Windows 11 looks sleek and modern, but its visual effects—like smooth animations and fading menus—can sometimes slow down your PC, especially if it’s not brand new. Optimizing these effects can make your computer feel much faster and more responsive. However, beginners often make mistakes that leave their systems sluggish or less visually appealing than they’d like. Let’s look at the top 10 practical ways to monitor and optimize visual effects in Windows 11, along with common pitfalls to avoid.
What are Windows Visual Effects and Why Do They Matter?
Windows visual effects include things like animated taskbar transitions, window shadows, and fading menu items. These features make Windows look nice, but they use extra system resources—CPU, memory, and graphics power. On older or budget PCs, too many effects can slow down everything you do. Monitoring and adjusting these settings is one of the easiest ways to speed up your computer.
1. Using the Performance Options Tool—Are You Adjusting the Right Settings?
Beginner mistake: Ignoring built-in Windows tools and adjusting random settings.
How to do it right:
Go to Settings > System > About > Advanced system settings. Under the Performance section, click Settings. Here you’ll see the Visual Effects tab with options like “Let Windows choose,” “Adjust for best appearance,” “Adjust for best performance,” or custom.
Tip: For a good balance, select “Custom” and uncheck effects you don’t need, such as “Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing.”
2. Relying on Task Manager—Do You Know What’s Slowing You Down?
Beginner mistake: Not checking which processes use the most resources.
How to do it right:
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager. Check CPU, memory, and GPU usage while opening and closing windows or menus. If you see usage spike with lots of animations, consider disabling those effects.
3. Overlooking Glary Utilities—Are You Using the Right Optimization Tools?
Beginner mistake: Ignoring third-party optimization suites.
How to do it right:
Glary Utilities includes a user-friendly 1-Click Maintenance feature, Registry Cleaner, and a Startup Manager. Use these tools to remove leftover files, clean your registry, and manage startup programs. Optimization features help keep your system running smoothly, so visual effects won’t slow you down.
4. Not Updating Graphics Drivers—Are Your Drivers Up to Date?
Beginner mistake: Neglecting graphics driver updates.
How to do it right:
Go to Device Manager > Display adapters, right-click your GPU, and select “Update driver.” Updated drivers can make visual effects run smoother, reducing lag and glitches.
5. Skipping Disk Cleanup—Is Your Hard Drive Full?
Beginner mistake: Ignoring disk space issues.
How to do it right:
Use Glary Utilities’ Disk Cleaner to remove junk files and free up space. A crowded hard drive can slow down your computer and make visual effects choppy.
6. Ignoring System Resource Limits—Are You Multitasking Too Much?
Beginner mistake: Running too many apps at once.
How to do it right:
Monitor your open applications using Task Manager. Close programs you’re not using, especially memory-hungry ones like browsers with many tabs or large games.
7. Forgetting to Check for Malware—Could Something Be Slowing You Down?
Beginner mistake: Overlooking malware as a cause for slowdowns.
How to do it right:
Run a malware scan using Windows Defender or Glary Utilities’ Malware Remover to ensure your PC isn’t being slowed down by malicious programs.
8. Not Customizing for Hardware—Is Your PC Capable of High Effects?
Beginner mistake: Enabling all effects on older or less powerful PCs.
How to do it right:
If you have an older PC or one with basic hardware, stick with simple visual effects. Only enable a few necessary ones that you enjoy—disable the rest for better performance.
9. Disregarding Windows Updates—Are You Missing Out on Improvements?
Beginner mistake: Delaying or ignoring Windows updates.
How to do it right:
Regular updates can improve performance and compatibility with visual effects. Go to Settings > Windows Update and make sure your system is up to date.
10. Not Checking for Background Apps—Are Hidden Apps Using Resources?
Beginner mistake: Forgetting about apps running in the background.
How to do it right:
Check startup apps using Glary Utilities’ Startup Manager or Task Manager’s Startup tab. Disable unnecessary apps from starting with Windows to free up resources for visual effects and overall speed.
Real-World Example:
James has a three-year-old laptop, and Windows 11 feels slow with choppy menu animations. He opens the Visual Effects settings and chooses “Custom,” disabling only the fancy effects he doesn’t need. With Glary Utilities, he runs a quick disk cleanup and disables unneeded startup apps. After updating his graphics driver and running a malware scan, his PC feels much snappier and the visual effects he likes work smoothly.
Conclusion
Optimizing and monitoring visual effects in Windows 11 doesn’t have to be complicated. Avoid common mistakes like ignoring built-in tools, skipping maintenance, or enabling every effect. Use both Windows features and practical optimization tools like Glary Utilities to keep your system running smoothly, even with eye-catching effects enabled. With these actionable steps, even beginners can enjoy a faster and more visually appealing Windows 11 experience.