How to enable Ultimate Performance power mode on Windows 10

You can use the Ultimate Performance power plan on virtually any edition of Windows 10, and in this guide, you'll learn how.

Enable Windows 10 Ultimate Performance power plan
Enable Windows 10 Ultimate Performance power plan

Alongside the features and changes included with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update (version 1803), Microsoft also introduced the Ultimate Performance power plan to provide the absolute maximum performance for Windows 10.

The Ultimate Performance scheme is a new policy based on the current High Performance policy, and it goes further with tweaks to eliminate micro-latencies associated with fine grained power management techniques. In addition, it provides lower stuttering, and of course, it maximizes performance.

The only caveat is that it’s a power scheme reserved only for the “Workstations” edition of Windows 10. However, if you want to give it a try to see if it offers any benefits on your computer, you can enable the Ultimate Performance mode on any edition of Windows 10 version 1803 using the PowerCFG command tool.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to enable the Ultimate Performance power plan on Windows 10.

How to enable Windows 10 Ultimate Performance using PowerShell

If you want to enable the Ultimate Performance power plan on your device and you’re not running Windows 10 Pro for Workstations, use these steps.

Important: This power plan is available on Windows 10 version 1803, and later, you can check the version you’re running using this guide.
  1. Open Start.

  2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select Run as administrator.

  3. Type the following command to enable the Ultimate Performance in Control Panel and press Enter:

    powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

    PowerCFG command to enable Ultimate Performance power plan
    PowerCFG command to enable Ultimate Performance power plan
  4. Restart your computer.

  5. Open Control Panel.

  6. Click on Hardware and Sound.

  7. Click on Power Options.

  8. Under additional plans, select the Ultimate Performance option.

    Control Panel Ultimate Performance power option
    Control Panel Ultimate Performance power option

After completing the steps, you can test the new power plans to see if you notice improvements in performance when working with demanding workloads on your high-end computer.

The Ultimate Performance power policy is currently not available when running a device on battery.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.