Should I Turn Off Hardware Acceleration in Office?

If you’re experiencing performance issues with Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you may have come across suggestions to disable hardware acceleration as a potential solution. But what exactly is hardware acceleration, and should you really disable it in Office?

Hardware acceleration is a feature that allows applications to offload certain processing tasks to the computer’s GPU (graphics processing unit) rather than the CPU (central processing unit). This can lead to improved performance and smoother graphics rendering in certain scenarios. In the case of Office applications, hardware acceleration can help speed up tasks such as scrolling, animations, and transitions within documents and presentations.

However, there are cases where hardware acceleration can actually cause performance issues or other problems. For example, if your computer’s GPU is outdated or experiencing driver issues, enabling hardware acceleration in Office may lead to graphical glitches, slow performance, or even crashes.

So, should you disable hardware acceleration in Office? The answer is: it depends. If you’re experiencing performance issues or other problems in Office applications, it may be worth trying to disable hardware acceleration to see if it improves the situation. Here’s how to do it for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint:

Word:

1. Click on “File” in the top left corner.
2. Select “Options” from the menu.
3. In the Word Options window, click on “Advanced” in the left pane.
4. Scroll down to the “Display” section.
5. Check the box next to “Disable hardware graphics acceleration.”
6. Click “OK” to save your changes.

Excel:

1. Click on “File” in the top left corner.
2. Select “Options” from the menu.
3. In the Excel Options window, click on “Advanced” in the left pane.
4. Scroll down to the “Display” section.
5. Check the box next to “Disable hardware graphics acceleration.”
6. Click “OK” to save your changes.

PowerPoint:

1. Click on “File” in the top left corner.
2. Select “Options” from the menu.
3. In the PowerPoint Options window, click on “Advanced” in the left pane.
4. Scroll down to the “Display” section.
5. Check the box next to “Disable hardware graphics acceleration.”
6. Click “OK” to save your changes.

After disabling hardware acceleration, restart the Office application and test to see if the performance has improved. If it has, then it’s likely that your computer’s GPU was causing the issues. If not, you can always re-enable hardware acceleration by following the same steps and unchecking the box.

In conclusion, the decision to disable hardware acceleration in Office should be based on your specific situation. If you’re experiencing performance issues or graphical glitches, it’s worth a try. However, if everything is running smoothly, there’s no need to disable this feature. As with any change to your computer settings, it’s always a good idea to create a backup of your important files before making any adjustments.