@@ -103,6 +103,12 @@
 wp_enqueue_script( 'utils' );
 wp_enqueue_script( 'svg-painter' );
 
+/*
+ * View transitions animate the admin menu, so they are only enqueued on screens that print it.
+ * Iframe screens such as Thickbox modals do not load this header and so do not opt in.
+ */
+wp_enqueue_view_transitions_admin_css();
+
 $admin_body_class = preg_replace( '/[^a-z0-9_-]+/i', '-', $hook_suffix );
 
 // Print the global admin inline scripts through the script tag API so the
 
@@ -3,7 +3,74 @@
 		navigation: auto;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Give each top-level menu item its own view transition name — its id,
+	 * such as "menu-posts" — so each one is captured as an independent group
+	 * and animates from its old position and size to its new ones across a
+	 * navigation. This produces the accordion effect: the previously open
+	 * section collapses as the newly current one expands, instead of the
+	 * whole menu simply cross-fading. attr() falls back to "none" for any
+	 * item whose id is missing or is not a valid custom identifier. The
+	 * shared wp-menu-top class lets the image-pair rule below address every
+	 * menu-top group at once.
+	 */
 	#adminmenu > .menu-top {
 		view-transition-name: attr(id type(<custom-ident>), none);
+		view-transition-class: wp-menu-top;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Name the collapse button too, so it slides into place with the menu
+	 * items instead of cross-fading as part of the page root.
+	 */
+	#collapse-menu {
+		view-transition-name: collapse-menu;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Clip each menu-top's snapshot to its animating group box. By default a
+	 * captured snapshot keeps its full intrinsic height, so the new (expanded)
+	 * submenu paints at full height from the first frame and overlaps the
+	 * items below while they are still sliding down. Clipping the image pair
+	 * to the group — whose height animates from the link row to the full
+	 * expanded height — makes the submenu wipe open, and closed in reverse,
+	 * in step with those items.
+	 */
+	::view-transition-image-pair(.wp-menu-top) {
+		overflow: clip;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Capture an open flyout submenu — one shown on hover or focus — as its own
+	 * group, so that it fades out instead of being cut off by the clip above,
+	 * since it extends outside its menu-top box. match-element gives each
+	 * flyout a unique name, so two open at once cannot collide and abort the
+	 * transition. view-transition-group nests the flyout's group inside its
+	 * menu-top's group, so it moves along with its menu item while fading out
+	 * instead of staying behind at its old position. Since the nested group is
+	 * a sibling of the menu-top's image pair, it is not cut off by the clip.
+	 *
+	 * In the expanded menu, the current item's submenu is in the normal flow,
+	 * so it is left to the clipped menu-top. When the menu is folded, either
+	 * explicitly or automatically on narrower screens, every submenu is a
+	 * flyout, including the current one. Below 783px the menu is responsive and
+	 * its submenus are in the normal flow, so none are named there.
+	 */
+	@media screen and (min-width: 783px) {
+		#adminmenu > .wp-not-current-submenu.opensub > .wp-submenu,
+		#adminmenu > .wp-not-current-submenu > a.menu-top:focus + .wp-submenu,
+		.folded #adminmenu > .opensub > .wp-submenu,
+		.folded #adminmenu > .menu-top > a.menu-top:focus + .wp-submenu {
+			view-transition-name: match-element;
+			view-transition-group: nearest;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@media screen and (min-width: 783px) and (max-width: 960px) {
+		.auto-fold #adminmenu > .opensub > .wp-submenu,
+		.auto-fold #adminmenu > .menu-top > a.menu-top:focus + .wp-submenu {
+			view-transition-name: match-element;
+			view-transition-group: nearest;
+		}
 	}
 }
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@
 add_action( 'admin_enqueue_scripts', 'wp_localize_jquery_ui_datepicker', 1000 );
 add_action( 'admin_enqueue_scripts', 'wp_common_block_scripts_and_styles' );
 add_action( 'admin_enqueue_scripts', 'wp_enqueue_command_palette_assets' );
-add_action( 'admin_enqueue_scripts', 'wp_enqueue_view_transitions_admin_css' );
+add_action( 'admin_head', 'wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link' );
 add_action( 'enqueue_block_assets', 'wp_enqueue_classic_theme_styles' );
 add_action( 'enqueue_block_assets', 'wp_enqueue_registered_block_scripts_and_styles' );
 add_action( 'enqueue_block_assets', 'enqueue_block_styles_assets', 30 );
 
