With Windows 10, Microsoft is trying to please everyone from desktop users to laptop users to tablet users. Windows 10 comes with an overhauled Settings app that attempts to replace the traditional Control Panel by bringing more advanced settings.
Although the Control Panel is very much present in Windows 10, many of the newly added settings and options are present in the Settings app only. As a result, we need to open the Settings app to access and change various Windows settings.
In Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, we could easily access the Window Color and Appearance (Color and Appearance in Windows 8/8.1) by right-clicking on the desktop, clicking Personalize, and then clicking the Color link. In Windows 10, as you probably have noticed by now, right-clicking on desktop and clicking Personalize option opens up Settings app, and not the classic Personalization window.
Although there are options under the Settings app to change the color of Start and other selected areas, many desktop users prefer using the old, nicely laid-out, Color and Appearance section as it includes an excellent color mixer as well.
The good thing is that Color and Appearance is still part of Windows 10, but the only thing is that it’s not easily reachable. The Color and Appearance doesn’t appear when you try to search the same from the Start search box. There is no way to open up the same from the Control Panel as the link to Color and Appearance has been removed from Control Panel.
If you’re missing the Color and Appearance window in Windows 10, you can use this guide to access the same. While using Windows 10, you can follow the directions mentioned in one of the given below methods to open and use Color and Appearance.
Method 1: Open Color and Appearance in Windows 10 Via Run Command
Method 2: Create a shortcut of Window Color and Appearance in Windows 10
Way 1 of 2
Open Color and Appearance in Windows 10
We tested this method on version 1909 (Windows 10 October 2019 Update), and it worked great.
Step 1: Open the Run command box with the help of Windows + R keyboard shortcut. Or, type Run command in the Start/taskbar search and then hit the Enter key to open the same.
Step 2: In the box, type the following code, and then press Enter key to open Color and Appearance window.
shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageColorization
Method 2 of 2
To create a shortcut of Color and Appearance
If you often need to access the Color and Appearance window in Windows 10, you can create a shortcut of the same on the desktop and then pin it to the taskbar or Start.
Step 1: Right-click on desktop, click New and then click Shortcut.
Step 2: In the Type the location of the item box, copy and paste the following path.
explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageColorization
Click Next button.
Step 3: Under Type a name for this shortcut, enter Color and Appearance, and then click the Finish button to create the shortcut of Color and Appearance shortcut on your desktop.
You may now pin the Color and Appearance shortcut to the taskbar by moving it to the taskbar area.
James B. Fairchild says
I tried the above solution. The color boxes came up fine. The problem was that each of the boxes showed up in grey – no yellow, no red, no blue – just shades of grey. so for me this was definitely not a solution. and I am still looking at everything in grey. Drat and double drat!!
Doug Burnett says
Why should we have to go thru anything to change the colors that we want and where we want it!!!!MICROSOFT TOTALLY SCREWED THIS UP AND DO YOU EVEN LISTEN TO WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT!!!! OR EVEN CARE??? WE WANT THE OLD WAY COLOR CONTROL BACK AND GET RID OF WINDOWS 10!!!! DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL BUT I CAN NOT BUY WINDOWS 8 ANYMORE AT ALL OR WORSE YET YOU STOPPED WINDOWS 7!!! DO YOU CARE IMO NO YOU DO NOT.. YES I KNOW CAPS IS SHOUTING BUT YOU DON’T LISTEN UNLESS WE HAVE TO SHOUT AT YOU TO GET YOUR ATTENTION!
Dean Beedell says
An inaccurate article. The removal of the color and appearance tool was a retrograde step and not an ‘advance’ in any way. IT simply removed functionality in Windows to prevent users customising Windows appearance. You can achieve the same results by using the winaero customisation too in conjunction with the Classic Color Panel from wintools.info
Ramon says
I got it! You are simply THE BEST! Thanks a lot
Anna P. says
I have no colors in windows 10 All there is grey. I used the dark it messed up everything. I tried Personalize but it didn’t work. What do I do now?
Doris Early says
i’m trying to get back to original color it is now on black and white
Keith says
Following your instructions to Color and Appearance in Windows 10 only gives the option to change the color and NOT the traditional Appearance settings.
I am partially sighted and need the flexibility to change individual fonts and colors as we did in previous Windows versions.
Microsoft needs to give us back total control to comply with accessibility requirements.
If I have missed something or you can help then please let me know.
admin says
@ JJ
I am able to open Color and Appearance in the latest build of Windows 10. Please try again. Type Control Color in Run dialog and then press Enter key.
JJ says
The method described here appears to have been either disabled or changed as of 3/12/2016.
Haven’t found ANY other way to modify display settings the way Window Color and Appearance of the Control Panel used to.
Icon spacing – MS tells us to go into the registry.
Fonts – now its take what MS gives you. Thats it
It all appears to be registry edits.
Frank O' The Mountain says
You can’t make the color black with this method, which really sucks.
Every other shade of dog shit, but not black dammit.
admin says
Marie, go through our intowindows.com/how-to-change-the-default-theme-in-windows-10/ guide to open the classic Personalize window and edit themes.
Marie says
I would like to know how to personalize the themes. In Windows 7 and 8 I
could choose which pics of the theme I wanted to see. (ex if there are 10 pics in a theme,
I might want to get rid of three. What happened to that feature?
fuck you says
You suck ass. This fucking tip is bullshit. It doesn’t change the color of anything except my face, which turns to red after realizing you’ve wasted my fucking time.
admin says
Use the color mixer available in the Color and appearance window.
Yossif says
Thank you for the amazing tip, I’ve been trying to do this for days. But there is something really weird – when I change the color to black, it doesn’t appear as black, but as grey. I tried turning off the transparency and it is still grey, not only on the taskbar and in the start menu, but everywhere. Can you please tell me how can I apply a true #000000 black?
Di says
I love Win 10 and am very impressed with it, however the biggest downfall I can see is the lack of personalization in colour management. I know you can play around with the High Contrast option. But should we really have to do all this with a new upgrade? Win 8.1 was so much easier. please give it back. The white in Edge is blinding, the Black is too dark, so I have gone back to Firefox once again
Adam D says
With the final release of windows 10, the classic color management is useless. You can still access it this way, but Windows 10 automatically pushes your color selection to the closest of their pre-selected swatches, so for those of us very sensitive to color nuances, we’re simply out of luck … and my eyes are starting to hurt from looking at all that white! Let me colorize the title bars and tweak shadows or something … Why take these option away Microsoft!?