[Windows 10 Fix] Dotted Circle Animation Not Showing on Reboot or Shutdown Screen

Today in this article we are going to discuss about a bug present in Windows 10 operating system and reported by our reader “Vishnu“. You can also consider this bug as an annoying problem because many Windows 10 users who might face this issue, will never be able to find out the reason behind this issue as the reason is very strange and funny.

The issue is related to the dotted circle animation which is shown on reboot or shutdown screen in Windows 10. Whenever you restart or shutdown your computer, Windows 10 shows a spinning dotted circle animation on the reboot/shutdown screen to show the process along with the word restarting or shutting down as shown in following image:

Windows_10_Dotted_Circle_Animation_Shutdown_Screen.gif

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But when a Windows 10 user encounters this weird issue or bug, the dotted circle animation is no longer shown. Only the word “Restarting” or “Shutting down” is shown on the screen.

According to our reader, this issue started occurring after upgrading to the new Windows 10 version. The circle animation was showing fine in previous Windows 10 builds.

The cause of this problem is very strange! This issue occurs when an option related to “Animations” in Windows settings is disabled. The option name is “Animate controls and elements inside Windows” which is present in Advanced system settings window. If you turn this option off, it removes the dotted circle animation from reboot and shutdown screens.

So if you are also facing this strange and annoying issue, following steps will help you in restoring the dotted circle animation back on reboot and shutdown screens:

1. Press “Win+R” keys together to open RUN dialog box. You can also launch it using Win+X menu.

2. Now type sysdm.cpl in run dialog box and press Enter. It’ll open System Properties window.

3. Now go to “Advanced” tab and click on “Settings” button present in “Performance” section.

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4. It’ll open a new window. Now enable the option “Animate controls and elements inside windows” and apply changes.

Animate_Controls_Elements_Inside_Windows_Option.png

5. That’s it. It’ll immediately enable the dotted circle animation back on reboot and shutdown screens.

If you can remember, a similar irritating issue occurs when you disable “Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing” option in advanced system settings. If you turn this option off, it disables the dimming animation which is shown when you take a screenshot by pressing WIN+PrtScn keys together. You can read more details about this bug in following article:

[FIX] Screen Won’t Dim When You Press Win+PrtScn keys to Save Screenshots

Also Check:

[Bug Fix] Lock Screen Shows Solid Black Background in Windows 10

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Thanks for this.
    It solved one part of my issues with Win 10 1607.
    The other annoying issue that occurred when I installed Win 10 1607 was that I cannot restart Win 10 1607.
    It goes to the restart screen and then the screen goes black and the computer just hangs until I do a hard restart by pressing the reset button.
    This did not happen when I had 1511 installed.
    Still have not found a solution.

  2. Thank you so much ! this was frustrating me from long while ! now i found this and fixed ! after doing this looked so simple . LOL

  3. I have similar problem… Dot circle missing – but that one near “Welcome” text during login (after PIN, password)… Any ideas?

  4. @Konrad I noticed this when switching to a pin. Switched to normal pass-worded log in and the dots returned

  5. Did NOT fix the problem.. no spinning dots on ‘Please Wait’ screen or Login screen. Only the restart screen had the spinning dots.

    This fixed the problem:

    In HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\ there’s a binary called UserPreferencesMask: the fifth value shall be 12 instead of 10 for the animations to work in common areas.

  6. Hey all,
    I am trying to upgrade to Windows 10 Insider Preview 17063.1000. Currently, I have 17046.rs_prerelease171118-1403 installed. PC asked to restart for applying downloaded update. and I end up all time with black screen. It goes to the restart screen and then the screen goes black and the computer just hangs until I do a hard restart by pressing the reset button.
    Please help me solve this issue.

  7. unlike you, I seek to eliminate all those same ugly things from windows, as well as these silly animations. my computer doesn’t have much power. It is a dual core laptop, and that decreases the boot performance.

  8. I have this problem and the items that you mentioned to check were already checked. Also, the suggestion from another comment mentioned to change the the 5th value in UserPreferencesMask to a “12” but, it was already a “12”. What do I do now?

    This problem occurs every time I boot up and I have to hit the “wake” button to fix it. I also have the computer set to never sleep but, that didn’t help with this situation either.

    Microsoft Version 1903 OS Build 18362.175

  9. My option for “Animate controls and elements inside windows” was all ready turned on, so your “fix” did nothing.

  10. Thanks Very Much..
    Windows Prt-Scr Dimming the Screen Light Effect starting Successfully Again
    And
    I will also try and wait for see again spin dots.

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