First launch: signing in and finding your way

Signing in

The first time Nexus opens on a PC, it asks you to sign in. Use the email and password of your Nexus account, the same ones you use on this website. There's no license key.

• Every plan (Free, Standard and Pro) works on 1 PC at a time. Signing in again on the same PC is always fine.
• Every tweak and Optimize pack is listed on every plan. Ones your plan doesn't include are greyed out with Upgrade to Standard or Upgrade to Pro, so you can read exactly what they do first. Restore Center is never locked.
• Nexus checks your account each time it starts, so it needs an internet connection to open. Once it's open, everything works without the network.
• To use Nexus on another PC, choose Sign out and free this PC in Settings › Account, or remove the PC on your account page.

After signing in, you land on the Dashboard. Nothing has been changed on your PC: Nexus only reads settings until you apply something.

The layout

• Sections across the top: Dashboard, Optimize, Tweaks, Gaming, System and Restore. The gear opens Settings.
• Page tabs underneath: each section's pages, such as the 11 tweak categories under Tweaks. The small rings show how much of each page is already in place.
• The status bar along the bottom.

The Dashboard

• Readiness score: how many of the hand-picked recommended tweaks are already in place on this PC.
• Optimize everything and Analyze my PC. The analyzer runs evidence-based checks and explains what it finds. It doesn't change anything.
• Optimize packs with their progress.
• Live CPU, GPU, memory and ping, each with history, and a live performance chart.
• Quick actions for common tools and a summary of your PC.

The status bar

From left to right:

• Privilege: whether Nexus is running as a standard user or as administrator. Nexus normally runs as a standard user and asks for approval only for changes that need it.
• Active changes: how many Nexus changes are currently in place. They're all in Restore Center.
• Live readings: CPU, GPU, RAM and ping, and the version number.

The ping comes from a small probe every few seconds to 1.1.1.1 by default. You can change the host or turn it off in Settings › Live latency.

Jump anywhere with Ctrl+K

Press Ctrl + K to open the command palette and type to jump to any page, tweak, fix or pack.

Where your data lives

Settings, change history, benchmarks and logs are stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\NexusOptimizer. None of it is uploaded: Nexus has no telemetry. When it starts it checks your account (your sign-in token, a one-way ID for this PC, the PC's name and the app version) and asks for the newest version. If there is one, Nexus downloads it, checks its signature, installs it and opens again by itself.

Next: Using Optimize packs.