Windows has come a long way since Windows 3.1. The modern Windows 10 operating system is not only pleasing to the eye, but also offers many ways to customize and customize it to your liking. Some of these settings are purely aesthetic, while others actually affect the way you use Windows.
Buckle up! We’re going to explore many ways to customize Windows 10
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
The Absolute Basics: Wallpapers and Themes
Windows 10 comes with some pretty attractive desktop wallpapers. Most people are probably fairly happy with the standard choice. However, changing the wallpaper is also the easiest way to make the system look like yours.
You can use any image as your wallpaper, but for best results you should use an image that matches your screen’s native resolution. That is, the relationship between its horizontal and vertical dimensions. So, if you have a 1920 × 1080 screen, you should choose an image with that resolution. You can also use a higher resolution image if its aspect ratio is the same.
If you use an image with the wrong aspect ratio or too low resolution, it will look blurry or distorted.
After the wallpaper has been downloaded and saved to your computer, you can change it by right-clicking the desktop and choosing Personalize.
– /
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Here you can choose if you want to have a single image or a slideshow. If you want to have a slideshow of wallpapers, you need to save them all in one folder. You can find either a specific image or a folder, depending on which type of wallpaper you choose.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
The background is just one component of your overall theme. Changing the theme gives you control over the system colors, sounds, and mouse cursor style. Just search for “Themes” in the Start menu and click on “Themes and related settings.”
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Then click on each option in turn to customize the look and feel of your system according to your preferences.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
If you are using a wallpaper slideshow, we recommend leaving the color on automatic, as this usually provides the best complementary color for your current wallpaper.
Personalize your lock screen
The lock screen is a Windows 10 security feature that keeps prying eyes out of what you are working on and prevents people who don’t know your password from using your computer. However, the lock screen is more than just a functional shadow. It can display all sorts of useful information and, most importantly, it shows the first image you see when you sit down to work at your computer.
So you should really take a look at changing the lock screen image and customizing what information is displayed on the lock screen. This is one of the easy ways to customize Windows 10 To access lock screen settings:
- Open the Start menu.
- Click the settings icon.
- Click Personalization
- Click Lock Screen.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Here you can specify what to use as the background. The controls work exactly the same way as when selecting the desktop background. Thus, you can select a single image, a folder of images for a slideshow, or Windows Spotlight, which is a unique lock screen feature that displays various forms of live information.
You can also choose which apps you want to see on the lock screen and which ones you want to know more about. For example, many people would like to see their calendar appointments right away. However, keep in mind that anyone can access your lock screen, so be mindful of your privacy.
Add and change screen savers
Screensavers no longer serve their original purpose of “saving” screens. Even with OLED screens that are prone to image burn-in, the devices themselves have built-in protections. However, screensavers can still serve privacy and security purposes. Not to mention, they can be a wonderful decoration!
Windows 10 comes with a tiny set of screensavers, but you can add as many as you like. For example, we recently reviewed the best slideshow screensavers that will replace the basic screensaver that comes with Windows 10 There are also many great free screensavers you can download to customize your screensaver for Windows 10
Installing new screensavers is pretty easy. When you load the splash screen, it will be either a self-installing executable file or a “.scr” file. If it is a self-installing application, all you have to do is launch it the same way you would with any installation of the application. If it’s an SCR file, just right-click it and choose Install.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Once you’ve installed the screensavers you want, you can switch between them by searching for “Change screensaver” in the Start menu. Then just select the screensaver you want from the drop-down menu.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Many screensavers have settings to fine tune them. Slideshow screensavers also require you to specify in which folder the desired images are located. Click the “Settings ” button to access these features.
Click Preview to activate the screensaver with the current settings. If you like the way it looks, just click Apply. Just remember to specify how long your computer must be idle before the screensaver goes off!
Customize Start Menu
In the dark days of Windows 8, it seemed like Microsoft was about to do away with the beloved Start menu. In Windows 8.1, they kind of brought it back, but a lot of people still opted for third-party apps that restored the classic-style Start menu.
The Start menu in Windows 10 is not exactly the classic model, but much closer to the experimental one we got in Windows 8.1. It works great out of the box, but you can actually customize it quite a bit.
The first Start Menu trick everyone should know is that you can resize it! All you have to do is drag the vertical or horizontal edge to give it the shape and size you want!
