What Is Windows Efficiency Mode? - The Green Leaf Icon and How to Turn It Off

In Windows Task Manager, you sometimes see a green leaf icon next to an app’s name, with Efficiency mode shown in the Status column.

When you see this, the questions that tend to blur together in your head are these.

• Is Windows slowing this down behind my back?
• Is it OK to turn it off?
• How do I turn it off?
• Is there a way to turn it off across the board instead of one process at a time?
• Why does it seem to keep coming back, especially for the browser?
• Are Windows Efficiency mode and Edge’s energy-saving features the same thing?

Up front: Efficiency mode is not a villain. It is a mechanism by which Windows 11 reduces CPU interference from work that is not currently center stage, in order to protect the responsiveness of the app you are using in the foreground, plus battery, heat, and fan noise. However, when the wrong target gets selected, it can show up as perceived slowdown or instability in the app you are actually using.

This article organizes what Windows Efficiency mode does, the standard procedure for turning it off, system-wide ways to minimize it across all processes (power mode, registry, Group Policy, and PowerShell), the cases where you cannot turn it off, and how it differs from Microsoft Edge’s energy-saving features. The steps assume Task Manager on Windows 11. The content is based on Microsoft’s official information verifiable as of July 2026.

Table of Contents

1. The Conclusion First
2. First, Separate the Three Things That Get Mixed Up
3. What Exactly Is Windows Efficiency Mode?
4. When to Consider Turning It Off
5. How to Turn Off Windows Efficiency Mode
6. When You Can’t Turn It Off / It Seems to Come Right Back
7. Where to Look When Only Edge Is Slow
8. Common Misconceptions
9. Summary
10. Related Articles
11. References

1. The Conclusion First

Here are the key points up front.

• Windows Efficiency mode is a Windows 11 feature displayed in Task Manager.
• Microsoft describes it as a feature that “automatically limits the resources used by a single process or group of processes when high CPU usage is detected.”
• Its goals are improving foreground app responsiveness, extending battery life, reducing heat and fan noise, and easing load on the CPU.
• In more technical terms, Task Manager’s Efficiency mode lowers the target process’s priority and uses EcoQoS to run the CPU in a more power-efficient manner.
• However, Microsoft itself notes that it “may cause instability for certain processes.” If the app you are currently using is slow, stuttering, or unstable, it is worth turning it off and comparing.
• The standard way to turn it off in Windows is per-process, from Task Manager.
• To minimize it across all processes, set power mode to Best performance, or use Group Policy / the registry to Turn off Power Throttling (section 5.2). Both choices reduce battery life and can increase heat.
• Microsoft Edge’s energy saver features are a separate thing. Turning off Windows Efficiency mode does not turn off Edge’s energy saver, and vice versa.

2. First, Separate the Three Things That Get Mixed Up

In this discussion, unless you separate at least three things, the conversation stops making sense.

2.1 Windows Efficiency mode

This is the feature shown in Task Manager’s Status column. The green double-leaf icon is the marker, and it shifts how the target process uses CPU resources toward power efficiency.

2.2 Microsoft Edge’s energy saver (formerly “efficiency mode”)

This is a browser-side feature. You turn it on or off in Edge’s settings. It is separate from Windows Efficiency mode.

2.3 The system-wide Windows power mode / energy saver

This is an OS-wide setting leaning toward power saving. Under Best power efficiency, background activity is restricted; under Energy saver, the screen dims and background processes are also restricted.

In other words, even when the symptoms look similar — “it’s slow,” “there’s a leaf icon,” “it’s protecting the battery” — you may actually be looking at different switches. Mix them up and your fix will miss.

3. What Exactly Is Windows Efficiency Mode?

According to Microsoft’s support documentation, the Efficiency mode shown in Task Manager’s Status column is a Windows 11 feature that automatically limits the resources used by one process or a group of processes when high CPU usage is detected.

The intent is quite straightforward.

• Make the foreground app you are using right now more responsive
• Improve battery life
• Reduce heat and fan noise
• Prevent background work from churning the CPU too hard

So it pairs well with work that is not currently center stage — updaters, sync tasks, indexing, behind-the-scenes helper processes — while it can show up as perceived degradation for the work app you are actively touching, responsiveness-critical operations, heavy web-app tabs, and near-real-time monitoring or capture processing.

