Winhance — a free open-source app to fine-tune your Windows setup

If you’ve ever wanted to customize Windows without digging through endless menus and hidden settings, Winhance is just what you need. It’s a simple yet powerful app that brings all the tools you need to clean up, optimize, and personalize your system — making Windows easier and more pleasant to use.

All-in-one, like a Swiss Army knife for Windows

Winhance is a free open-source tool that helps you:
→ remove pre-installed apps,
→ boost performance,
→ improve privacy and security,
→ tweak how your system looks and behaves.

Get rid of the bloat

Just got a new computer but it already feels sluggish? Pre-installed software might be the reason. Winhance helps you spot that bloatware and remove it easily. Just head to the Software & apps tab, check what you don’t need, and hit Remove. Accidentally deleted something? No worries — you can bring it back.

The app also gives access to hidden Windows features. You can enable Hyper-V even on the Home edition, turn on Windows Sandbox, or disable Recall on new Copilot+ devices.

A particularly useful feature: Winhance doesn’t just remove unwanted apps — it prevents Windows from reinstalling them during updates. It uses custom scripts and scheduled tasks to do this.

There’s even a handy section with third-party tools — browsers, utilities, archivers, remote access software, development tools — everything you usually have to install manually is already there.

And if you’re setting up multiple PCs, you can save all your tweaks to a single config file and reuse it on other machines.

Security, privacy, updates, and power — all in one place

The Optimization tab is the central control panel for key system settings:
→ Security (adjust things like UAC with a single slider),
→ Privacy (disable activity history, camera access, and personalized ads),
→ Updates (delay them for a week, turn off auto-restarts, and hide drivers from the update list),
→ Power saving (from disabling hibernation to prioritizing games and limiting CPU usage).

Winhance can also disable unnecessary animations, streamline the interface, and speed up File Explorer. If you’re a gamer, you’ll appreciate a dedicated section for tweaking CPU/GPU priorities, controlling network traffic, turning off fast startup, and enabling DirectX optimizations.

Customize Windows the way you like it

The Customization tab lets you quickly switch between light and dark modes (though there’s no auto-switching by time yet).

 
You also get fine-grained control over the taskbar and Start menu: remove icons like Copilot, Meet Now, or Search; keep only the File Explorer; align the taskbar to the left; disable recently added apps; and use the classic right-click context menu.

File Explorer settings can also be adjusted — bring back the full path in the title bar, enable thumbnail previews, turn off the status bar, show file extensions, or enable folder tooltips.

Winhance isn’t just packed with features — everything runs smoothly, without the glitches or jarring changes you often get from other tweaking tools. Version 5 has fixed many bugs and improved both the interface and app installation process.

If you want more control over your Windows experience and aren’t afraid to explore a few settings, Winhance is absolutely worth checking out.