What is the App Grid Animation?
When you click the “Show Applications” button (the grid of nine dots) on the Ubuntu dock, the GNOME desktop environment triggers an animation. The background blurs, and the application icons glide smoothly into view from the bottom of the screen.
While this animation looks modern and polished, it requires a small amount of graphics processing power. On older hardware, virtual machines, or budget laptops with weak integrated graphics, this animation can stutter, lag, and make the entire operating system feel sluggish. If you prefer raw speed over visual flair, you can disable this animation to make the app drawer snap open instantly.
How to Disable the Show Applications Animation in Ubuntu
To turn off this specific animation, you must use the hidden gsettings configuration tool in the terminal.
- Open your Ubuntu Terminal (shortcut:
Ctrl + Alt + T). - Copy and paste the following command exactly as written:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface enable-animations false- Press Enter.
This command immediately disables all unnecessary graphical animations across the GNOME desktop, including the Show Applications glide, window minimizing/maximizing effects, and workspace switching transitions. The desktop will now feel significantly snappier and more responsive.
How to Re-enable the Animations
If you upgrade your hardware or decide you miss the smooth visual transitions, you can restore the animations by running the exact same command, but changing false back to true:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface enable-animations true