How to Change Desktop Background Color in Windows 11 Personalization Settings

Change your background

Use these steps to change the Windows 11 settings background color to a solid color of your choice.

1. Press Win+I together. This opens Settings.
2. Select Personalization in the left-hand menu. The personalization options appear on the right.
3. Click Background. You should see a preview of your current desktop and a few settings below it.
4. Find the dropdown labeled Personalize your background. It sits just under the preview.
5. Choose Solid color from that dropdown. The other choices are Picture, Slideshow and Windows spotlight. Windows spotlight is not listed on every build. If it is missing, your version of Windows 11 doesn’t offer it.
6. Click any swatch in the color grid. The desktop changes to that color right away, with no restart.
7. Click View colors if none of the swatches suit you. A color picker opens where you can drag to a custom shade.
8. Click Done to confirm the custom shade. The desktop keeps the new color.

The Background page applies each change the moment you pick it, and you don’t need extra software. Come back to this page whenever you want a different flat shade or a new picture. To undo a change, set Personalize your background back to Picture or pick another swatch.

Choose a fit for the desktop images

If a desktop picture looks stretched, cropped or tiled, the fit setting is the cause. It controls how Windows sizes the image to your monitor, and you can change it at any time.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I if you want the quick way.
2. Select Personalization, then click Background. The background preview appears.
3. Set Personalize your background to Picture. The fit option only appears for pictures, not for a solid color.
4. Find the dropdown titled Choose a fit for your desktop image. It sits below the picture thumbnails.
5. Select the fit you want from the dropdown. Your options are:

   • Fill scales the image to cover the whole screen while keeping its proportions. Parts of the edges may be cropped.
   • Fit shows the entire image without cropping. This can leave empty bars on the sides or top.
   • Stretch forces the image to the screen size. This changes the aspect ratio, so the picture can look distorted.
   • Tile repeats a smaller image in a grid across the display.
   • Center places the image in the middle of the screen at its original resolution.
   • Span stretches one panoramic image across several connected monitors.

The desktop updates as soon as you pick an option, so you can try each one and compare. For most photos, Fill is the safest choice. If the picture is much smaller than your screen resolution, it will look soft or blurry with any option except Center.

Desktop background and multiple displays

With more than one monitor connected, you can give each screen its own picture. This only works with pictures, not with a solid color. A solid color applies to every display.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I for the shortcut.
2. Select Personalization, then click Background. The background preview appears.
3. Set Personalize your background to Picture. Thumbnails of recent images appear below.
4. Right-click a thumbnail in the recent images section. A context menu🖱️ appears.
5. Select Set for monitor 1 or Set for monitor 2. That picture is assigned to that single display only.
6. Repeat with a different thumbnail for each other screen. Each monitor now shows its own picture.

The monitor options only appear when Windows detects more than one display. If you don’t see them, open System, then Display, and confirm that both screens are detected and not just mirrored. If you use a slideshow instead, adjust its options on the same Background page, such as how often the picture changes.

Desktop background and multiple desktops

Virtual desktops are separate workspaces you can use to organize tasks, such as one for work and one for personal use. Whether each one can have its own background depends on your Windows 11 build.

1. Press the Task view button on your taskbar🖥️. You can also press Win+Tab together. Thumbnails of your open desktops appear along the bottom or top of the screen.
2. Click New desktop. An additional workspace opens.
3. Click a desktop thumbnail to switch to it. Arrange your app windows there as you like.
4. Right-click a desktop thumbnail and look for Choose background. If it is there, you can pick a separate background for that workspace.

Older builds of Windows 11 don’t have Choose background in that menu. There, the background you set in Settings applies to every virtual desktop, and only third-party customization utilities can change that. Updating Windows through Windows Update is the first thing to try if the option is missing.

Color mode

Windows 11 can display its system interface in a light or dark theme. This sets the look of menus, Settings and many built-in apps, and it is separate from your desktop background.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I if you prefer.
2. Select Personalization, then click Colors. The color options appear on the right.
3. Find the dropdown labeled Choose your mode. It is near the top of the page.
4. Select Light for bright white and light gray windows, menus and system apps.
5. Select Dark for deep charcoal and black tones. Windows and most apps switch right away.
6. Select Custom to set your default Windows mode and your default app mode independently. Two extra dropdowns appear, Choose your default Windows mode and Choose your default app mode.

Some older apps ignore the setting and keep their own look. No restart is needed. To undo the change, return to the same dropdown and pick the previous mode.

