that are running, the most “important” problem with your PC, startup time, and a quick access to the disk cleanup.
You will also notice the big blue Boost button, which will give your PC a “boost”. But what it actually does is terminate unused background processes to free up some system memory and delete temporary files.
Now if your memory usage is not above 90%, then you won’t notice a thing of this boost feature. And if your computer is running out of memory, it’s better to close some browser tabs or install additional memory on your computer 😉
As mentioned, the PC Manager mainly makes it easier to access existing tools (or settings) on your Windows computers and only adds a few new ones. Let’s take a look at the tools that it offers and what is new:
- Quick access to Virus & threat protection
- View and install Windows updates
- Open Default Browser Settings
- Taskbar repair (it only resets the taskbar to default settings)
- Restore Default Apps (set default apps for Office, Webpages, and PDF)
- Pop-up Management
- Storage
- Deep Disk Cleanup
- Downloaded files overview
- Large files overview
- Duplicate files overview
- Quick access to Storage Sense
- App Management
- View running apps (and end them)
- View Startup apps (toggle them on or off)
- Uninstall apps
- Toolbox (quick launch options to common tools)
Let’s take a closer look at the different options.
System Protection Tab
In the system protection tab, you will find a quick access link to the Virus & Threat Protection settings. If you are using Windows Defender, then you can perform a quick scan straight from the PC Manager.
The Windows update tab gives you an overview of the pending updates and allows you to select and install the updates. The options, default browser settings, taskbar repair, and restore default apps don’t add any real value. Taskbar repair allows you to re-enable the search box and widgets on the taskbar, and the other two just open the Default App settings page.
Pop-up management is not for pop-ups on websites, but it suppresses pop-ups in Windows applications.
Storage Management
The storage management actually does add some value to the Microsoft PC Manager. After a disk analysis, you will get an overview of how your file usage is built up. But the true strength is in the Downloaded files, Large Files, and Duplicate Files overviews.
When you open the Deep Cleanup option, you will get an overview of all cache and temporary files that can be cleaned up per application. You can simply select the applications that you want to clean up and delete the cache files.
The downloaded files overview is not really special (you can also open the folder in Explorer), but it does give you a quick and easy insight into how much storage you are using. The only problem I have with the Downloaded and Large file overviews, is that you don’t have a quick select option to delete the files.
Duplicated files, on the other hand, has a Smart select option that allows you to quickly select all the oldest versions of the duplicate files. That, combined with the filters, allows you to easily delete files that you have stored in multiple places.
App Management
In the app management tab, we can view the running processes, just like in task manager, but only in a simpler overview. It also gives you an overview of the apps that start up automatically, and shows how many additional seconds these apps add to your computer’s startup time.
Now the startup apps can also be viewed in the task manager and in the settings screen under apps. The only nice thing about this feature is that it splits up into apps that are recommended to keep running and apps that you can disable.
The uninstall apps tab allows you to remove applications, just like you can do in the settings screen. The only nice feature/add-on here is that you can drag an app to uninstall it. So you can drag a shortcut from your desktop, to the uninstall apps screen to remove it, It’s nice but I doubt it will be used much.
Toolbox
The last tab is the Toolbox. The toolbox gives you quick access to some Windows tools and web tools. I don’t really see the added value in this, to be honest. You can also add some custom links, but these can only go to the website. You can’t add custom apps to it.
You can also show the toolbox toolbar on the desktop. The toolbox can be docked to the side of your screen, so it pulls out when you hover over it with your mouse.
Installing Microsoft PC Manager
The Microsoft PC Manager is out of beta and should be generally available. But you still can’t download it in most countries (except the United States) when you go to pcmanager.microsoft.com. The Windows Store, however, will probably allow you to download it and otherwise you can download it with winget.
- Open Windows Terminal (PowerShell)
- Enter the command below to download PC Manager
- Press Y to agree to the terms.
winget install 9pm860492szd
If the installation hangs, it often helps to restart your computer, the installation will then either be completed after the reboot or you should be able to try it again and install it.
Note
When you first open PC Manager, make sure that you uncheck the option Restore settings to ensuire the native Windows experience. Otherwise your browser and taskbar settings will be restored
Wrapping Up
Microsoft PC Manager is available for both Windows 10 and 11. If you are using the latter, then you will notice that the look and feel of PC Manager is pretty similar to the Settings screen in Windows. And this is also the part that I don’t really get. The tool has some nice extra features, but they could have easily integrated it into the existing Settings screen.
If you let the app startup automatically, then it only slows down your PC, to be honest. It consumes around 300MB of memory after running for an hour, so that doesn’t help either. The only benefit is that you can easily access some system settings.
For the less experienced computer user, it is maybe an easy tool to see what is going on, on their computer, what apps are running or starting up, and easily cleanup. But I wish Microsoft just integrated some of this feature straight into Windows.