@@ -10,7 +10,11 @@
 /**
  * Enqueues View Transitions CSS for the admin.
  *
+ * To disable admin View Transitions, dequeue the `wp-view-transitions-admin` style at the
+ * {@see 'admin_enqueue_scripts'} action, rather than unhooking this function.
+ *
  * @since 7.0.0
+ * @since 7.2.0 Called from wp-admin/admin-header.php instead of hooked to {@see 'admin_enqueue_scripts'}.
  */
 function wp_enqueue_view_transitions_admin_css(): void {
 	wp_enqueue_style( 'wp-view-transitions-admin' );
@@ -26,5 +30,41 @@ function wp_enqueue_view_transitions_admin_css(): void {
 function wp_get_view_transitions_admin_css(): string {
 	$affix = SCRIPT_DEBUG ? '' : '.min';
 	$path  = ABSPATH . "wp-admin/css/view-transitions{$affix}.css";
-	return file_get_contents( $path );
+	return (string) file_get_contents( $path );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Prints a render-blocking expectation so View Transitions capture a fully parsed admin menu.
+ *
+ * A cross-document view transition snapshots the incoming page at its first render, which can
+ * happen before the `<body>` has finished parsing. The snapshot would then capture a partially
+ * built page — for example an incomplete admin menu — and the transition animates to or from
+ * the wrong state.
+ *
+ * The `expect` link blocks the first render until `#wpcontent` is parsed. Rendering is unblocked
+ * as soon as the target's start tag is parsed, not its children, so the target is the element
+ * right after the admin menu rather than the menu itself: once `#wpcontent` starts, the whole
+ * menu has been parsed. Targeting an element near the end of the body would also work, but it
+ * would delay the first render by the time it takes to parse all of the page content. The media
+ * query limits the first-render delay to when view transitions can run, matching the
+ * `@view-transition` rule in view-transitions.css. It does not detect whether a transition is
+ * actually in progress, so a reload or a direct visit is also held until `#wpcontent` is parsed,
+ * but since that element starts right after the admin menu, the delay is negligible.
+ *
+ * Nothing is printed unless the admin View Transitions style has already been printed, since
+ * there is otherwise no transition to wait for. That style is only enqueued from
+ * wp-admin/admin-header.php, so this also leaves out iframe screens such as Thickbox modals,
+ * which have no `#wpcontent`: an `expect` link whose target never appears blocks the first
+ * render until the whole document has been parsed.
+ *
+ * @since 7.2.0
+ *
+ * @link https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/links.html#link-type-expect
+ */
+function wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link(): void {
+	if ( ! wp_style_is( 'wp-view-transitions-admin', 'done' ) ) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	echo '<link rel="expect" href="#wpcontent" blocking="render" media="(prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference)">' . "\n";
 }
@@ -28,15 +28,6 @@ public function tear_down() {
 		parent::tear_down();
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Tests that the hook for enqueuing admin view transitions CSS is set up.
-	 *
-	 * @ticket 64470
-	 */
-	public function test_hook() {
-		$this->assertSame( 10, has_action( 'admin_enqueue_scripts', 'wp_enqueue_view_transitions_admin_css' ) );
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Tests that the admin view transitions style handle includes the inline CSS.
 	 *
 
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Tests for the wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link() function.
+ *
+ * @package WordPress
+ * @subpackage View Transitions
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @group view-transitions
+ * @covers ::wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link
+ */
+class Tests_View_Transitions_wpPrintViewTransitionsRenderBlockingLink extends WP_UnitTestCase {
+
+	private ?WP_Styles $original_wp_styles = null;
+
+	/**
+	 * Saves the global styles instance and resets it so each test starts with nothing enqueued.
+	 *
+	 * @global WP_Styles|null $wp_styles
+	 */
+	public function set_up() {
+		global $wp_styles;
+
+		parent::set_up();
+		$this->original_wp_styles = $wp_styles;
+		$wp_styles                = null;
+	}
+
+	public function tear_down() {
+		global $wp_styles;
+
+		$wp_styles = $this->original_wp_styles;
+		parent::tear_down();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Tests that the hook for printing the render-blocking link is set up.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65032
+	 */
+	public function test_hook(): void {
+		$this->assertSame( 10, has_action( 'admin_head', 'wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link' ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Tests that a render-blocking expect link is printed.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65032
+	 */
+	public function test_prints_render_blocking_link(): void {
+		wp_enqueue_view_transitions_admin_css();
+		get_echo( 'wp_print_styles', array( 'wp-view-transitions-admin' ) );
+		$this->assertTrue( wp_style_is( 'wp-view-transitions-admin', 'done' ), 'Expected the style to have been printed.' );
+
+		$output = get_echo( 'wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link' );
+
+		$processor = new WP_HTML_Tag_Processor( $output );
+		$this->assertTrue( $processor->next_tag( 'LINK' ), 'Expected a LINK tag to be printed.' );
+		$this->assertSame( 'expect', $processor->get_attribute( 'rel' ), 'Expected the LINK to have a rel of "expect".' );
+		$this->assertSame( '#wpcontent', $processor->get_attribute( 'href' ), 'Expected the LINK to point at the element after the admin menu.' );
+		$this->assertSame( 'render', $processor->get_attribute( 'blocking' ), 'Expected the LINK to block rendering.' );
+		$this->assertSame( '(prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference)', $processor->get_attribute( 'media' ), 'Expected the LINK to be scoped to the view transitions media query.' );
+		$this->assertFalse( $processor->next_tag(), 'Expected only a single tag to be printed.' );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Tests that nothing is printed when the admin View Transitions style is not enqueued.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65032
+	 */
+	public function test_prints_nothing_when_style_not_enqueued(): void {
+		$this->assertFalse( wp_style_is( 'wp-view-transitions-admin' ), 'Expected the style to not be enqueued.' );
+		$this->assertSame( '', get_echo( 'wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link' ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Tests that nothing is printed when the admin View Transitions style is enqueued but not yet printed.
+	 *
+	 * This happens when the style is enqueued too late for the head, so it is printed in the footer instead.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 65032
+	 */
+	public function test_prints_nothing_when_style_not_printed(): void {
+		wp_enqueue_view_transitions_admin_css();
+		$this->assertTrue( wp_style_is( 'wp-view-transitions-admin' ), 'Expected the style to be enqueued.' );
+		$this->assertFalse( wp_style_is( 'wp-view-transitions-admin', 'done' ), 'Expected the style to not be printed yet.' );
+
+		$this->assertSame( '', get_echo( 'wp_print_view_transitions_render_blocking_link' ) );
+	}
+}