Documentation
How Optimal works, in detail.
Installing it, what each mode shows you, what happens between pressing Apply and the first registry write, and how to walk any of it back.
What Optimal is
A Windows tuning and debloat app for gamers that shows you the exact operations before it runs them.
Optimal is a .NET 9 desktop application for Windows. It reads your machine — CPU, GPU, memory, system drive, Windows build and network adapter — then offers only the controls your system actually supports. It opens with nothing selected.
Every control is data, not code. The catalogue lives in JSON manifests that declare compatibility, detection, the apply operations, the revert operations, warnings, sources, dependencies and conflicts. The UI cannot execute raw manifest text; each operation type maps to a typed, validated handler.
74 controls — Across privacy, debloat, apps, explorer, gaming, system, power, update and network.
9 categories — Networking arrived in 1.0 and is mostly read-only discovery.
0 telemetry — No accounts, no analytics endpoints, no background service.
Requirements
Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or newer, 64-bit — Windows 11 included.
Optimal ships self-contained, so no .NET runtime install is needed. It requests administrator rights at launch because restore points, machine-level registry keys, power schemes and WinGet installs all require elevation. Everything before your confirmation is read-only detection.
Individual controls declare their own minimum Windows build and hardware requirements. Anything your machine cannot support is filtered out before it reaches the catalogue.
OS — Windows 10 2004 (19041) and newer, 64-bit, including Windows 11.
Rights — Administrator. Requested at launch, used only when you confirm a plan.
NVIDIA profiles — Need NVIDIA Profile Inspector and a compatible NVIDIA card.
App installs — Use WinGet, which ships with current Windows builds.
Installing
Two routes to the same release, both checksum-verified before anything executes.
The installer is the short path: it adds a Start menu entry, optionally a desktop shortcut, and registers a normal Windows uninstall entry. The PowerShell command does the same thing without leaving the terminal — it downloads the newest stable installer from GitHub Releases, verifies the published SHA-256, and only then launches it elevated.
The binaries are not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn. That is expected. Download only from the official GitHub release and compare the checksum before running anything.
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unquerys/Optimal/main/install.ps1 | iexOptimal-Setup.exe — Recommended. Shortcut selection and uninstall support.
Optimal.exe — Bundled standalone application, no install.
Optimal-win-x64.zip — Portable folder with the app and its release data.
Every download has a matching .sha256 file in the same release. Verify with: Get-FileHash .\Optimal-Setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256
First run and onboarding
Seven stages that build a plan you review before a single change is made.
Onboarding detects your hardware, asks what the machine is for, and assembles a suggested plan from that — including a debloat review stage where removals are listed individually. It suggests; it does not apply. You can skip straight to the catalogue and pick controls yourself.
Startup itself is read-only. Optimal reads current state so it can show you which controls are already in the state they would set, and nothing is written until you confirm a plan.
Simple and Advanced mode
A global switch over the whole catalogue that changes what you are shown, never what is selected.
Simple mode hides expert policy and security controls and shows the everyday ones. Advanced mode exposes the rest with their evidence, risk tier and full tradeoff written out — network hardening, Memory Integrity and Windows Update policy controls live there.
Controls are tiered so the risk is on the label rather than buried in a preset.
Verified — Documented, widely applicable, low blast radius.
Situational — Correct for some setups and wrong for others; the tradeoff is written out.
Aggressive — Real costs — turning off Memory Integrity, for instance. Labelled, never bundled.
The safety model
Every applied plan follows the same seven steps, in the same order, with no shortcuts.
Dry-run mode walks detection and backup descriptions without applying anything, which is the safest way to read a plan in full.
A restore point is an additional recovery layer, not a replacement for a backup. Keep a current backup regardless.
Detect — Check compatibility and read current state.
Show — Display the exact selected controls, the exclusions and the warnings.
Confirm — Wait for an explicit confirmation. Nothing is implicit.
Restore point — Create a fresh Windows restore point. If Windows cannot, the plan stops before the first write.
Back up — Capture registry state as readable .reg exports plus operation-specific backup data.
Apply — Run each operation with progress reporting.
