Windows 10 Tip: Disable Desktop Animations

Annoyed by the jarring window animations on the desktop in build 9860 of the Windows Technical Preview? No problem: All you need to do is dust off your old desktop skills and change a single option to stop that from happening.

You'll notice this window animation feature immediately. It's most obvious—and, to me, annoying—in two cases: When you minimize a window and when you open a sub-window inside an application (like Options in Office or any window in Photoshop). Ugh.

But you can get rid of that effect if you find it as annoying as I do.

This is one of those times when being a savvy Windows veteran pays off: While all the trendy youngsters are agonizing over whether Microsoft will ever fully port all the settings from Control Panel into PC Settings—which is literally impossible, by the way—like many of you, I still have deep-seated desktop skills. And one of the things I still spend time doing is configuring my PC through the Advanced System Settings interface.

There are lots of ways to get there of course. But in Windows 10, the simplest may be to type WINKEY + X (or right-click the Start button) and choose System. Then, click  on Advanced System Settings on the left to access the Advanced tab of the System Properties window. (This is what used to be "System" before System was overhauled in Windows Vista.)

Now, click the Settings button under Performance. The Performance Options window opens.

Here, you unselect the option you can see above: "Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing." Then click Apply and ... Voila! Problem fixed.

You can also access some other options here that impact new Windows 10 features. For example, you can uncheck "Show shadows under windows" to remove the (reintroduced and improved) shadow effect that's new to this release.

Enjoy.