Accent Color

The accent color is the highlight color Windows uses on active buttons, toggles, borders and taskbar indicators. You can choose it yourself or let Windows pick one for you.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I for the shortcut.
2. Select Personalization, then click Colors. The color options appear on the right.
3. Find the Accent color setting. It is just below Choose your mode.
4. Choose Manual to pick a specific color from the palette. A grid of swatches appears.
5. Click View colors if you want a custom shade. A color picker opens.
6. Choose Automatic instead to let Windows pick for you. Windows extracts a matching color from your current desktop background image.

With a solid color background, Automatic has less to work with. If the result looks off, switch to Manual and pick the color yourself.

Show accent color on Start and taskbar

By default the accent color is only a subtle highlight. This toggle makes it fill the taskbar and Start menu background instead.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I if you prefer.
2. Select Personalization, then click Colors. The color options appear on the right.
3. Scroll down to Show accent color on Start and taskbar. It is below the accent color palette.
4. Click the toggle to set it to On. The taskbar🖥️ and Start menu⊞ change to your accent color.

If the toggle is greyed out, your mode is set to Light. This option only works in dark mode. Under Choose your mode, select Dark, or select Custom and set the default Windows mode to Dark. Then come back and try the toggle again. To undo it, set the toggle back to Off.

Show accent color on title bars and window borders

This setting puts your accent color on the title bars and outer borders of app windows. It makes active windows easier to tell apart from inactive ones.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I for the shortcut.
2. Select Personalization, then click Colors. The color options appear on the right.
3. Scroll down to Show accent color on title bars and window borders. It sits near the bottom of the page.
4. Click the toggle to set it to On. Title bars on desktop apps that support it take on your accent color.

Some apps, including many Store apps, draw their own title bars. They may not change. Set the toggle back to Off to undo it.

Transparency effects

Transparency effects make windows, the Start menu and the taskbar look slightly see-through. They look nice, but some people turn them off for a cleaner look or to reduce graphics load on older hardware.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I if you prefer.
2. Select Personalization, then click Colors. The color options appear on the right.
3. Find the toggle labeled Transparency effects. It is near the top, under the mode and accent settings.
4. Click the toggle to turn transparency On or Off. Choose based on your performance needs or taste. Menus and panels change right away.

No restart is needed. If you change your mind, click the same toggle again.

Color filters and contrast themes

Windows 11 has accessibility tools for visual impairments and light sensitivity. Contrast themes change the whole color scheme to make text and interface elements easier to read. Color filters adjust how colors are displayed.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I for the shortcut.
2. Select Accessibility from the left-hand navigation pane. The accessibility options appear on the right.
3. Click Contrast themes. The contrast theme settings open.
4. Pick a theme from the dropdown. The theme is not applied yet.
5. Click Apply. The screen may go blank for a moment while the theme loads.
6. Go back to Accessibility and click Color filters. The color filter settings open.
7. Turn on the filter switch. A list of filters appears.
8. Choose a filter such as grayscale, inverted, or a color-blindness correction filter. The screen colors change right away.

Fixing accidental high contrast triggers

A washed-out or black-and-white screen is often caused by an accidental keyboard shortcut that turns on a high contrast theme. The same shortcut turns it off again.

1. Press left Alt, left Shift and Print Screen together. Use the keys on the left side of your keyboard. A prompt asks whether you want to turn high contrast on or off.
2. Click Yes on the prompt. The screen may flicker for a moment.
3. Check your colors and desktop background. Your normal colors should be back.
4. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I if you prefer.
5. Select Accessibility, then click Contrast themes. The contrast theme settings open.
6. Turn off the option for the keyboard shortcut. It appears as a checkbox or a toggle depending on your build. This stops the shortcut from firing by accident again.

If the shortcut does nothing, a contrast theme may have been applied through Settings instead. In that case, set Contrast themes back to None as described in the previous section.

Managing background sync across devices

If you sign in to several Windows 11 PCs with the same Microsoft account, your personalization settings can follow you from one to the next. That includes your background and color choices. Turn this off if you want each PC to keep its own look.

1. Open Settings⚙️. Press Win+I for the shortcut.
2. Select Accounts from the left-hand menu. The account options appear on the right.
3. Click Windows backup. The backup and sync settings open.
4. Expand the section labeled Remember my preferences. A list of items with checkboxes appears.
5. Uncheck the box next to Personalization. Your background and color choices stop syncing across your cloud-connected devices.

Syncing only applies to Microsoft accounts. If you use a local account, there is nothing to turn off. Repeat these steps on each PC where you want syncing disabled. To undo this, check the box again.

What to do next

You can now set your desktop background, color mode and accent colors the way you want them. Next, look at taskbar alignment and system tray icons to finish setting up your workspace.