3.1 In one technical sentence

Microsoft’s DevBlogs explains that Task Manager’s Efficiency mode “lowers the target process’s base priority to low and sets its QoS to EcoQoS.”

Furthermore, Microsoft Learn’s SetProcessInformation documentation explains that for processes classified as EcoQoS, the system attempts to improve power efficiency by lowering CPU frequency or using more power-efficient cores. In addition, EcoQoS is intended for work that does not contribute to the foreground user experience and should not be used for performance-critical or foreground experiences.

In short, Efficiency mode is not just “lower the priority a little” — it is easiest to understand as a signal to Windows saying “this work may prioritize efficiency over performance.”

3.2 Processes can be treated as power-efficient even if you never turned it on

This is another easy place to be misled.

Windows’s QoS documentation describes a classification like this.

• Focused window: High QoS
• Visible but unfocused: Medium QoS
• Minimized or fully occluded windows: Low QoS
• Background services: Utility QoS
• Work explicitly tagged EcoQoS: Eco QoS

On top of that, even when an app does not explicitly set EcoQoS, Windows has mechanisms that infer QoS heuristically.

So it is not surprising to see phenomena like:

• It suddenly feels slow once minimized
• It is only heavy when running on battery
• You never touched Efficiency mode, yet the behavior looks similar

4. When to Consider Turning It Off

When you spot Efficiency mode, the reflex is to turn it all off, but in practice things go better when you split by “is this the lead actor or a background player?”

Microsoft’s EcoQoS description can also be summarized the same way: suited to background work, updates, sync, and indexing; not suited to foreground performance-focused use.

5. How to Turn Off Windows Efficiency Mode

The standard procedure documented by Microsoft support is to toggle the target process from Task Manager. The steps are:

1. Open Task Manager
   • From Start, search for “Task Manager” and open it.
   • Ctrl + Shift + Esc works too if you want it fast.

2. Open Processes in the left menu

3. Find the process you want to turn it off for
   • Look for Efficiency mode in the Status column or the green double-leaf icon.
4. Right-click the target process and turn off Efficiency mode
   • Per Microsoft’s guidance, choose Efficiency mode from the menu to turn it off.
   • Once off, the green leaf icon disappears.
5. If you selected a process group, expand it
   • You sometimes cannot toggle at the parent-group level.
   • Expand the group with the arrow on the left and right-click the individual process to toggle.
6. Repeat as needed
   • If multiple apps are affected, handle each individually with the same steps.

5.1 You can also toggle from the button in the upper right

Microsoft support also notes that, with a process selected, you can toggle Efficiency mode on or off via the Efficiency mode icon at the top right of Task Manager. If the icon is gray, it is not available for that target.

5.2 Minimize Efficiency mode across all processes (system-wide settings)

The Task Manager toggle applies to one process at a time, and its setting disappears when that process exits. Right-clicking every process each time it starts and the green leaf returns is not realistic, so here are two system-wide settings that minimize Power Throttling—the underlying mechanism used by Efficiency mode—across the machine.

Both options disable the mechanism that protects foreground apps by constraining background work. They therefore have a real cost in battery life, heat, and fan noise. Treat them as options for performance test systems, always-plugged-in desktops, and workloads where responsiveness takes absolute priority.

5.2.1 Set power mode to Best performance

This is the simplest option and the easiest to undo.

Microsoft’s hardware documentation says that Power Throttling is always enabled except when the power slider is set to Best performance, and that under Best performance all applications are opted out of Power Throttling.

1. Open Settings (Windows + I)
2. Open System > Power & battery
3. Set Power mode to Best performance

This requires neither a registry edit nor a restart. On a laptop, plugged-in and battery operation can be configured separately, so you can use full performance only while connected to AC power.

5.2.2 Turn off Power Throttling itself through the registry or Group Policy

For a stronger option, Windows provides a policy that turns off Power Throttling itself. Microsoft’s policy documentation (PowerThrottlingTurnOff in ADMX_Power) specifies both that enabling the policy disables Power Throttling and the corresponding registry location.

