How to Change the Color of the Start Menu and Taskbar Windows 11

The Windows operating system has many settings related to personalization – displaying the appearance of the system interface, according to user preferences. As a result of applying the changes, the system will become more personalized.

You can change the theme of the operating system, which includes desktop and application backgrounds, sounds, and also change the colors of some interface elements. Most often, users encounter the taskbar and the Start menu.

The taskbar is always displayed on the screen, it contains the Start menu and pinned application icons. When doing practical tasks in Windows 11, there is a constant interaction with these components of the operating system.

Based on this, users often have a question about how to change the color of the taskbar or how to change the color of the start menu. Both of these elements of the operating system are related to each other, so the same Windows settings settings apply to them. The changes are applied at the same time.

This article will show you how to change the color of the taskbar and start menu in Windows. In addition to these elements, we will talk about changing the color of other applications of the operating system: Settings, Explorer, Notification Center, and so on.

How to change the color mode in Windows 11

By default, the Start menu and taskbar in the Windows 11 operating system are displayed in two modes: dark or light (black or white), which are enabled in the personalization settings. The user can change these settings at any time as he wishes.

Go through the following steps:

1. Press the keyboard keys “Win” + “I”.
2. In the Settings app that opens, click the Personalization tab.
3. Open the “Colors” section.
4. In the “Select a mode” item to change the colors displayed in Windows and your applications, set one of the modes:

• Light – Windows interface elements and supported system applications will be white.
• Dark – Turn on dark colors in the system, including the black color of the taskbar.
• Custom – Customize colors according to the user’s choice.

Depending on the option selected, the Start menu and taskbar will change colors to dark or light.

Change color to black or white from the Windows registry

You can change the color of Windows 11 by making changes to the system registry settings. You have options to set dark or light mode separately for different system tools: Taskbar, Start Menu, and Action Center, or for File Explorer, Options, Context Menu, and other Windows applications.

To change the system color, do the following:

1. Press the “Win” + “R” keys.
2. In the “Run” dialog box, in the “Open:” field, type “regedit”, and then click on the “OK” button.
3. In the “Registry Editor” window, follow the path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize

4. Right-click on the “SystemUsesLightThem” option.
5. In the context menu, click on “Edit …”.
6. In the window for changing the DWORD parameter (32 bits), in the “Value:” field, specify, depending on what suits you best, “0” or “1”:

• “0” – dark mode.
• “1” – Windows light theme.

7. Click on the “OK” button.

The changes take effect immediately.

To change the color of applications separately from the settings, do the following:

1. Open the registry editor on your computer.
2. Follow the path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize

3. Right-click on “AppsUseLightTheme”, in the menu that opens, select “Edit …”.
4. In the “Change DWORD (32-bit) Value” window, set the desired value:

• “0” is a black Windows theme.
• “1” – light mode.

5. Press the Enter key to apply the setting.

How to change the color of the Windows 11 taskbar

When using special mode, it is possible to set the color of the system and applications separately. For example, you can make the taskbar and Start menu dark, and File Explorer and Options light.

Go through a few steps:

1. In the “Personalization” window, in the “Colors” section, in the “Select a mode” option, set “Custom”.
2. There are two new options in the options window that allow you to set the color mode to Dark or Light:

• Select the default Windows mode – change the color of the start menu, taskbar and action center.
• Select the default application mode – the colors of Explorer, the context menu, Settings, and some other system applications change.

As a result, combined colors will be used on your computer. For example, as in this image, the taskbar and Start menu are black, while Settings and other apps are light.

How to change the color of the Windows 11 taskbar to your liking

In addition to the display changes offered by the operating system, the user can independently set the color for the taskbar, Start menu, and Action Center.

Do the following:

1. In the “Personalization > Colors” window, in the “Show the color of items in the Start menu and taskbar” item, move the switch to the “On” position.
2. The “Contrast Color” option must be set to “Manual”.
3. Navigate to the Windows Colors area to select the color you want to click on.
4. After that, Windows elements will change their color according to your choice.
5. If there is no suitable color among the suggested ones, in the “Custom colors” option, click on the “Show colors” button.
6. In the “Select a custom element color” window that opens, select the desired color using the palette.
7. To set the color manually, advanced users can click on the “More” button.
8. Here you can set the colors to “RGB”, “HSV” or “HEX” values ​​by entering the appropriate code.
9. Click on the “Finish” button.

To return to the colors selected in Windows 11 settings, in the “Show color of items in the Start menu and taskbar” option, move the switch slider to the “Disabled” position.

Article Conclusions

Many users are interested in learning how to change the color of the Start menu and taskbar in the Windows 11 operating system. Using the personalization function, you can change the color of system interface elements, select a dark or light display mode. In addition, the user can use the built-in palette to choose their own colors for the taskbar, start and notification center.