How to Adjust Visual Effects to Improve Windows Performance

Modern versions of Windows are filled with subtle visual flair designed to make the operating system feel fluid and modern. When you minimize a window, it shrinks into the taskbar with a smooth animation. Menus fade into view, and windows have soft drop shadows. However, if you are running Windows on an older laptop or a budget PC with limited graphics processing power, these purely cosmetic visual effects consume valuable system resources, making the computer feel sluggish and unresponsive. By disabling these animations, you can instantly make your PC feel significantly faster.

Accessing the Performance Options

The settings to control visual effects are located in the advanced system properties, not the standard Windows Settings app.

1. Click the Start menu on your taskbar.
2. Type Advanced system settings into the search bar and press Enter. This will open a small window titled “System Properties.”
3. Ensure you are viewing the Advanced tab at the top of the window.
4. In the top section labeled “Performance” (which mentions visual effects, processor scheduling, and memory usage), click the Settings… button.

A new window called “Performance Options” will appear, opening directly to the “Visual Effects” tab.

Choosing Your Visual Effects Strategy

At the top of the Performance Options window, you are presented with four radio buttons that dictate how Windows handles animations and shadows.

• Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer: This is the default setting. Windows attempts to strike a balance based on your hardware, but it often favors appearance over speed.
• Adjust for best appearance: This forces every single visual flourish to turn on, consuming the maximum amount of system resources.
• Adjust for best performance: This is the nuclear option for slow computers. Selecting this radio button will instantly uncheck every single box in the list below, disabling all animations, shadows, and smooth fonts. The OS will look very blocky and basic, but it will run as fast as mechanically possible.
• Custom: This allows you to manually check and uncheck specific effects.

The Best Custom Configuration

Selecting “Adjust for best performance” makes Windows look incredibly outdated. If you want a massive speed boost but still want the text on your screen to be readable, use a Custom configuration.

1. Click the radio button for Custom.
2. Click the Clear All button (or manually uncheck all the boxes) to turn everything off.
3. Now, manually place a checkmark next to Smooth edges of screen fonts. (Without this, text in your web browser and documents will look jagged and pixelated).
4. Place a checkmark next to Show thumbnails instead of icons. (Without this, you will not be able to see preview images of your photos in the File Explorer).
5. Click Apply at the bottom of the window, and then click OK.

Your windows will now snap open instantly without animations, saving CPU and GPU cycles, while remaining entirely usable and readable.