How to change windows 10 theme

Windows 10 supports themes which may include custom desktop backgrounds, sounds, mouse cursors, desktop icons, and an accent color. There are a number of methods you can use to change a theme in Windows 10. Let’s review them all.

In Windows 10, you can get extra themes using Windows Store or install them from a themepack file. Themes may include:

• Desktop background: An image, a set of images, or a solid color which can be used as a wallpaper.
• Colors. Windows 10 allows changing the color of the window frame, window borders, active elements and selected items.
• Sounds. A set of sounds that are assigned to various events like notifications, message dialogs, window operations, emptying the Recycle Bin, and so on.
• Screen Saver. Screen savers were created to save very old CRT displays from being damaged by issues like screen burn-in. These days, they are mostly used to personalize the PC with entertaining visuals or improve its security with additional password protection.
• Pointers. By default, Windows 10 comes with no custom cursors bundled and uses the same cursors as Windows 8. Users who love customizing their OS may want to change them.
• Desktop Icons. Themes can change icons like This PC, Recycle Bin, and so on.

Where Windows 10 stores themes

Windows 10 stores themes under different folders.

• Themes that you’ve installed manually, saved, or synced from your Microsoft account are stored in the folder %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes.
• Default themes are the ones that come pre-installed with Windows 10. They can be found in the folder C:\Windows\Resources\Themes.
• High Contrast Themes. — Themes that make items on your screen easier to see. They are part of the Ease of Access feature of Windows 10. They can be found in the folder C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes.

The current theme can be found in the Registry. See the CurrentTheme string (REG_SZ) value under the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes

See the following screenshot:

To change the theme in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to Personalization -> Themes.
3. On the right, click on a theme you like under Apply a theme.
4. The theme is now applied.

Alternatively, you can use the classic Control Panel applet to quickly apply a custom theme, or any of the default themes, or the High Contrast theme.

Change the theme in Windows 10 using the Control Panel

1. Press the Win + R keys on the keyboard.
2. Type or copy-paste the following command in the Run box: explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}.
3. This will open the classic Personalization applet. Click on the desired theme in the list to install it.

Apply a High Contrast theme using Settings

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to Ease of Access -> High Contrast.
3. On the right, set the option Turn on high contrast.
4. From the Choose a theme drop down list, choose one of the four pre-installed High Contrast themes.

Finally, you can apply a theme from a file manager app like File Explorer.

Change the Windows theme from File Explorer

1. Open File Explorer app.
2. Navigate to the folder which contains the *.theme file of the theme you want to apply. The default folders are mentioned in the beginning of this article. e.g., visit the folder C:\Windows\Resources\Themes.
3. Double-click on the *.theme file to apply the theme. The theme will be applied. Also, Windows 10 will open the Themes page of the Settings app.

Change your theme with Winaero Theme Switcher

Winaero Theme Switcher is an application which allows you to change a Windows theme from the command line. It is primarily intended to be used with the command prompt or in a batch file where you want to automate the applying of a custom theme.
The syntax is as follows:

ThemeSwitcher.exe path_to_file.theme

To apply one of the default themes, you can run the following command:

themeswitcher.exe c:\Windows\Resources\Themes\theme1.theme

Running the app without parameters will open the following GUI.

Please refer to the following article to learn useful tips and tricks about this app:

https://winaero.com/blog/change-windows-10-theme-from-the-command-prompt/

That’s it.

In Windows 11 or Windows 10, a Theme may specify the accent color for apps and window frames and may include one or several desktop backgrounds, a set of sounds, mouse cursors, and desktop icons. In this post, in addition to changing the theme via the Settings app, we will show you 5 other ways to change the Theme in Windows 11/10. You can change Windows Themes via Command Prompt, PowerShell, Control Panel, Explorer, etc.