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Another major trick you need to know when setting up Windows 10 is the Start Custom Settings menu. To get there, select “Start”> “Settings”> “Personalization”> “Start”.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
From here, you can turn off things like suggestions, increase the number of tiles displayed, etc. Just turn on the options you want and leave the rest off.
From the Start menu itself, you can easily unpin the tiles you don’t need by right-clicking them and choosing Unpin. In the same menu, you can also change the size of each tile from the preset set.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
You can drag and drop tiles to the desired location. Adding tiles is as easy as right-clicking any application in the Start menu and choosing Pin to Start.
For other ways to customize the Start menu, see 10 Ways to Customize the Start Menu in Windows 10
Change the system font
Prior to Windows 10, Microsoft used the option to change the system default font So you can choose a standard Windows font that really categorizes things, or, if you like, change it to Comic Sans and make your system funny.
Although Microsoft has removed the ability to change your system font, you can still do it manually! The only problem is that it has to do with creating a special registry file that you then merge with the system registry for it to take effect. If you do everything right, there will be no problems. If you mess something up, you may have encountered difficulties when trying to rollback the system using an unreadable font or manually revert changes to the registry.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Luckily, the generous developer saw fit to provide us with the Advanced System Font Changer, which handles all of this technical stuff behind the scenes. It also starts off by allowing you to back up your current settings if you so desire.
We ran it through Virustotal, just to make sure there was nothing unpleasant inside, and twisted it. This is a simple application that allows you to quickly customize almost everything related to system fonts. Until Microsoft takes back control of our fonts, we recommend the Advanced System Font Changer
Windows File Explorer alternatives
Windows Explorer is the default app we use in Windows 10 to navigate the file system. It should not be confused with Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s soon-to-be-obsolete web browser. Also not to be confused with explorer.exe, the Windows GUI. If you close explorer.exe, all system tray and desktop icons will disappear!
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
File Explorer has come a long way since the first versions. For example, when you copy files in Windows 10, you can see detailed information such as the current transfer rate and which files are being moved.
On older versions of Windows, this feature may require third-party software. So, for most people, File Explorer is fine. However, if you are one of those looking for something different, there are many File Explorer alternatives to try.
In fact, there are so many options that it deserves a separate article. Check out the best Windows Explorer replacements for Windows 10 to see what’s on offer.
Add macOS-Style Dock
Operating systems like Windows 10 and macOS are not afraid to steal each other’s best ideas. Unfortunately, one popular macOS feature – the docking station – isn’t one that Microsoft deemed suitable for copying. Of course, you can set the taskbar to automatically hide and pin frequently used applications to it. However, this is not exactly the same as doc!
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
The good news is that there are both paid and free third-party docks for Windows 10 Most of them are no longer updated, such as the popular Rocket Dock However, even older apps seem to work fine. If you’re willing to pay a few bucks, you can get the premiums that are supported. If you really want a Windows 10 dock, check out our list of 5 great app docks.
Modify windows with third-party skins
Windows allows you to change its look to some extent, but as you’ve seen, it is mostly limited to wallpapers, colors, and some other surface essentials. In addition, there are third-party applications that allow you to change the look of Windows, add custom widgets, and generally change the way things look and work.
For Windows users, the best app we can recommend is Rainmeter, an open source platform where anyone can create skins for Windows. They range from simple widgets like these:
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
Incredibly complex repairs that require a significant amount of settings and time to get started. How much or how much effort you want to put in is up to you, but Rainmeter gives you the tools you need.
Custom third party shells
There are many options for customizing Windows 10, but none of them really change how the interface works. When you use Windows 10, you interact with a part of the operating system known as the “shell”.
The other major part of the operating system is the “kernel”. The kernel is the true kernel of the OS, and it is it that controls everything, executes the software, and generally controls the system. The shell is the interface that translates your commands into the kernel.
Windows 10: A Complete Guide”/>
You can completely replace the Windows 10 shell with something else that suits your tastes and needs more. On operating systems like Linux, users change the shell in the same way we all change the shell, but most Windows users would probably consider this a rather radical modification.
The most common example of an alternative shell is most likely Cairo This is a large project that is well supported and stable. If you want a completely different Windows experience, we suggest you start there.
Like a glove
Your computer is an essential tool. They don’t call it a “personal” computer for nothing. So why not change it to suit your workflow and sense of style. Whether it’s just a few tweaks of standard Windows options or a radical replacement of the main OS components, it’s entirely up to you.
–