How to Create Your Own High Contrast Theme in Windows 11

Getting to the Contrast Theme Settings

You can easily find the high contrast theme settings in Windows 11 by opening the main Settings app and navigating to the Accessibility section.

1. ⚙️ Open Settings: Click the ⊞ Start button. It’s usually in the bottom-left corner. Then, click the gear icon to open ⚙️ the Settings app.
2. Go to Accessibility: In ⚙️ the Settings window, look for “Accessibility.” Click on it.
3. Find Contrast Themes: In the Accessibility section, you’ll see “Contrast themes.” Click this.

This is where you can change the colors. You’ll see some pre-made themes. You can also turn them on or off here.

Quick Tip: Want to turn high contrast mode on and off really fast? Use a keyboard shortcut. Hold down the left Alt key, the left Shift key, and press the Print Screen key (the key might be labeled “PrtScn” or “Print Scrn”). This is useful if you need a quick change.

Customizing Your Own High Contrast Theme

If the default high contrast themes in Windows 11 don’t quite fit your needs, you can easily customize them to better suit your vision and preferences.

1. Choose a Starting Theme: You start customizing from one of the existing themes. Pick one from the dropdown that is closest to what you want, or just pick any theme to start editing.
2. Enter Editing Mode: After picking a theme, click the “Edit” button below the dropdown menu. This opens the color editing panel.

See the Screen Elements: You’ll see a list of different parts of Windows that you can change the color for. These include:

• Background: The color of most windows and the desktop.
• Text: The color of normal text you see, like in documents or on websites.
• Hyperlinks: The color of links on the web.
• Inactive Text: The color for text that is not active or is grayed out.
• Selected Text: The color when you highlight text or choose an item in a list. For example, if you select text in a Word document, this is the background color of that selection.
• Button Text: The color of the text on buttons.

Pick Your Colors: For each part you want to change, click the colored box next to its name. A color palette will show up.

• Click a color in the palette to choose it.
• Below the palette, there’s a slider. Use this to make the color brighter or less bright.

Once you’ve chosen a color you like for a specific part, click ‘Done.’ Then, repeat this process for all the other elements you wish to customize. Think about how the colors work together. You want text to stand out from the background. For example, bright yellow text on a black background is a common high-contrast choice, but feel free to experiment!

Practical Tip: Test as you go. You don’t have to change everything at once. You can pick a color for one part, click “Done,” and then click “Apply” to see how it looks. This lets you make small changes and see the results right away.

Saving Your Custom Theme

After you’ve finished customizing your colors, saving your new high contrast theme in Windows 11 is simple and ensures you can easily switch back to it later.

1. Name Your Theme: A box will appear asking for a name for your new theme. Give it a clear name, like “My Bright Text Theme” or “Easy Reader.”
2. Save Your Custom Theme: After you finish editing colors and click “Done” for the last part, you’ll be back on the main Contrast themes screen. Look for a button that says “Save as.” Click it.
3. Finish and Apply: After typing the name, click “Save.” Then, make sure your new theme is selected in the “Contrast themes” dropdown menu. Click “Apply” one last time.

Your personalized high contrast theme is now active! You can switch between this theme and others anytime from the same settings menu.

Important Note: Save often! If you’re making many changes, it’s a good idea to save your work regularly. Click “Save as” and give it a slightly different name each time (like “My Theme v2”). This way, if something goes wrong or you like an older version better, you won’t lose all your progress.

Turning Off High Contrast Mode

Turning off high contrast mode in Windows 11 is straightforward; you just need to go back to the Accessibility settings and select ‘None’ from the contrast themes dropdown.

1. Go Back to Settings: ⚙️ Open Settings (⊞ Start button > Gear icon).
2. Go to Accessibility: Click “Accessibility.”
3. Select Contrast Themes: Click “Contrast themes.”
4. Choose “None”: In the “Contrast themes” dropdown menu, select the option that says “None.”
5. Apply the Changes: Click the “Apply” button.

Just as when you turned it on, Windows will display a “Please wait” screen for a moment while it restores your default colors. You’re back to normal!

Remember the Shortcut: Don’t forget the quick keyboard shortcut: left Alt+← Shift + Print Screen. It works just as well for turning high contrast mode off as it does for turning it on. It’s quite handy!

Reference:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows/change-color-contrast-in-windows

Summary

Creating a custom high contrast theme in Windows 11 makes your computer easier and more comfortable to use, especially if you have vision problems or want to reduce eye strain.