You went looking for the setting that turns Windows animations off and found two different screens that both claim to do it. They are not the same screen.
One is an old performance dialog, the other is a new accessibility page. No need to guess which of them is winning, because they cover different things.
I read what this machine was actually set to before writing, and the answer was the default that nobody ever changes.
The new page, which is where Microsoft points you
Start here, because it is the one that matches Windows 11.
Documented by Microsoft on its focus and distraction page: "Select Start > Settings > Accessibility > Visual effects."
The three switches, in Microsoft's own wording:
Animation effects: "If you don't want Windows to show animations, turn off the Animation effects toggle." Transparency effects: "To make window backgrounds more opaque, turn off the Transparency effects toggle." Always show scrollbars: "To automatically hide the scrollbars in Windows, turn off the Always show scrollbars toggle."
⭐ Animation effects is the one you came for. It removes the fade and slide on menus, windows and the Start menu.
The old dialog, which is what the search phrase names
The other screen, and it is still there.
Press Windows key and R, type `SystemPropertiesPerformance`, and press Enter. That opens Performance Options, titled "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows".
⭐ It holds seventeen individual tick boxes, plus the four presets at the top: let Windows choose, best appearance, best performance, and custom.
⚡ Best performance unticks everything at once, which is blunt and instantly noticeable.
⚠️ The two screens overlap without matching. Turning animations off in Settings does not untick every animation box in the old dialog, and the old dialog has options the new page never shows.
Ours: what this machine was set to
The reading that explains why most people see no difference.
Ours, and pulled from the PC in use here. The performance preset value had never been set at all, which is the untouched state, and transparency was on.
⚡ Read yours the same way. It writes nothing:
Get-ItemProperty "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize" |
Select-Object EnableTransparency⭐ Untouched is the normal state. Almost nobody opens either screen, which is exactly why "turn off animations" is such a common recommendation and so rarely already done.
Which switches actually change how it feels
Being specific, because most of the seventeen do nothing you would notice.
⭐ Animations when minimizing and maximizing. The single most noticeable one, because it happens constantly.
⭐ Fade or slide menus into view. Removing it makes menus appear instantly rather than a fraction of a second later.
⚡ Show thumbnails instead of icons is worth keeping on if you work with pictures, and worth removing if you do not.
⚠️ Smooth edges of screen fonts is not one to turn off. I did that once and turned it straight back on. Text becomes noticeably worse and you save nothing measurable.
What none of this speeds up
Honest, because the phrase "performance" oversells it.
⛔ It does not make anything load faster. Animations run while you wait, not instead of the work.
⛔ It will not fix a genuinely slow machine. Two numbers decide that, and neither is an animation setting.
⭐ What it does buy you is immediacy. The machine responds the instant you click rather than a beat later, which reads as faster even when nothing is.
⚠️ Ours, and marked as ours: on a modern PC this is a preference, not a tune-up. On an old one it is genuinely worth doing.
Transparency, separately
One line, because it is the setting people actually mean.
⭐ Transparency effects is its own toggle and it changes the look more than anything else here. It is the one to try if you only change one thing.
⚡ It sits in two places again: the Accessibility page above, and Settings, Personalization, Colors. I left mine switched on, because I prefer the look.
⚠️ It is not a night-time setting. Warming the screen colour is a different feature entirely and it is already built in.
On an older or weaker machine
Where this genuinely helps.
⭐ Best performance in the old dialog, then transparency off. Two changes, and your older laptop feels markedly more responsive.
⚡ Integrated graphics benefit most, because transparency and blur are drawn work the machine has to do continuously.
⭐ Ours: if the PC is old enough for this to matter, it is probably worth looking at what starts with it too. That does more than any of these switches.
Putting it back
Short, because people worry about this.
⭐ Every change here is reversible and instant. Nothing is installed, nothing is deleted.
⚡ Let Windows choose what's best for my computer is the preset that returns the old dialog to its untouched state.
⚠️ The Accessibility toggles are separate, so returning the old dialog does not switch animations back on if you turned them off there.
Status: read on Windows 11, 25 August 2026. Microsoft supplies the Settings, Accessibility, Visual effects route and the wording of the Animation effects, Transparency effects and Always show scrollbars toggles. The old Performance Options dialog and its tick boxes are described from the machine here, and the untouched preset value and transparency state were read on it.
Where is the setting to turn off Windows animations?
Settings, then Accessibility, then Visual effects, and turn off Animation effects. Microsoft documents that route. The older Performance Options dialog also has animation boxes, and the two screens do not match each other exactly.
What does adjust the appearance and performance of Windows open?
The Performance Options dialog. Windows key and R, then SystemPropertiesPerformance, opens it directly. It holds four presets and seventeen individual tick boxes, several of which the newer Settings page never shows you.
Will turning off animations make my PC faster?
Not measurably. Animations run while you are waiting rather than instead of the work. What you get is immediacy, which feels faster. On an old machine with integrated graphics the difference is real, and on a modern one it is a preference.
Why do the two screens disagree?
Because they were built years apart and cover overlapping but different options. Turning animations off in Settings does not untick every animation box in the old dialog, and the old dialog offers choices the new page has no equivalent for.
The Short Version
- Settings, Accessibility, Visual effects holds Animation effects and Transparency effects.
- SystemPropertiesPerformance in the Run box opens the older dialog with seventeen boxes.
- The two screens overlap and do not match, which is why advice about them conflicts.
- The preset on this machine had never been set, which is the normal untouched state.
- Minimize and maximize animations, and fading menus, are the two you actually notice.
- Do not turn off smooth edges of screen fonts. Text gets worse for no gain.
- None of it makes anything load faster. It makes the machine feel immediate.
- Every change is reversible and instant, with nothing installed or deleted.
Where to Next
Open Settings, Accessibility, Visual effects and turn Animation effects off for a day. That is the single change most people notice.
If you like it, open the old dialog too and try Best performance. Two changes, and an older laptop feels different straight away.
Read your own transparency setting with the line above if you want to know where you started. Putting it back is one click.
And if turning these off made a genuine difference on a modern machine, tell me the graphics chip in the comments. That would be useful to know, because usually it does not.
Isaac Smith is the founder and editor of PC Glance, a website that covers computers, laptops, and technology. He is a tech enthusiast and a computer geek who loves to share his insights and help his readers make smart choices when buying tech gadgets or laptops. He is always curious and updated about the latest tech trends.