On Pro and Enterprise editions, configure it through Group Policy:

1. Press Win + R, enter gpedit.msc, and open the Group Policy Editor
2. Open Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Power Throttling Settings
3. Set Turn off Power Throttling to Enabled
4. Restart Windows

On editions such as Home that do not include the Group Policy Editor, set the same registry value written by the policy. Run this command in a terminal opened as administrator:

reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling" /v PowerThrottlingOff /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

The setting is as follows. Restart Windows after applying it.

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling
• Value name: PowerThrottlingOff
• Type: REG_DWORD
• Data: 1 (turn Power Throttling off)

To restore the default behavior, set the value to 0 or delete it, then restart Windows.

reg delete "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling" /v PowerThrottlingOff /f

Microsoft also recommends backing up the registry before editing it because an incorrect registry change can make the system unstable.

5.3 Attempt to remove throttling from all currently running processes with PowerShell

If you do not want to restart or change a machine-wide persistent setting, but do want to remove Efficiency-mode-equivalent throttling from every process currently running, you can call the SetProcessInformation API from PowerShell.

As section 3.1 explained, the EcoQoS side of Efficiency mode is controlled by PROCESS_POWER_THROTTLING_EXECUTION_SPEED. Microsoft Learn states that setting this flag in ControlMask while leaving StateMask at 0 forces throttling off, treating the process as HighQoS. The following applies that state to every process it can access.

# Run in PowerShell opened as administrator
Add-Type -Namespace Win32 -Name PowerThrottlingApi -MemberDefinition @'
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct PROCESS_POWER_THROTTLING_STATE
{
    public uint Version;
    public uint ControlMask;
    public uint StateMask;
}

[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern bool SetProcessInformation(
    IntPtr hProcess,
    int ProcessInformationClass,
    ref PROCESS_POWER_THROTTLING_STATE ProcessInformation,
    uint ProcessInformationSize);
'@

$state = New-Object Win32.PowerThrottlingApi+PROCESS_POWER_THROTTLING_STATE
$state.Version     = 1  # PROCESS_POWER_THROTTLING_CURRENT_VERSION
$state.ControlMask = 1  # PROCESS_POWER_THROTTLING_EXECUTION_SPEED
$state.StateMask   = 0  # 0 = always disable throttling (treat as HighQoS)
$size = [uint32][System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::SizeOf($state)

foreach ($p in Get-Process) {
    try {
        # 4 = ProcessPowerThrottling (PROCESS_INFORMATION_CLASS)
        $null = [Win32.PowerThrottlingApi]::SetProcessInformation(
            $p.Handle, 4, [ref]$state, $size)
    } catch {
        # Skip processes that cannot be opened, such as protected processes
    }
}

Keep these characteristics and limitations in mind:

• It affects only processes that are running now. Processes started later are not changed, so regular use would require running it again, perhaps with a logon task. For a persistent choice, the registry / Group Policy option in 5.2.2 is a better fit.
• Even as administrator, processes that cannot be opened are skipped, including some protected processes. This is a best-effort operation, not a guarantee that every process changes.
• It removes EcoQoS, the part that shifts CPU operation toward power efficiency. The lowered base priority that Task Manager’s Efficiency mode also applies remains. You can restore priority with a command such as $p.PriorityClass = 'Normal', but indiscriminately raising the priority of background processes has substantial side effects and is not recommended.
• To return control to the system default instead of forcing throttling off, set ControlMask to 0 and run the same operation.

5.4 What remains even after these changes

Even after applying the options in 5.2 and 5.3, the result is best effort, not absolute. The following can remain:

• Power-saving behavior implemented by the browser itself does not stop. As section 6.2 explains, Edge and Chrome can lower their own base priority or use power-efficiency APIs. Turn off Edge’s energy saver separately using the steps in section 7.
• Lowering base priority is separate from Power Throttling. If Task Manager’s Efficiency mode lowered a process’s priority, disabling the system-wide mechanism does not undo that change; turn Efficiency mode off for the target process itself.
• QoS classification itself does not disappear. Window state—foreground, visible, or minimized—continues to affect treatment, while power settings and hardware also influence P-core / E-core assignment.
• And of course, if Efficiency mode is not the cause of the slowness, none of these changes will make the workload faster (see 8.2).

6. When You Can’t Turn It Off / It Seems to Come Right Back

6.1 The menu item is grayed out

Microsoft’s DevBlogs explains that if Efficiency mode is grayed out, the process may be a core Windows process, and throttling it could affect the system.

