How to disable the new window animations in Windows 10 Technical Preview

Beginners' Tips Series!

If you have been keeping up with the news on Windows 10 Technical Preview, you have seen a plethora of new features, both functional and aesthetic.

Amongst the latter, is the new animation when opening and closing windows. These arrived as part of the latest version, Preview Build 9860. Reception of the look has been mixed. Some people find the animation to be snazzy while others are just annoyed by it.

Depending on where you fall on this matter, you may want to disable the window animation. Here's what you do:

  1. Open PC Settings by going to the Charms bar, and then selecting Settings > Change PC settings.
  2. Select **Ease of Access*.
  3. Select Other options
  4. Toggle the switch next to Play animations in Windows

These same steps will work for disabling animations in Windows 8 as well.

Got any other tips for tweaking Windows 10? Chime in down below in the comments.

Seth Brodeur
60 Comments
  • Feems Saster...
  • Agreed. Feems much saster.
  • Feems such master
  • Meems fuch saster
  • This is called "spoonerism" I do it alot Jelly Beans- Belly Jeans
    Take a Shower- Shake a Tower
    Take a Sh*t- Shake a Tit
    Etc. :)
    I has no life lol
  • Dear seth i have a question : Is Windows 10,technical preview ready for stuff like steam yet ? I mean D'you know if windows 10 is capable of games yet ?
  • It is, always has been. I'm a gamer and installed Windows 10 first day.
  • To be honest, I am not really sure, as I am not a Steam user. It's worth a try, as long as you temper your expectations. A preview build of an OS should never be expected to be fully compatible or work flawlessly with anything. It's just to get a taste of things to come. So if it works, great. If it doesn't, it is no indication that it won't with the final release of Windows 10.
  • I think u should wait till consumer preview bcoz it will polish out the UI nd features nd increase more stability to play games
  • I play with steam right now on windows 10. No big problem show yet. Dota 2, borderland 2 same as i play on 8.1 .
  • Thanks every one :))) getting win 10 then
  • Steam has some pretty hard core issues on the Surface Pro 3.
  • I've been playing all my Steam games on Windows 10 without any problems.
  • Animations are great
  • I like the animations.
  • Fact: people who turn animations off are grumpy old people who probably obsess about snooker.
  • I like snooker... And animations
  • I love the animations. To me the only thing that would make them annoying is if they actually extended the amount of time it takes to complete an action. I fail to see how a fraction of a second while a window shrinks slightly before disappearing can be such a big annoyance
  • Animations is way to go! Though the new animations in Windows 10 is growing on me, I hope the animations is similar to WP8.1 except not sideways, faster and bit subtle. The 3D flip is cooler and great on message windows and toast notifications. New Windows 10 animations are bit conservative for me. Windows 8/8.1 opening animations of Modern apps are a bit slow, not bad, but still I prefer WP ones.
  • The animations are very subtle. I'm not sure I even would've noticed them if someone hadn't mentioned it.
  • I see you have insteon too! Great product, can't wait to get my thermostat!
  • Make sure you know whether or not your heating system uses a pump. If it does, you will need an add-on to the thermostat that will run you another $100 or so.
  • Will direct X 12 come with retail version? Or is it in technical preview.
  • You might want to have a look at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/directx/archive/2014/10/01/directx-12-and-windows-10.aspx
  • I love the animations! I hope they don't drop this on final build...
  • they aren't. they will simple adjust them. realistically they had already nailed the right amount of animations in windows 7. There was no big roar like there was this time which shows that they had the right balance. Animation is like salt. too much of it and you've spoiled the experience....unless you're a goat.
  • we want video to see the animation
  • The animations in Windows 10 look amazing. Microsoft is God.
  • based on the fact so many sites have this article, animation lovers are going to haver to accept that this feature is a trainreck and MSFT will have to tone it down a bit for it is annoying the hell out of testers, and even more so end users. see ya animation.
  • I think animation is good but MS have to polish it out nd make it more smooth
  • It looks just the same as 8.1 so whats "new" with this Windows 10??????????
  • First iteration of Win 10 had no animations; only happened with the recent update. There are still plenty missing too.
  • The Technical Preview is not the final release of Windows 10, I don't think we'll get a good idea of what to really expect until Build 2015.
