Windows’ default settings are largely the same whether you’re using a high-end gaming PC or an entry-level budget laptop. And that’s a problem, especially because those default options usually lean toward looks and convenience over speed. A powerful machine can handle them just fine, but an old or budget one usually can’t.
I noticed this on my spare laptop, which, by the way, is more than four years old. Disabling animations was one thing that made the most difference in fixing overall responsiveness. So if performance is an issue, this is something definitely worth trying.
Your old machine can live without them
Windows 11 is big on visuals, and all those animations and transparent effects play a huge role. It’s the little details like fade-out and fade-in effects, shadows under folder icons, thumbnail previews, and smooth font edges that make Windows feel premium.
But the thing is, not every Windows PC is equally powerful. On an old or budget machine, these effects aren’t exactly free. The PC has to render every fade, blur, and shadow, and when the hardware is already struggling, that extra work shows up as a delay. It’s usually a fraction of a second, but it’s hard to miss.
It’s kind of ironic really. The same effects that are supposed to make everything look smooth end up slowing things down. And since they run all the time, they affect nearly everything you do. Things like opening the Start menu, switching apps, minimizing windows, or even simple interactions like right-click menu can feel a little slow.
This isn’t talked about enough because it’s mostly a problem for old and underpowered machines. You may have enough free storage and very few background apps, but your PC might still struggle with basic interactions. That’s usually visual effects making things appear slow.
Windows feels snappier without all the animations
A little less flashy, but that’s fair
By default, Windows prioritizes looks over speed, but it doesn’t have to be that way. It does let you turn those animations off in case you don’t want them slowing everything down. In fact, there’s more than one way to do this.
The first option is to head to Settings > Accessibility > Visual effects and turn off Animation effects. This stops Windows from fading and sliding things in and out. From the same menu, disable Transparency effects toggle too. This is the frosted-glass look on the Start menu, taskbar, and Settings app.
Disable these two, and you’ll notice the difference right away. There’ll be no animations and everything will feel more instant. If you want a bit more control over what gets disabled, there’s another way. In the Start menu, type adjust the appearance and performance of Windows and hit Enter. In the Performance Options window, you’ll see the Adjust for best appearance selected by default. Choose Adjust for best performance, and it’ll uncheck all the boxes, which means there’ll be no visual effects anywhere and Windows will prioritize performance over appearance. Hit Apply and you should see the difference.
To be fair, this can make your PC look a bit weird at first, especially with text that no longer has smooth edges. This option also turns off thumbnail previews and the animations that play when you minimize or maximize a window. Everything feels fast, sure, but it doesn’t look particularly great. Thankfully, there’s a third option called Custom, which lets you pick what stays.
You can keep the effects you like and disable everything else. All the options are pretty self-explanatory here, but I’d suggest keeping Smooth edges of screen fonts and Show thumbnails instead of icons enabled. Your PC will look much better with these while still benefiting from fewer visual effects.
There’s one more thing you should do
Disabling animations is great for speed, but it’s not the only thing that helps. By default, your Windows PC ships with the Balanced power plan, which is fine for everyday use. The catch is that it saves power by keeping your processor’s minimum state low and ramping up clock speeds only when necessary. That’s not ideal for every PC. If your system is already struggling to keep up, there’s no point in prioritizing power savings over performance.
Head to Settings > System > Power & battery and set Power mode to Best performance. This obviously means less battery efficiency if you’re on a laptop, but it can be worth it if you need the extra responsiveness.
Windows even has an Ultimate Performance power plan, which takes things to a whole new level, but it’s not worth it. It’s great if you want to squeeze out every bit of responsiveness, but it keeps your processor running at high clock speeds for long periods, which means more heat and higher power draw. So yes, for most PCs, Best performance is more than enough.