A theme file is a classic text file containing parameters, values and resources such as wallpapers are usually located in a subdirectory. Microsoft uses the Themepack and Deskthemepack archive (ZIP or CAB) package files that contain all the theme resources to simplify theme sharing and for their redistribution via the Microsoft Store. There are three types of themes stored in different locations in Windows 11/10 viz;

• My Themes — manually created or saved, or downloaded and installed from a themepack file or Microsoft Store. These themes are saved in the %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes folder.
• Windows Default Themes — pre-installed themes on your Windows OS. These themes are stored in the C:\Windows\Resources\Themes folder.
• High Contrast Themes — specially made for people with vision problems and are part of the Ease of Access feature. These themes can be found in the C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes folder.

There are several ways to change the theme in Windows 11/10. We will discuss these methods as follows:

1] Change Theme via Desktop

The easiest method to change the theme in Windows 11/10 is via the desktop. To change the Theme via Desktop, do the following:

• Right-click on an empty area on the Desktop.
• Select Personalise from the context menu.
• In the Personalisation window, under the Select a theme to apply section, simply click the theme you want.

2] Change Theme via File Explorer

To change Theme via File Explorer in Windows 11/10, do the following:

• Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer.
• Navigate to the folder below or any other folder containing the theme you want to apply

C:\Windows\Resources\Themes

• At the location, double-click the theme file for the theme you want.
• Close the Settings app that automatically opens once you double-click the theme file.
• Close File Explorer.

3] Change Theme via Command Prompt

To change Theme via Command Prompt in Windows 11/10, do the following:

• Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
• In the Run dialog box, type cmd and hit Enter to open Command Prompt.
• In the command prompt window, type or copy and paste the path below OR the full path to the theme file you want and hit Enter:

start "" "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme"

The theme will be applied and the Personalisation page in Settings app will automatically open. you can close the Settings app. If you want the theme to be applied without you having to interact with extra windows, run the modified command as follows:

start "" "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme" & timeout /t 3 & taskkill /im "systemsettings.exe" /f

When the command executes, it will apply the theme, wait for 3 seconds with the timeout command, and forcibly close the Settings app with the taskkill app.

4] Change Theme via PowerShell

To change Theme via PowerShell in Windows 11/10, do the following:

• Press Windows key + X to open Power User Menu.
• Tap I on the keyboard to launch PowerShell (Windows Terminal).
• In the PowerShell console, type or copy and paste the path below OR the full path to the theme file you want and hit Enter:

start-process -filepath "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme"

The theme will be applied and the Personalisation page in Settings app will automatically open. you can close the Settings app. If you want the theme to be applied without you having to interact with extra windows, run the modified command as follows:

start-process -filepath "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme"; timeout /t 3; taskkill /im "systemsettings.exe" /f

5] Change Theme via Control Panel

To change Theme via Control Panel in Windows 11/10, do the following:

• Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
• In the Run dialog box, copy and paste the shell command below and hit Enter:

shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}

• In the Personalisation window, click the desired theme under the My Themes, Windows Default Themes, or High Contrast Themes sections.
• Exit Control Panel when done.

That’s it on the 5 ways to change Theme in Windows 11/10! Let us know in the comments section below if you know any other method to perform this task.

Tip: PC users can personalize your computing experience, and can make your system faster, and private using our Ultimate Windows Tweaker 5.

Related post: How to prevent users from changing the Theme

Does Windows 10 themes work on Windows 11?

Most of the themes are old ones from Windows 10 and they have been adapted for Windows 11 but that’s still a huge selection to consider. You can right-click anywhere on your desktop and click on Personalize > select Themes to apply any of the installed themes on your PC, or click on Browse themes to find some more themes on the Microsoft Store.

Are Windows 10 themes safe?

Themes from Microsoft are generally fine; but be cautious of any other source. Some ‘themes’ include screensavers that contain malware. Make sure your Windows 11/10 PC is running an active and updated antivirus software.

Read next: Best Free Windows 11 Themes and Skins to Download from Microsoft Store.

