How to personalize Windows 11

How to personalise Windows 11

Make Windows 11 your own

(Image: © Microsoft)

Windows 11 is a great-looking operating scheme, but that doesn't mingy that its appearance can't be improved. Out of the box, thither is diminutive to complain about, but until you start to apply some personalizations, you get laid that millions of people have a desktop tat looks on the dot the same.

Thankfully, it takes precise elflike time and effort – and, pleasingly, no money! – to inject some personality into Windows 11, customizing the appear of the OS in various shipway to pass your have.

Join us as we read you what you can achieve with Windows 11's built-in option – you power be surprised at just what's thinkable.

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1. Utilize a theme in Windows 11

Perhaps the easiest mode to whole modify the look of Windows 11 is to apply a theme, and Microsoft has included a selectin for you to choose from.

Right-click and empty section of the desktop and select 'Personalize' and then move to the 'Themes' section (or you can open 'Settings' and head to Personalization > Themes and draw a selection from the theme choices offered.

You can see a small preview of the sense modality changes a theme includes, but you can expect wider changes than the preview lets on. As well as changing your desktop image and the color connive victimized end-to-end Windows, a theme can also change your cursor and apply a new profound scheme.

2. How to puzzle out Thomas More Windows 11 themes

There are several inbuilt themes to choose from past default, but if you'Re struggling to find something you like, there are plenty more to download from the Microsoft Computer memory.

You can accession these by click the 'Browse themes' button beneath the previews of the well-stacked-in themes; you'll be taken to the Store where you'll find a selection of free and prepaid-for options to choose from.

Once you've downloaded and installed a theme you corresponding, you can apply information technology in the same way as one of the improved-in one. Many themes include various desktop wallpapers, so you can browse through these two select the uncomparable you would like to use – Oregon you can usage something different as your screen backgroun image if you prefer.

3. Personalise Windows 11

There are various options you butt use when it comes to your desktop background, and these can be accessed away heading to Personalization > Backdrop inside Settings.

If you would like to use a single static image, select 'Video' from the 'Individualise your background' drop-down menu, and then either stimulate a selection from the 'Past images' section, or click 'Browse photos' to select another.

If you select 'Slideshow' instead, you stern rich person your desktop image shift automatically. Click 'Graze', select a folder containing few images and then use the 'Change picture every' menu to choose how tall an image should be used as your screen backgroun before ever-changing.

4. Any distort you like

Retreat to the main personalization section and click 'Colors' so you can start to tweak organization color options – including dark mode.

Using the menu in the 'Choose your mode' section, you can opt between Light and Dark mode, or opt for Custom instead.

This lets you put contrasting settings in place for Windows equally a whole and for apps; umteen apps will let you designate saturnine or light mode, just this setting configures what happens by default.

You can also enable transparency settings, and choose an accent semblance that will be in use to highlight domain of the screen such arsenic the borders around windows and applications.

5. Windows 11 Taskbar settings

The taskbar that appears at the bottom of your screen is home to not only the Start button, but also all manner of app shortcuts and system tray icons.

You spend much of time looking at and interacting with this key element of Windows, so information technology's important to pinch it to your liking. Right-click an empty section of the taskbar and select 'Taskbar settings'.

You can starting line away victimization the toggles into the Taskbar items to pick out which icons should be display chiefly portion of the taskbar. You butt also utilization the toggles in the Taskbar corner icons to customize which icons appear in the right-hand turning point of the taskbar by the clock.

6. More options

Propel perfect to the Taskbar tree overflow section of Taskbar settings and you bum further customize the right-hand side of the taskbar.

Using the various toggles that are shown here, you can opt which app icons are displayed down by the clock and which are relegated to the spill over menu. This takes them out of pot until you click the up arrow button to display the overflow menu.

It is a handy way to save space and reduce clutter by only having visible those icons which you find useful.

7. Change Taskbar location in Windows 11

In that location are encourage options for you to consider in the Taskbar behaviors section, starting off with the Taskbar alignment scope. Using the drop-dejected menu hither, you can opt to have got the Start button moved over to the leftfield of the screen as in previous version of Windows, or leave it centered as Microsoft intended for Windows 11.

In that section, you fire also chose to have the taskbar hidden from view until you hover the mouse at the tail end of the projection screen, choose whether s the taskbar should be shown on all monitors (if you have a multiple display setup)

Ever-changing your background image is not the only change you can make to the desktop in Windows 11.

If you right-click and nonmeaningful section of the desktop, the context menu that come out can exist used to make various picture-side by side tweaks.

Look under the 'View' sub-menu, you can start away choosing the sized at which desktop icons should be displayed. To a lower place this, you hindquarters choose how icons should be arranged – either neatly snapped to an invisible grid, or left for freeform arrangement. Finally, you can use the 'Show desktop icons' selection to toggle whether icons should be visible on the screen background or not.

9. Enable Night light in Windows 11

We possess already looked at various ways you rear end customize Windows 11, including changing onscreen colors, but there is likewise the Night light setting which is very useful for not lone change the show of your covert, but likewise reducing eye-strain.

Right-click an evacuate area of the background and select 'Display settings' and then act upon down to the 'Brightness level & color' section.

Chink the Night light section and click 'Turn on now' to throw your display to heater colors that are entitle connected the eye. You throne use the slipper to tweak the setting and the scheduling option to have Night light trip out and polish off at different times of 24-hour interval.

As well as the taskbar, the Start menu is something you leave spend a good deal of time using in Windows 11, and then you should give it look and work in a way that suits you.

Right-click the Start push button, select 'Settings', move back to the 'Personalization' section and then click 'Start to the perpendicular'. You dismiss use the three toggles that appear to choose whether or not to let in recently added apps, most used apps and recently used items in the Start menu.

Below this, click the 'Folders' incision and use the varied toggles to choose which additional, handy cutoff should be enclosed in the Set forth menu close to the power push for easy access to commonly used tools and locations.

Windows 11's New Look will evolve over time

Sofia is a technical school journalist who's been writing about software, computer hardware and the web for nearly 20 years – but still looks as youthful As ever! After years committal to writing for magazines, her life moved online and cadaver fuelled by technology, music and nature.

Having written for websites and magazine since 2000, producing a wide range of reviews, guides, tutorials, brochures, newsletters and Thomas More, she continues to write for diverse audiences, from calculation newbies to advanced users and clientele clients. Always willing to try something new, she loves sharing new discoveries with others.

Sofia lives and breathes Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and just astir anything with a index button, but her finicky areas of interest include protection, tweaking and privacy.