11 Tips to Customize the Look and Feel of Windows

For most of us , occasionally switch over up the background wallpaper is about as adventurous as we get when it total to tailor-make the appearance of Windows . But there are in fact a pack of ways to transform the operating system to absolutely customise its look — either through Windows ’ own place setting or with the assistant of a third - political party utility . These are some of our favorite changes and pinch for Windows customization .

1. Set a dynamic wallpaper

Your desktop backdrops do n’t have to be electrostatic anymore . The freeWinDynamicDesktopis here to give Microsoft ’s operating system the same sort of active wallpaper support that macOS has — it even port the depiction bundled with Mojave and Big Sur for you to apply ( you could find more dynamic wallpapershere ) . As on a Mac , the idea is that the colouration of your wallpaper fracture as the daytime ( and night ) go by , and WinDynamicDesktop lets you use the break of day and sundown multiplication of a specific location or custom timings that are predetermined by you .

2. Get a new desktop picture every day

Even if you ’re never going to switch from Google search , it ’s sightly to say that Microsoft does a very decent job with the photograph backdrops that it find for its Bing hunt railway locomotive , which hide a wide range of lifelike shot of landscapes and wildlife . you may get these same gorgeous images through the freeBing Wallpaperapp ply by Microsoft , which also gives you the option of change up your wallpaper with a fresh epitome every day . You need never complain about your operating organisation looking boring and intimate again .

3. Match your Windows theme to your wallpaper

Another prank for your wallpaper : If you really ca n’t decide on a color idiom to use in Windows , you could have it mechanically change to whatever desktop picture you ’re currently using . From options , penetrate Personalization then Colors , then tick the box marked Automatically pick an accent coloring from my background . Windows is actually quite clever at determine a dominant color from your wallpaper , and there are some options further down the same projection screen to set how extensively the accent color is used .

4. Use different settings for different monitors

While Windows does offer some canonic option for setting up multiple monitors in different ways , you really need the freemiumDisplayFusionto get the most out of a setup with more than one display . you may set freestanding wallpapers , screensavers and taskbars for each of your monitors , have monitors fade out when they ’re not actively being used , superintend window across multiple displays more well , and save the location of your various open window so you always acknowledge where everything is .

5. Customize icons and menus

The freeWinaero Tweakerpacks in a whole boniface of customization options and tweaks for Windows , but we particularly like the way you could adjust the nonremittal sizing and the nonremittal spacing of icons and menus within the operating system — something Microsoft is n’t likely to allow direct access to anytime soon . Also in this jam-packed musical composition of software program you ’ll find options for changing the speed of animations , adjust the visual aspect of window title bars , switching out the default fonts Windows uses , and more .

6. Edit hidden settings

If you want to get serious about your Windows customizations , then we ’d recommend installing the freeUltimate Windows Tweaker . The software package is able to negociate all form of under - the - cap options and tweaks , but we ’re particularly interested in the Customization screen . There are a wealth of options to play around with here , from taskbar icon size and presentment area buttons to the brochure that you get admittance to in File Explorer and the style that alert seem on screen in Windows .

7. Move or hide the taskbar

The taskbar is n’t quite as fix as you might have opine — in good order - clack on a blank part of it and choose Taskbar configurations , and you’re able to then use the Taskbar location on screen drib - down to move it to the top , left or right of the screen . If you ’d like to get a bit more screen space when you ’re not switch over between programs , turn on the Automatically veil the taskbar in desktop mood and Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode on-off switch replacement . you’re able to also change the size of the taskbar clit from this screen door .

It may have never crossed your mind that you could alter the flavor and size of the Start computer menu you open up every day , but it ’s really very aboveboard : With the Start menu overt , just click and hang back the edge of it to change its size . you’re able to also right - get through on every tile on the right - hand side and choose Unpin from Start to leave yourself with a cleaner , more stocky tilt of applications . To get at more options for the Start menu , include the full screen mode , afford up the preferences panel , then opt Personalization and Start .

9. Put your own pictures on the lock screen

Do n’t overlook the lock chamber covert when it hail to customizing Windows , because chances are you see a bunch of it if you ’re not on your reckoner around the clock . From the options screen in Windows , prefer Personalization and then Lock screen , then pick out Slideshow under Background . This enable you to find fault a folder of your own images ( vacation , kids , pets ) that the whorl screen will bicycle through . The options further down the screen rent you specify which apps can show quick condition info on the lock screen .

10. Skin the desktop

Rainmeteris a free Windows skinning tool that works a little bit like the alternate launchers you could get for Android : It can change almost every look of the user interface , from the taskbar to the background wallpaper . There ’s support for desktop widgets , floating toolbars , and alternative Erodium cicutarium — it ’s really up to the author of each skin to decide how it put to work , and there are a whole host to opt from . Actually using Rainmeter is luckily very easy , with built - in tutorials available to show you the way .

11. Control the layout

Microsoft ’s very own rooms of freePowerToysadd some extra tricks to Windows , including a FancyZones public utility that we need to foreground here : It essentially supercharge the live window snapping feature of speech in the operating system , allow you plant up ‘ zones ’ of your own that windows mechanically arrange themselves into . You could have four vertical columns , for example , or three horizontal rows , or two smaller zone above one larger one . The details are up to you , and there are some preset templates to get begin with .

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