One of Microsoft's best free apps has been locked behind region restrictions for ages. It took Microsoft two years to progress PC Manager from beta to general release, and after two more years the app is still only available to certain people.
PC Manager shipped in 2024. Despite the app being available for years, it is still not officially available in my region. After our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino highlighted the app in a couple of our recent meetings, I decided to install PC Manager regardless of the limited rollout.
The app appears to be available in China, India, the United States, and a few other regions. But the official website for the app simply lists PC Manager as "Coming Soon."
You can work around Microsoft's restrictions by changing your region settings or downloading the app through other sources, but you shouldn't have to. Microsoft has had years to determine if there are any issues with PC Manager. It's time to ship it to more regions.
What is Microsoft PC Manager?
PC Manager is a free app for Windows 11 that allows you to optimize your system. It brings together several tools and options from throughout the operating system into a unified interface.
The app has a shortcut called "Boost" that frees up system resources and clears temporary files. It can also scan your PC in several ways to find ways to clear out junk files.
I cleared out over 100GB from my PC in just a few minutes by using PC Manager. Admittedly, many of those files were unused items in my Downloads folder, such as media packs from press releases. But PC Manager also found applications to delete, caches to clear, and temporary files to get rid of.
PC Manager also has tools to manage duplicate files and large files. A button just below those options opens Storage sense. A Toolbox within PC Manager includes shortcuts to take a screenshot, check the weather, and perform other common tasks.
That's a bit of a theme in PC Manager. Very few of the options it manages or steps it can take are exclusive to the app. What makes PC Manager valuable is that it gathers together options by category. With just a few clicks you can boost your PC, clear out old files, and delete unused apps.
Hidden ads and cheeky defaults
PC Manager is a useful app that I recommend. It also has some options that I consider borderline advertising. The "Taskbar repair" option under system protection has the box to "Enable search box on taskbar" on by default. That search box uses Bing when searching the web.
Taskbar repair's main function is to remove any toolbars that have been added to your Taskbar. If you've ever been asked to fix the PC of a friend or family member, there's a good chance you've seen an unwanted toolbar on Windows.
Defaulting to showing a search bar powered by Bing is a cheeky move, especially when PC Manager lacks a way to remove the Search bar (you have to do that through the Windows 11 Settings app).
The Extras section of app management within PC Manager shows a shortcut to get the Bing Wallpaper app. Honestly, it comes off as a bit desperate.
Overall, PC Manager is a solid application that makes it easy to optimize your PC. I just wish it were available in more regions.
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