Windows 10: Change Theme in Windows 10

How to: Change Theme in Windows 10

How to Change the Theme in Windows 10


In Windows, you can use themes to help make your desktop feel a little more personal. Themes change the pointers on your PC all at once, and you can switch between themes as often as you like.

There are four types of themes.

My Themes - Themes that you've created, made changes to, saved, downloaded, or synced (roamed themes) from your Microsoft account. Any time you change a theme, the new settings appear here as an unsaved theme. These themes are saved in the folder below.
%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes
Windows Default Themes - Windows themes you can use to personalize your PC. Most of them include a desktop background slide show. These themes are saved in the folder below.
C:\Windows\Resources\Themes
Installed Themes - Themes that were created by your PC manufacturer or other non-Microsoft providers.

High Contrast Themes - Themes that use a small palette of contrasting colors to make items on your screen easier to see and improves readability. The High Contrast themes don't include automatic window border colors or desktop background slide shows. These themes are saved in the folder below.
C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes
Starting with light themed.

Your current theme is referenced as the CurrentTheme string value for the key below in Registry Editor.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes

This tutorial will show you how to select a theme to change the desktop background, color, sounds, and screen saver all at once for your account in Window 10.

*note You will need to activate Windows before you will be able to personalize your PC.

*tip To download free themes from Microsoft, see:

• How to Install Themes from the Store in Windows 10
• Themes - Microsoft Windows

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Change Your Theme in Settings
• Option Two: To Change Your Theme in Control Panel

OPTION ONE [/i] To Change Your Theme in Settings
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Personalization icon.

2. Click/tap on Themes on the left side, click/tap on a theme you want under Change theme on the right side. (see screenshot below)

*note You can click/tap on the Get more themes in Microsoft Store link to install themes from the Microsoft Store.









OPTION TWO [/i] To Change Your Theme in Control Panel
1. Open the Run dialog (Win+R), enter the command below, and click/tap on OK to open Personalization in the Control Panel.
*Arrow explorer shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}
2. Click/tap on a theme you want to use from My Themes, Windows Default Themes, or High Contrast Themes. (see screenshot below)

*note If you click/tap on the Get more themes online link, it'll take you to Desktop Themes | Microsoft Support where you can download more themes to use.





That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Turn On or Off High Contrast Mode in Windows 10
• How to Install Themes from the Store in Windows 10
• How to Save a Theme in Windows 10
• How to Delete Themes in Windows 10
• How to Restore Default Themes in Windows 10
• How to Create a 'Theme Settings' Shortcut in Windows 10
• How to Change your Desktop Background in Windows 10
• Change Color of Start Menu, Taskbar, Title bars, and Action Center in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Color Filters to the Screen in Windows 10
• How to Use Aerolite Theme for Window Borders and Title Bars Color in Windows 10
• How to Change your Sounds in Windows 10
• How to Change your Screen Saver Settings in Windows 10
• How to Change Mouse Pointers and Change Pointer Color and Size in Windows 10
• How to Allow or Prevent Themes to Change Mouse Pointers in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove 'Personalize (classic)' context menu in Windows 10
• How to Change the Theme of Microsoft Edge in Windows 10
• How to Allow or Prevent Users to Change or Save a Theme in Windows 10
• How to Allow or Prevent Themes to Change Desktop Icons in Windows 10

:)

 

windows 10 default theme

Hello notpcsavvy,

The default theme for Windows 10 is the "aero.theme" file in the "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes" folder.

Option 1 or 2 in the tutorial below can help show you how to change your theme to the default "Windows" theme if needed.

Change Theme in Windows 10

 

How to make the taskbar digital clock light up?

Go in and change your theme to a (different) Windows 10 one. See if the clock makes an appearance.

Change Theme in Windows 10

 

Update: Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15007 for PC and Mobile