Reduce visual effects and animations

Disable cosmetic animations, transparency, and shadow effects in your operating system to free up CPU and GPU resources. This is one of the quickest ways to make an older computer feel more responsive without spending anything.

Steps

1. Windows: Open Settings > System > About > Advanced system settings > Performance Settings. Select "Adjust for best performance" or manually uncheck effects like window animations, fade effects, and transparency.
2. Mac: Open System Settings > Accessibility > Display and enable "Reduce motion" and "Reduce transparency."
3. Linux: Most desktop environments have a compositor that can be disabled or simplified in the display or window manager settings.

Tips

• The interface will look less polished but respond noticeably faster on machines with weak integrated graphics
• On Windows, keep "Smooth edges of screen fonts" enabled even in best-performance mode for readable text
• Combine this with disabling unnecessary startup programs for a bigger cumulative effect