Record — Write results and restart requirements to the run journal in %LocalAppData%\Optimal.
Undoing changes
Each operation records its exact prior value, so an applied run can be undone from the History page.
Undo creates its own restore point before it starts, then replays the captured prior state. Run history keeps a record of what was applied, when, and whether a restart was required.
One honest limit: removed apps are current-user AppX packages, and they are reinstalled from the Microsoft Store rather than restored from a backup. If Windows no longer retains a package, that removal is effectively permanent — which is why the debloat review lists every removal individually.
Networking
Read-only discovery, three reversible hardening controls, and deliberately no TCP presets.
The Networking page reads your adapter, link speed, addressing, MTU, DNS configuration and live gateway and public-route latency. All of that is read-only. The Network Toolbox opens Windows' own tools — ncpa.cpl, the relevant ms-settings pages, Defender's network view — rather than reimplementing them.
Only three controls in the network category write anything, all Advanced-mode, all reboot-gated, all revertible: disable LLMNR name resolution, block insecure SMB guest logons, and require SMB client signing.
Optimal ships no blanket TCP registry presets. They are not one-size-fits-all and they are the reason many "network optimizers" make things worse.
How controls are defined
Schema version 1 JSON manifests, validated on load and rejected loudly when wrong.
Each manifest file carries a `schemaVersion` and a `tweaks` array. Required fields are `id`, `name`, `category`, `tier`, `description` and `source`; optional ones include `audience`, `impact`, `tradeoff`, `requires`, `detect`, `apply`, `revert`, `reboot`, `dependsOn` and `conflictsWith`. IDs are lower-case dotted names such as `privacy.telemetry.disable`.
The loader rejects duplicate IDs, unsupported schema versions, invalid categories or tiers, unknown operation types, unsafe registry paths, invalid package identifiers, missing dependencies and inconsistent conflicts. Registered handlers cover registry values, AppX packages, WinGet packages, power configuration and NVIDIA profiles — manifests cannot run arbitrary shell text.
Privacy
The app phones nobody. There is no account, no analytics and no background service.
Optimal reaches the network for exactly two reasons, both of them user-initiated: downloading a release during install, and installing an app you selected through WinGet from its publisher. Run journals, registry exports and backups are written locally under %LocalAppData%\Optimal and never leave the machine.
When you report a bug, scrub logs and screenshots of usernames, device names, network addresses, serial numbers and tokens first.
Troubleshooting
The four things people actually hit.
SmartScreen warns about the download — Expected — the binaries are not code-signed yet. Verify the SHA-256 against the .sha256 file in the same GitHub release, then choose More info → Run anyway.
"Could not create a restore point" — System Protection is off, or the shadow copy service is disabled. Enable System Protection for the system drive in System Properties → System Protection, then retry. Optimal will not proceed without one.
An app install fails — Installs run through WinGet from the publisher. Update the App Installer package from the Microsoft Store, then retry that control on its own.
NVIDIA profiles do nothing — They need NVIDIA Profile Inspector and a supported card — RTX 20/30/40/50 or GTX 16. On other GPUs the controls are filtered out before you see them.
Uninstalling
Uninstalling the app does not revert your tweaks — undo them first.
Revert the runs you want reversed from the History page while Optimal is still installed. Then remove it from Settings → Apps → Installed apps, or delete the folder if you used the portable build. Run journals and backups stay in %LocalAppData%\Optimal until you delete them.
Contact and support
Email hello@optimaltweaks.com, or bring it to the Discord.
Bug reports and feature requests are best filed as GitHub issues so they stay tracked in the open. For anything else — press, trademark or takedown questions, or just telling us it worked — email is fine and a real person reads it.
These pages track the shipped build, v1.0.2. The source documents they are written from live in the repository and change with the code.
Repository documentationSupport
Free, and staying free.
Optimal costs nothing, has no account, no ads and no telemetry, and never will. Domain renewal, release infrastructure and the test machines still cost money. If Optimal saved you an afternoon of registry spelunking, a coffee keeps it running.
One-off, no subscription, no account needed on this side.
Prefer to just say something?
hello@optimaltweaks.com