  • Close, but not quite. First, there's the obvious: the start menu. That's a huge difference! But as far as the general UI itself, I thought so too til I did a side by side with my wife's computer running 8.1. There are minor, but meaningful differences: first, the icons are slowly being replaced with flatter, more basic icons that better compliment the modern UI than the Aero carryovers in 8. Second, the new animations - which seem kinda understated, and perhaps even underwhelming to me, using Yosemite (and before that, Mavericks) as my primary OS - I still appreciate them though, and would much rather have them than not have them. And most importantly, other than the start menu, the most significant change to the OS is that Windows no longer have the colored border on the sides and bottom of the window anymore. This may seem minor, but I think it makes the OS as a whole look MUCH sleeker, and much more streamlined. Lastly, and you may consider this a feature difference rather than a UI one, but full screen "mobile" apps no longer have to be full screen in 10, but work like Windows in say 7. Two more considerations: 1) This is still a pre-beta, and may add new things that further distinguish it from 8 aesthetically before the final version. 2) As it presently stands, the Win 10 UI is a well done incremental evolution from 8/8.1...just like 7 was from Vista, and 98 was from 95. In terms of appearance, they only made small differences from their predecessors...But those tiny differences still had a way of making a meaningful and appreciated difference to the whole...And so it is here. I love the look of 10. In fact, I think I may even have come to like it better than Aero...And yet, I don't really like the look of 8. It's amazing how big a difference the smallest differences can make sometimes.
  • Turn off animations?  What is this, Android?
  • Can I install Windows 10?I mean is it safe to do that I am worried of losing my data, just to be on a safe side should install W10 or not?
  • To be on the safe side, no, you should not install it on a system you care about.
  • If you have to ask, the answer is no.
  • I've been using Windows 10 on my main computer ever since it was available for download and I haven't had any problems yet.
  • Yet...
  • I'd love to see this. Unfortunately, Windows refuses to upgrade for me.
  • I loved the sort of fade in animation in the first build but since the new build, I have hated the animation! Hopefully they'll remove that and go with something a bit more flowing..
  • For much more control and many other personalization settings go to Control Panel->System->Advanced System Settings->Advanced Tab->Performance You can control animations, fades, shadows, and other stuff here.  I sent Feedback to MS that they really ought to move all this under Personalization versus burying it here. I think flipping the slide the Author mentioned toogles the top two items off.  
  • How does Windows 10 qualify for a beginners article I thought you were all supposed to be experts.......     Bob
  • Point. But the fact that the same setting option is there in 8.1, it can be classified as Beginners' Tip
  • The tip is for disabling animations, not installing Windows 10. Doesn't get much more basic that toggling settings.
  • Just being awkward as usual     Bob
  • Personally I loved the animation..
  • Is there a setting that allows me to keep the Windows 8.1 Start Screen and ditch the comeback of the Start Menu?
  • The animations they added are nice and subtle. They're not overdone, or over the top animations like the ones you'd find in Ubuntu, where the windows catch on fire and burn away... No, these are nice, and look like they're supposed to be there. I don't see why anyone would want to turn them off.
  • Yes, right click on the taskbar, select properties, and then the 'start screen' tab. There's a box you'll uncheck for the Windows 8 style start screen.
  • Thanks for the Information. I'd rather stick with the Windows 8.1 style Start Screen than go back to the Windows 7 Start Menu I've never used ( even with the integrated miniature Start Screen ) so as long as I have the choice I'm cool.
  • Installed W10 and yesterday I got the update with the animations and the action center. Ran into some trouble, had to refresh the PC and lost the sweet update. Control Panel> SW update> Check For Update and... well... none. I loved the animations, specially when switching Desktops. I want it back. Help?
  • I like the animation, but hated that enormous shadow behind the windows u.u
  • I think the animations are sweet
  • Why should i...
  • I hope they'd reconsider those animations, seems like a rushed job, ms can do way better.
  • Among....just use among. :)
  • why disable the animations? I like how they POP on the screen
  • I was hoping to see a video of these purported animations to see why there should be a post about disabling them--are they that conspicuous?