As with many previous versions of Windows, Microsoft infused Windows 10 with a ton of animations to give it a smoother, more user-friendly feel. It’s a nice touch… unless you’re running an older machine, especially one rocking a spinning hard drive. For those PCs, waiting for an animation to complete adds a few annoying seconds to your Windows experience that don’t need to be there.
If you’re tired of waiting just a little bit too long for the Start menu to pop-up or for windows to appear and disappear, here’s how to disable windows animations in Windows 10.
The Windows 10 Control Panel.
Right-click the Start menu and select System from the context menu. This will take you to Control Panel > System and Security > System. Now click Advanced system settings.
TIP: If you want to get there a bit faster, open Cortana, type
sysdm.cpl, click on the first result, and then click the Advanced tab in the window that opens.
You’re now at a small dialog box entitled System Properties and have the Advanced tab open. Now, click Settings… under “Performance.”
Look at all those visual effects settings.
Another window opens. Make sure the Custom radio button is selected, then uncheck “Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing.” Then click Apply and OK.
If you’d like you could also check out the rest of the options to tweak your system’s visual effects before clicking OK. Most of the options on this list are self-explanatory.
Once you’re done, close all the system windows you opened and test out the speed of your newly modified Start menu.
It should appear and disappear in a rather immediate and jarring manner. If your PC has a ton of RAM and a solid state drive, the user experience tradeoff may not be worth the hassle. On an older system, however, that faster response can offer a much better experience than the slower, animated version.