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Efficiency Mode

Efficiency Mode is a Windows signal that a process is not time-critical, so the OS may deprioritize it, run it at lower clock speeds, or schedule it onto efficiency cores (E-cores) if available. Windows provides no way to make the setting stick; Process Lasso lets you persist Efficiency Mode ON or OFF for specific processes.

Note

Requires Windows 11 or later. On hybrid CPUs (such as Intel P/E-core designs), Efficiency Mode strongly influences which cores a process runs on.

When to use it

  • Force OFF for performance-critical processes that Windows inappropriately classifies as efficient, keeping them off E-cores and exempt from other energy-saving actions.
  • Force ON for background processes whose responsiveness you do not care about, reducing their power draw and their interference with foreground work.

How to set it

Right-click a process and use the context menu to set Efficiency Mode for the current instance only, or under the always submenu to create a persistent rule.

Efficiency Mode in process context menu

Persistent rules can be managed in one place at Options / CPU / Efficiency Modes.

Efficiency Mode rules app menu location

Efficiency Mode rules config dialog

How it is displayed

  • The Status column shows Efficiency for processes currently in Efficiency Mode. (Statuses shown there also include Restrained, applied by ProBalance, and Suspended.)
  • The Rules column shows E for an Efficiency Mode always ON rule and e for always OFF.

Efficiency Mode status column and rule symbol

Caveats and interactions

  • Some applications mark individual threads as efficient rather than the whole process. Process Lasso does not currently display thread-level classification, but an Efficiency Mode OFF rule ensures no threads in the process are classified as efficient.
  • ProBalance has an option to place processes into Efficiency Mode while they are being restrained. It defaults to OFF because it is more heavy-handed than ProBalance's normal priority adjustment.