Microsoft support also notes that Efficiency mode cannot be toggled for most process groups. As an example, even when the entire Windows Explorer process group cannot be toggled, the individual Explorer folder windows revealed by expanding it sometimes can.

In other words, “gray” does not mean “broken” — it can mean you cannot touch it at that granularity. Start by expanding the group and looking at the individual child processes.

6.2 Efficiency mode appears on the browser even though you never set it

This is also perfectly normal.

Microsoft’s DevBlogs explains that Microsoft Edge and Chrome may lower their own base priority or use power-efficiency APIs themselves, which can appear as Efficiency mode in Task Manager.

That is, even when the user never turned Efficiency mode on:

• The browser itself is using power-saving APIs
• Viewed from Task Manager, it looks like an Efficiency-mode-equivalent state

In this case, it is faster to also check the browser’s own energy-saving settings, not just the Windows side.

6.3 “Just turn it all off” is a bit risky

Efficiency mode exists in the first place to protect foreground work by reducing interference from the background side. So if you crudely turn everything off, updaters, sync, and resident background tasks will reclaim the CPU, and the experience can degrade in a different way.

It is safer to narrow down in this order:

• Look only at the app that is currently a problem
• Decide whether it is the lead actor or a background player
• If it is a browser, also look at the browser-side settings

If, after weighing the tradeoff, you still want to disable it system-wide on a performance test machine or an always-plugged-in desktop, sections 5.2–5.3 cover the available methods, and section 5.4 explains what can still remain.

7. Where to Look When Only Edge Is Slow

Microsoft Edge’s support documentation explicitly states that Edge’s energy-saving features are separate from Windows Efficiency mode.

So if only Edge is slow, or only certain sites stutter, check the Edge side as well.

Steps to turn off Edge’s energy saver

1. Open Settings in Edge
2. Open System and performance
3. Under Performance, turn off Turn on efficiency mode / the energy saver toggle

When you only want to exempt specific sites

If you do not want to turn it all off, add the target URLs to Always keep these sites active. For heavy web apps, admin consoles, and in-browser CAD / DCC / BI tools, this is often the more manageable approach.

8. Common Misconceptions

8.1 Green leaf icon = always bad

Not necessarily. Efficiency mode is a mechanism for protecting foreground responsiveness, battery, and heat. For background work you are not using, having it on can actually be to your advantage.

8.2 Turning it off makes everything faster

Also wrong. If the cause of the slowness is memory pressure, disk I/O, network waits, drivers, heat, or a different browser setting, switching off Efficiency mode alone changes nothing essential.

Sections 5.2–5.3 do show ways to disable it broadly—power mode, registry, Group Policy, and PowerShell—but the same rule applies: if Efficiency mode is not the cause, turning it off system-wide will not make the workload faster. Establish that it is the cause before using those options.

8.3 A minimized window gives you the same comparison conditions

Per Microsoft Learn’s QoS documentation, minimized or fully occluded windows can fall to low QoS. Furthermore, in Windows 11’s power settings, Best power efficiency restricts background activity and Energy saver restricts background processes.

So for performance comparisons and bug triage, unless you hold constant:

• AC power versus battery
• the power mode
• whether the window is foreground/visible or minimized

you are running a different experiment.

8.4 Turning off Edge’s energy saver also removes Windows Efficiency mode

Also separate. Edge’s energy saver and the Efficiency mode shown in Windows Task Manager are different features. Turning one off leaves the other in place.

9. Summary

In one sentence, Windows Efficiency mode is a mechanism that quiets down background work a little, balancing foreground responsiveness with power savings.

So the most practical view is:

• For background work you are not using, leaving it on is usually fine
• If the app you are using right now is slow, unstable, or sluggish, turn it off for that process only and compare
• On a performance test system or always-plugged-in desktop where you intentionally want to disable it system-wide, use Best performance power mode or the registry / Group Policy setting Turn off Power Throttling, with the battery and heat tradeoffs understood
• If only the browser is heavy, check Edge’s energy-saving features as well as the Windows side
• For benchmarks and triage, hold AC power / power mode / window visibility constant

There is no need to assume the green leaf icon is instantly bad. Decide between leaving it on and trying it off based on whether that process is the current lead actor.

