REG file to modify Windows 10 Visual Effects?
Use this if you want to disable everything. Delete lines based on what you want to achieve. Some settings will appear only after you restart the computer.
I like to keep at least the translucent rectangle, drop shadows for icons on desktop, show window contents when dragging and smoothing the edges of screen fonts.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;Apply the following registry values to disable the settings
;This is a must - set appearance options to "custom"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects]
"VisualFXSetting"=dword:3
;This disables the following 8 settings:
;Animate controls and elements inside windows
;Fade or slide menus into view
;Fade or slide ToolTips into view
;Fade out menu items after clicking
;Show shadows under mouse pointer
;Show shadows under windows
;Slide open combo boxes
;Smooth-scroll list boxes
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"UserPreferencesMask"=hex(2):90,12,03,80,10,00,00,00
;Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"MinAnimate"="0"
;Animations in the taskbar
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarAnimations"=dword:0
;Enable Peek
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
"EnableAeroPeek"=dword:0
;Save taskbar thumbnail previews
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
"AlwaysHibernateThumbnails"=dword:0
;Show thumbnails instead of icons
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"IconsOnly"=dword:1
;Show translucent selection rectangle
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ListviewAlphaSelect"=dword:0
;Show window contents while dragging
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"DragFullWindows"="0"
;Smooth edges of screen fonts
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"FontSmoothing"=dword:0
;Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ListviewShadow"=dword:0
; end
This was tested on Windows 10 1809.