What Are Transparency Effects?
Transparency effects in Windows 11 are system-wide settings that create translucence and visual depth on your flat screen. They are a component of Microsoft’s Fluent Design system called Acrylic that brings enhanced visual appeal to context menus, flyout items, and overlapping windows. Although they’re called “transparency effects,” in practice there are very few Windows applications that allow you to “see on the other side.” (Command Prompt is one example.) For most applications, Windows 11 has settled for a semi-transparent look that just allows seamless blending of menu items, desktop and taskbar to give an illusion of translucence and depth. Windows 10 has also now been updated to support transparency effects using the same menu options as Windows 11. However, the impact isn’t nearly as powerful or glossy. But with third-party applications, it is possible to achieve a high degree of transparency in Windows 10 as well.
Benefits of Transparency Effects
Greater visual appeal: the texture of transparent objects feels more real and immersive against the background, unlike solid-color objects. User personalization: users can personalize their favorite apps for a more customizable look.Working with overlapping screens: with transparency effects on, it’s more pleasing to work on overlapping screen objects and content blocks.
Disadvantages of Transparency Effects in Windows
Slight battery drain: the user has to face a slight battery drain. No impact is felt for plugged-in devices.
How to Turn Transparency On/Off in Windows
Here we show how to enable or disable transparency effects in Windows 11 at the system level. Similar techniques are applicable for Windows 10 with less noticeable impact. There are two ways to do this.
1. Using Windows Personalization Settings
Windows Personalization settings help control the look and feel of your desktop and support enabling or disabling system-wide transparency.
2. Using Registry Editor
If, for some reason, you’re not able to achieve system-wide transparency or opaque background, despite turning the toggle switch on or off, you can use the following registry tweak.
How to Make Taskbar Transparent in Windows
Currently, there are two different ways to achieve a transparent taskbar. The latest Windows versions allow you to access this as a system setting, but for better clarity, you may want to try an external software called TranslucentTB. Some of these methods will be repeated to achieve transparency in other Windows menu items, such as Start menu, Title bar, and lockscreen.
1. Using Make Start, Taskbar, and Action Center
2. Using TranslucentTB
The Microsoft Store app TranslucentTB provides reliable results to achieve a high degree of translucence for the taskbar and Start menu. The results are far better than what is possible through Windows system options. Is TranslucentTB safe? Yes, it’s absolutely and very much safe to use if downloaded from Microsoft Store.
How to Make Lockscreen Transparent in Windows
If you don’t have a screensaver, you can have a transparent lockscreen during Windows login. The Windows lockscreen generally has transparency options enabled from the desktop if you allow it at a system level. If it’s not very clearly visible, you have to make a few registry adjustments.
How to Make Windows Start Menu Transparent
There are two different ways to enable transparency in Start menu. You can use TranslucentTB app downloaded from Microsoft Store covered above.
How to Make Title Bar Transparent in Windows
It’s notoriously difficult to get transparency effects in the Windows title bars. According to Microsoft, you can’t set transparent colors, as the color’s alpha channel is ignored. However, you can try the following workaround to achieve a level of transparency.
How to Enable or Disable Transparency in Windows Terminal
The new Windows Terminal supports beautiful effects in a transparent background. To enable Windows terminal transparency, do the following:
How to Enable or Disable Transparency in Command Prompt
The Command Prompt supports one of the best transparency effects in Windows, and it is very easy to enable/disable it in Windows.
1. Does the transparency effect slow down a Windows PC?
While the transparency effect in Windows does cause slight battery drain, it does not have any noticeable impact on PC memory and CPU for a healthy PC, especially if it was updated recently. But some external apps other than TranslucentTB may cause a negative impact on performance, so you should check their impact on your system resources after they are installed.
2. How do I fix transparency effects not working in Windows 11?
For transparency to work in Windows 11, you need to disable a feature called “Battery saver” that’s accessible from the right System tray. Windows disables almost all graphic customization capabilities if “Battery saver” is on. If you fail to see transparency effects despite turning battery saver off, you can enable them from “Registry Editor” using one of the methods covered above. Additionally, you can update the graphics drivers from Device Manager (devmgmt.msc in Run box) to ensure you’re not dealing with outdated drivers.
3. My taskbar suddenly became transparent. How do I fix it?
If your taskbar suddenly become transparent, you can change back to a regular look. Go to “Action Center” on the taskbar to your right and check whether “Battery saver” is turned on. If it is not, turn it off. Next, go to “Make Start, taskbar, and Action Center” from the Search menu and ensure that the “Transparency effects” are turned off. Finally, go to Registry Editor and check the DWORD (32-bit) values for “UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency” and “ForceEffectMode.” Ensure both are set at 0. Image credit: Pixabay