10. Related Articles

• What Happens When You Set Windows “Processor Scheduling” to “Background Services” - Quantum, Priority Boost, and P-Cores / E-Cores
• How to Compare the Execution Speed of Different Program Versions on Windows - From Aligning Power Modes and Environments to the Limits
• When Does Windows Actually Require Administrator Privileges - UAC, Protected Areas, and How to Tell by Design

11. References

1. Microsoft Support, Learn about performance features in Microsoft Edge The meaning of Efficiency mode in Windows Task Manager, the green leaf icon, the steps to turn it off, and the difference from Edge’s energy-saving features.

2. Microsoft DevBlogs, Reduce Process Interference with Task Manager Efficiency Mode How Task Manager’s Efficiency mode combines lowering the base priority with EcoQoS, what the grayed-out state means, and notes on how Edge / Chrome appear.

3. Microsoft DevBlogs, Introducing EcoQoS The aim of EcoQoS, its suitability for background work, and its effect on power consumption, heat, and fan noise.

4. Microsoft Learn, Quality of Service - Win32 apps QoS levels, and the relationship between foreground, visible, minimized, and background services and QoS.

5. Microsoft Learn, SetProcessInformation function (processthreadsapi.h) The meaning of ProcessPowerThrottling / EcoQoS, the effect on CPU frequency and efficient cores, and heuristic QoS inference.

6. Microsoft Support, Power settings in Windows 11 How power modes and energy saver relate to restrictions on background activity and processes.

7. Microsoft Learn, Policy CSP - ADMX_Power (PowerThrottlingTurnOff) What the Turn off Power Throttling policy does and the corresponding registry key (Power\PowerThrottling / PowerThrottlingOff).

8. Microsoft Learn, Customize the Windows performance power slider The purpose of Power Throttling and the fact that all applications are opted out when the power slider is set to Best performance.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about the topic of this article.

What does the green leaf icon in Windows Task Manager mean?

The green double-leaf icon, with 'Efficiency mode' in the Status column, is a Windows 11 feature that automatically limits the resources used by a process or group of processes when high CPU usage is detected. Technically, Task Manager lowers the target process's base priority and sets its Quality of Service to EcoQoS, which lets the system reduce CPU frequency or move the work to more power-efficient cores. Its goals are better foreground responsiveness, longer battery life, and less heat and fan noise.

How do I turn off Efficiency mode in Windows 11?

Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to Processes, find the process showing Efficiency mode or the green leaf icon, right-click it, and toggle Efficiency mode off — the leaf icon disappears. You can also use the Efficiency mode icon at the top right of Task Manager with a process selected. Note that you often cannot toggle at the parent-group level: expand the group with the arrow on the left and right-click the individual child process instead.

Why is the Efficiency mode option grayed out for some processes?

A grayed-out menu item usually means the process is a core Windows process, where throttling could affect the system, or that you are looking at a process group — Microsoft notes that Efficiency mode cannot be toggled for most process groups. Gray does not mean broken; it can mean you cannot touch it at that granularity. Expand the group and look at the individual child processes, which can sometimes be toggled even when the parent cannot.

Can I turn off Efficiency mode for all processes at once?

Task Manager has no single master switch, but two system-wide settings can help. One is setting Windows power mode to Best performance; Microsoft states that all applications are opted out of Power Throttling—the underlying mechanism used by Efficiency mode—in that mode. The other is enabling the Group Policy setting 'Turn off Power Throttling,' which sets PowerThrottlingOff = 1 under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerThrottling and disables Power Throttling itself. Browser-controlled power-saving behavior and lowered base priority can remain, and both choices cost battery life and increase heat, so they are not recommended as an everyday laptop setting.

Is Microsoft Edge's energy saver the same as Windows Efficiency mode?

No — they are separate features, and turning one off leaves the other in place. Edge's energy saver is a browser-side setting under Settings > System and performance. Also, Edge and Chrome may lower their own base priority or use power-efficiency APIs themselves, which can appear as Efficiency mode in Task Manager even though you never turned it on. If only Edge is slow, check the browser's settings too, or add specific sites to 'Always keep these sites active' instead of turning everything off.

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Go Komura

Representative of KomuraSoft LLC

Focused on Windows software development, technical consulting, and investigations into failures that are difficult to reproduce.