Whether you have a 13-inch compact laptop or 20+ inch large desktop, keeping a cool theme will make your device lively. Many users continue with the default Windows provided themes forever as if there are no other options available. In this article, let’s see how to change the default theme in Windows and install a new theme from Microsoft Store. If you are using Windows 10, check different article explaining the process in Windows 10.
Why You Should Not Manually Customize Theme?
A Windows theme consist of the following items:
- Wallpaper or background
- Color profile
- Sound profile
- Mouse cursor appearance
Customizing all these items separately to create a good-looking theme is a lengthy task and you may not get satisfied at all. Finally, you will be confused your taskbar will have different color independent of system is using light or dark mode. To avoid this and save time, you can go for straight-forward options or minimal customizations.
Changing One of the Default Themes
Windows 11 comes with few default themes which you can toggle in few clicks.
- Right-click on the desktop and select “Personalization” menu.
- This will take you to Windows Settings app’s “Personalization” section.
- You will see a list of available themes on the top along with their previews.
- Click on any of the preview to instantly set it as your theme. You can hover over a theme preview to view its name and number of wallpaper images it contains.
- Alternatively, click on “Themes” section and then choose your theme from the list.
This is the super easy option and as you can see in the above screenshots, your theme will completely change the look and feel of the apps. It will change the border, accent colors and use dark/light mode. The available images will be shown on the desktop as a slideshow as per the set frequency on the theme. You can check this under “Personalization > Background” section and change the frequency if you want.
Note: If you want to simply apply dark mode, go to “Personalization > Colors” section and select dark mode from “Choose your mode” dropdown.
Customizing Default Themes
If you like one of the default themes but want to change few parameters, then go to “Personalization > Themes” section and click “Use custom theme” button.
Now click the background, color, sound or mouse cursor options and customize them as per your need. After that, click on “Save” button and provide a custom name for your theme. The theme will be applied and also appear in the list. You can toggle between default and custom theme any time.
Install Themes from Microsoft
If you do not like any of the default available themes, then click “Browse themes” button showing below the previews in “Personalization > Themes” section. This will take you to Microsoft Store and show all popular themes available from Microsoft.
Compared to default items, themes available in Microsoft Store will be stunning and contain special collections of wallpaper images like space, art, building, etc. click the item you like and then click “Get” button to install the theme on your system.
- After installation, go back to “Personalization > Themes” section in Settings app. You will see the newly installed theme is also showing on the preview list for selection. Click on it and apply it as your active theme. Below is how the wallpaper from one of the Microsoft Store themes look on 24-inch iMac with Windows ARM installation.
Using Slideshow with Windows Spotlight
The last option is to simply rotate the wallpaper without changing any other parameters of the default theme. For this purpose, you can setup a slideshow with images from your computer or use Windows Spotlight images to get daily images from Bing online. You can do this under “Personalization > Background” section by selecting either Slideshow or Windows spotlight option.
Final Words
As mentioned, avoid plenty of customizations and go for default or Microsoft Store themes. You can get hundreds of themes with stunning wallpapers for free in the Store. This will not only make your system appealing but also save your time spent on searching images online and customizing various settings.