Are you looking to change the look of your Windows 11 desktop, but you don’t have a Windows Activation?

Well, there are easy hacks to do that, but most users struggle to apply that. Maybe they are unsure how to do it or afraid of breaking the system. Whatever the reason, this comprehensive guide will show you how to change themes in Windows 10/11 and switch to dark mode without activating Windows. We’ll walk you through each step so that you can customize Windows desktop the way you want it.

Before moving further to apply the hacks for enabling the personalization on an unactivated Windows OS, let us discuss what’s the issue and the process to apply the fix.

When you install Windows 10 or 11 on your PC or laptop, it asks for the license key during installation. However, if you don’t have a genuine Windows license key, Windows allows you to skip this step and continue with the installation.

Although Windows will be installed without activation, you will be restricted from accessing some features, including personalization. When you try to customize any personalization settings on Windows, such as changing the background, you will get the You need to activate Windows before you can personalize your PC error message.

All the personalization options will be grayed out, and you won’t be able to configure them.

On an activated Windows 10/11 OS, you can simply change the theme either by accessing Windows settings or by downloading “.deskthemepack” from third-party sources or Microsoft repository. After downloading, just double-click on the .deskthemepack, and the theme will be installed.

However, this method won’t work on unactivated Windows OS. You need to make changes in Group Policy Editor or the Registry Editor.

Change Windows 10/11 Theme Without Activating Windows using Group Policy Editor

After applying the above steps, close the Group Policy Editor and restart your system. You will now be able to change the theme on your Windows 10/11 system without activating it.

Change Windows 10/11 Theme Without Activating Windows using Registry Editor

If you are working on Windows 10/11 Home edition, you won’t have access to Group Policy Editor. 

Don’t worry; you can still change the theme on your system without activating Windows by applying a simple Registry hack.

Here are the instructions for that:

1. On the Windows search bar, type Registry Editor and click on its icon to launch it.
2. Copy & paste or navigate to the following path on the Registry editor window: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. Right-click on the Explorer and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Name the value as NoThemesTab.
5. Double click on the NoThemesTab and ensure that the Value data is set to 0.

That’s it. Restart your system to make the changes effective.

Apply the Theme on Unactivated Windows System

After modifying the Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor to configure the Windows theme settings to allow you to change the theme, it is time to download and apply the theme you like.

1. Navigate to the Microsoft Desktop Theme catalog.
2. Switch to the Windows version you want a theme for and expand the category of choice to download the theme.
3. Click on the theme of your choice to download it.
4. After the download is completed, click on it to install.

How to Switch Dark Mode without Activation in Windows 10/11?

One of the popular options in the Windows 10/11 personalization is to switch to Light or Dark Mode. By default, Windows is configured as the Light mode, and you can switch to the Dark mode pretty easily from Personalization settings. However, if your Windows is not activated, you won’t be able to switch between light and dark modes from the Settings.

If you want to switch to dark mode without activation in Windows 10/11, you can do that using a registry hack. Follow these steps:

1. On the Windows search bar, type Registry Editor and click on its icon to launch it.
2. Copy & paste or navigate to the following path on the Registry editor window: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize
3. To switch the App mode to dark, look for the AppsUseLightTheme DWORD and double-click to open it.
4. Set the Value data to 0 to enable the dark mode on apps.
5. Now, to switch the system theme to dark mode, look for the SystemUsesLightTheme DWORD and double-click to open it.
6. Set the Value data to 0 to enable the dark mode on Windows.

That’s it. If you want to switch back to the light mode, modify the Value data of both the DWORDs to 1.

Final Words

Windows personalization is a great way to make your system look attractive and different. But if you are using the unlicensed Windows version, it becomes difficult to provide a different look to your system. In this post, we have explained how to change the theme and apply other personalization without activating the Windows using Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor. Hopefully, by following the detailed instructions in the post, you are able to customize your PC with ease.