This free Windows tool shows exactly why my PC is slowing down (and defeating Task Manager)
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a favorite resource on Google.
My Windows PC sometimes freezes, runs much slower than usual. Any task I’m trying to accomplish stalls or freezes temporarily. Usually, the only solution is to reboot. But that doesn’t fix the underlying problem. Instead, I’ve been using a free Windows utility that can identify which apps and processes are hogging memory and system resources so I can troubleshoot issues.
Known as AppControl, this tool displays a list of all running applications and processes and shows you how much CPU, memory, and other resources they are using. From the main menu, you can view details on an application or other file to know what it’s doing. From there, you can disable or kill a specific process to see if that brings Windows back to life.
Also: After setting up Windows 11, these 9 steps will not discuss with me
If AppControl it sounds like the built-in Windows Task Manager, that’s on purpose. Both tools will show you running apps and processes and allow you to turn off any resource hogs. But AppControl offers a lot of additional features and options.
While Task Manager can only show the current state of running apps and processes, AppControl keeps a running count from the past three days. This means you can view the recent history of a particular application or process to track its behavior over time.
The tool also points you to any software updates running in the background and any new or unregistered apps that appear. AppControl tracks CPU and GPU temperatures so you can see if your PC is overheating. And in a nod to privacy, AppControl even tells you if any apps are accessing your webcam, microphone, or location.
Also: You can fix many Windows 11 problems by double-checking these 4 settings first
Also, AppControl is more than just a static tool. Since the software itself lives in memory, you can set alerts to notify you of certain events, such as camera access, changes to a Windows service, or the launch of an unregistered application in the background.
As another icing on the cake, you can ask an AI assistant like Claude to analyze and answer questions about any behavior captured by AppControl. Claude responds to your system-related requests by accessing data from AppControl in the background, so you don’t even need to interact directly with the tool when using AI this way.
How to use AppControl on your Windows PC
Here’s how AppControl works and how to use it if you experience system crashes or related problems.
Also, by default, the list of apps is sorted based on type, but you can change that as well. Click the drop-down box next to “Sort by” to change the order to memory usage or printer.
Clicking on the Notifications icon shows all the events that you will receive an alert for. You can add other alerts, including those for apps getting updates, apps tracking your location, new apps, and new suspicious apps. You can also turn alerts off, turn them on or pause them for up to three hours.
Clicking the Events icon displays a list of all tracked events that have occurred in the past three days. Selecting a specific event shows you more details about it.
Now, let’s say your PC is running much slower than usual. You have loaded a bunch of apps and want to see which one is causing the slowdown. With AppControl open, hover over any of the spikes in the activity graph to see which app is chewing up the most CPU and memory. Select that app from the list. You will have a few different options.
You can try closing the app normally to see if resources are freed up. If the browser causes slow performance, you can simply close the number of open tabs. If the application itself is frozen, or performance does not improve significantly after closing it, return to AppControl. Make sure any work in the application is saved, then click the Kill button. That should remove all resources used by that app.
If an app has a history of causing the problem, you may want to click the Disable button to prevent it from starting until you can investigate the issue.
Also: 11 Microsoft apps I throw away from every new Windows installation — and 11 I keep
Show more
Finally, you can ask for AI help if you need to research a problem or simply have questions about any Windows task, apps, and processes monitored by AppControl. The process of connecting Claude AI or other AI to AppControl is complicated, but you may find it worth the effort.
To set this up, go to the “How to connect Claude/AI (MCP) to AppControl” web page and follow the steps. After Claude and AppControl are connected, you can ask your question at Claude’s prompt. Here is an example of information from AppControl:
“Using your AppControl tools, tell me one resource-hungry thing running on my PC right now — say it, explain what it actually does in plain English, and rate how surprised I should be that it’s using that much. Keep it to three sentences max. Then suggest five follow-up commands I can try next, selected only from the information example listed — find out what’s been running for a long timeControl how long it’s been running. for him.”
Claude should then identify any problematic application, provide details as to why it is causing the problem, and suggest follow-up orders to continue researching the disease.
Also: Is turning off Windows Security a bad idea in 2026? Essential for PC professionals
Show more
Overall, AppControl is a functional and useful app. Although it throws a lot of data at you, the interface is well designed and user-friendly as possible. The next time Windows suffers from performance issues, you might want to give AppControl a shot to help you fix the problem.
