How to add Color and Appearance to Control Panel in Windows 10

In the initial days of Windows 10, the Color and Appearance panel was handy to change the color of various UI elements. However, now users can do the same from the Windows Settings. However, if you want to use the same old options, you can add Color and Appearance to the Control Panel in Windows 10 with the help of this tutorial.

If you need to change the change Taskbar color or Title bar color, you can open the Windows Settings panel and do it. However, it is also possible to change Taskbar, windows borders, and Start menu color with the help of Color and Appearance. It is an old yet handy tool, which can let you set any custom color as per your requirement. If you often need to access this tool, you can include that option to the Control Panel and open it from there.

For this, we are going to use Registry Editor. Before using that tool, it is recommended to backup or export Registry files and create a System Restore point to be on the safe side.

How to add Color and Appearance to Control Panel

To add Color and Appearance to Control Panel in Windows 10, follow these steps-

1. Open Notepad on your PC.
2. Paste the registry code in the Notepad.
3. Click the File option and select Save As from the list.
4. Choose a location where you want to save.
5. Give it a name with .reg extension.
6. Select All Files from Save as type.
7. Click the Save
8. Double-click on the .reg file.
9. Select Yes in the UAC window.
10. Click Yes in the confirmation window.
11. Find Color and Appearance in the Control Panel.

Let’s check out all these steps in detail.

At first, you need to create a .reg file. For that, open the Notepad on your computer and paste the following text in it-

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{106ee807-9e5d-451b-a9c5-74908630cefb}]
@="Color and Appearance"
"InfoTip"="Change the color of your taskbar, window borders, and Start menu"
"System.ApplicationName"="Microsoft.Personalization"
"System.ControlPanel.Category"=dword:00000001
"System.Software.TasksFileUrl"="Internal"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{106ee807-9e5d-451b-a9c5-74908630cefb}\DefaultIcon]
@="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\imageres.dll,-197"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{106ee807-9e5d-451b-a9c5-74908630cefb}\Shell\Open\command]
@="explorer shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\\pageColorization"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace\{106ee807-9e5d-451b-a9c5-74908630cefb}]
@="Color and Appearance"

Click the File button and select Save As option.

Now, select a location where you want to save the file. After that, give it any name with .reg extension (e.g., twc.reg), choose All Files from Save as type, and click the Save button.

Then, you need to double-click on this .reg file to add the values in the Registry Editor.

You might receive the UAC prompt. If so, you can click the Yes button. Next, a confirmation window will appear, and you should click the Yes button again.

After completing the last step, you open the Control Panel to find the Color and Appearance option.

In case you want to remove this option from the Control Panel, you need to open Registry Editor on your computer, navigate to this path-

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\

and delete this key:

{106ee807-9e5d-451b-a9c5-74908630cefb}

Then, go to this path-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace\

and delete this key:

{106ee807-9e5d-451b-a9c5-74908630cefb}

That’s all!