Outcome: You’ll unlock Windows 11’s hidden Ultimate Performance power plan and switch to it for smoother, more consistent performance in demanding apps and games.

Who this is for: Windows 11 gamers and power users (desktop or plugged-in laptop) who want fewer CPU-related slowdowns and micro-stutters.

Time required: About 2 minutes.

Quick Answer

Open Terminal (Admin), run:
powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
Then go to Settings > System > Power & battery > Additional power settings and select Ultimate Performance.

What this trick does (and why people use it)

Windows 11 keeps a hidden power plan called Ultimate Performance. It reduces aggressive power-saving behavior so your CPU stays more responsive under load. On some systems, that can mean steadier frame times, fewer micro-stutters, and better minimum FPS in CPU-heavy games.

Official command reference: Microsoft Powercfg documentation.

Prerequisites

  • Windows 11 PC
  • Administrator account access
  • If on laptop: preferably plugged in, with temperature monitoring available

Step-by-step: enable Ultimate Performance

  1. Open an elevated terminal.
    Right-click the Start button and choose Terminal (Admin) (or search for Command Prompt and select Run as administrator).
    Expected result: A User Account Control prompt appears and an admin terminal opens.
  2. Run the unlock command.
    Paste this exact command and press Enter:
    powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
    Expected result: You’ll see either a success message or a note that the scheme already exists.
  3. Open Power Options.
    Go to Settings > System > Power & battery > Additional power settings (or search Windows for “Power Options”).
    Expected result: You can see your available power plans.
  4. Select Ultimate Performance.
    Choose Ultimate Performance and keep the PC on AC power while gaming or benchmarking.
    Expected result: Performance may feel more consistent during heavy workloads.

Expected result checks

  • Plan visibility check: “Ultimate Performance” appears in Power Options.
  • Applied check: The radio button next to Ultimate Performance is selected.
  • Real-world check: In a CPU-bound game/benchmark, compare minimum FPS or frame-time spikes before vs after.

Common mistakes

  • Running the command in a non-admin terminal (it may fail silently or not apply correctly).
  • Expecting big gains in every game—this is workload-dependent.
  • Leaving this mode enabled on battery power and then wondering why battery life drops fast.

Troubleshooting

  • Ultimate Performance not showing: Re-run the command in admin mode, then restart your PC.
  • Laptop gets hotter/noisier: That’s common. Switch to Balanced when not gaming.
  • No measurable performance change: Your bottleneck may be GPU, RAM, or game engine limits.
  • Want to undo: Switch back to Balanced in Power Options, or remove the scheme with:
    powercfg /delete e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

References

Next step

Now run one quick A/B test: play the same game scene for 5 minutes on Balanced and then on Ultimate Performance, and keep whichever gives you smoother frame-time consistency.

Related reads