How to Show or Hide Accent Color on Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 11

How to Turn Accent Color On or Off

1. Press Win+I to open Settings ⚙️.
2. Click Personalization in the left menu. The personalization options appear on the right.
3. Click Colors. You should see the Choose your mode setting at the top, followed by Transparency effects and Accent color.
4. Check Choose your mode. If it says Light, change it to Dark. If you use Custom, make sure the Windows mode inside it is set to Dark.
5. Scroll down to Show accent color on Start and taskbar. If it was greyed out, it should now be clickable.
6. Turn the toggle On to color Start and the taskbar 🖥️, or Off to go back to the plain look.

The change applies immediately, with no restart or sign-out. The taskbar 🖥️ and the Start menu ⊞ should switch to your accent color right away. If the color is not the one you want, pick another under Accent color on the same page. You can choose Automatic, which takes a color from your wallpaper, or Manual, where you pick a swatch yourself.

To undo the change, return to the same page and flip the toggle back. Nothing else is altered by this setting.

Switch to Dark, or to Custom with the Windows mode set to Dark, and the toggle becomes available again.

How to Change Accent Color Using the Registry (Advanced)

This is useful if you want to script the change or apply it consistently on several machines. The setting is stored per user, so it affects only the account you run it under.

Warning: The Registry Editor is a database that stores low-level system settings. Back up your registry before changing any values, since mistakes can cause system instability. To make a backup, open Registry Editor, choose File › Export, select All as the export range, and save the file somewhere safe. Creating a restore point first is also a good idea.

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Terminal (Admin).
2. Click Yes if the User Account Control prompt appears. A Windows Terminal window opens with administrator rights.
3. Run the command below that matches what you want: one shows the accent color on Start and the taskbar, and the other hides it. %%FLAG_ADMIN%%
4. Check Start and the taskbar. If nothing changes, sign out and back in, or restart the PC, so Windows reloads the setting.

To undo the change, run the opposite command. The Dark or Custom mode requirement from the Settings method still applies. If the mode is Light, the value is saved but you will not see the color.

Turn On Accent Color on Start Menu and Taskbar

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize" /v ColorPrevalence /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Turn On Accent Color Only on Taskbar (Not Start Menu)

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize" /v ColorPrevalence /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

Turn Off Accent Color (Default Setting)

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize" /v ColorPrevalence /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Summary

• Windows 11 has three color modes: Dark, Light, and Custom.
• Accent color works on the Start menu and taskbar only with Dark or Custom mode.
• You can change this setting easily in Settings.
• Advanced users can also use the Registry Editor to make changes.
• Try different colors and modes to make your PC look the way you want.