[Tip] Get Dark Colorized Taskbar and Start Menu Back in Windows 10

If you installed or upgraded to new versions of Windows 10 operating system, you might have noticed the new Light Theme or Light Mode immediately. Now the Taskbar, Start Menu, Action Center, notification area fly-outs (pop-ups), context menus, etc are displayed using new Light color theme which shows everything in light Grey color.

We reviewed the new Light Theme introduced in Windows 10 in following article:

[Review] New “Light Theme” or “Light Mode” in Windows 10

Following screenshots show some UI elements in new Light theme in Windows 10:

Taskbar Using Light Theme:

Start Menu Using Light Theme:

Action Center Using Light Theme:

Many people including me like the new Light Theme in Windows 10 but there are many people who don’t like the new Grey theme. They want to get back the dark Blue colored Taskbar, Start Menu, Action Center, etc in Windows 10.

Don’t worry! Windows 10 still comes with good old Dark theme mode which can be applied to disable new light colored elements and get back colorized windows, Start Menu, Taskbar and everything else.

If you also want to get rid of new light Grey taskbar and Start Menu and want to bring back/restore colors on Taskbar, Start Menu and other UI elements in Windows 10, following steps will help you:

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+I keys together.

2. Now go to “Personalization -> Colors” section.

PS: Alternatively, You can directly launch this page using “ms-settings:colors” command in RUN dialog box as mentioned here.

3. Now in right-side pane, look for “Choose your color” option.

It’s set to “Light” by default which shows everything in new Light theme mode in Windows 10.

Now we need to enable colorization option for Taskbar, Start Menu and Action Center but the option will be grayed out i.e. disabled. Check out following article for detailed information:

[Fix] Show Accent Color on Start, Taskbar and Action Center Option Grayed Out in Windows 10 Settings

So we’ll set the “Choose your color” option to Dark or Custom as mentioned below:

4. If you want to enable Dark Theme everywhere, select “Dark” option from the drop-down box.

It’ll immediately apply Dark Theme mode in apps and windows and you’ll get dark Taskbar, Start Menu and program windows.

5. If you don’t want to apply Dark Theme inside apps but want to get back colorized Taskbar, Start Menu and titlebars, select “Custom” option from the drop-down box. Now select “Dark” for “Choose your default Windows mode” and select “Light” for “Choose your default app mode“.

Now you’ll get dark Taskbar, Start Menu, etc but program windows will remain White.

6. To enable colors on Taskbar, Start Menu, Action Center, etc, scroll down and enable “Start, taskbar, and action center” and “Title bars and window borders” checkbox.

That’s it. Now you’ll get colorized Start Menu, Taskbar, Action Center, fly-outs, context menus and titlebars back in Windows 10 as shown in following screenshot:

Also Check:

[Windows 10 Tip] Get Colors on Titlebars of Inactive (Background) Program Windows