GIVE WINDOWS 10 A GREAT NEW LOOK
PERSONALISATION
To change the appearance of Windows 10, open the Start menu and select Settings, followed by Personalisation in the Settings window. Here, you’ll find a number of option screens that enable you to customise the way the operating system looks, including Background, Colours, Lock screen, Themes and Start.
PICK A WALLPAPER
The Background screen lets you change your desktop wallpaper. There are a number of pre-installed images you can choose from in the picture row. Or you can use one of your own photos by clicking the Browse button and navigating to the file. Microsoft also offers free wallpapers on the Windows Store.
MORE BACKGROUND SETTINGS
If you’re struggling to settle on the perfect desktop background image, why not try a slideshow instead? Once you’ve picked which images to include, you can set a display duration for each picture. Here, we’ve opted to have the wallpaper change every 30 minutes. Finally, select how Windows should fit your pictures from the ‘Choose a fit’ drop-down menu.
CHANGING COLOURS
If you don’t want a picture on your desktop you can fill it with a solid colour via the Background menu. When you’ve chosen a colour, select the Colours menu from the left-hand pane. Here, you can choose an accent colour (accents are highlighted elements) or let Windows select one for you. It will find a tone that complements the desktop background you have chosen.
CUSTOM ACCENTS
If you’re not happy with the accent colour Windows selects, turn off the automatic feature by clicking the switch, and pick your own. Below the colour palette, you’ll find an option to extend your colour choice to the Start menu, Taskbar and Action Centre. There’s also an option to make elements transparent, which can improve display performance on systems with older graphics.
LOCK SCREEN
The next item in the left-hand panel extends your personalisation options to the Lock screen. Here, you can choose which image is displayed when you’re not using your PC. You can also set up a slideshow in the same manner as your desktop wallpaper — choose which images to include by selecting them individually or by pointing Windows to a folder of pictures.
ADVANCED SLIDESHOW
Click ‘Advanced slideshow settings’ and you’ll see a few more useful options for your slideshow. You can choose to include your camera roll, use only pictures that fit the screen, and whether or not to show the lock screen when the PC is inactive. The last option also enables you to set the screen to turn off after a certain amount of time has passed, or not at all.
SCREENSAVER PANEL
The rest of the Lock screen options relate to app status updates, except for a link to the screensaver control panel. Anyone familiar with the old Windows XP screensaver options should feel at home. Select a screensaver from the drop-down menu, preview it, choose how long to wait before it’s displayed, and configure other settings via ‘Settings...’
WINDOWS THEMES
Back in the Personalisation settings, click the next option in the left-hand panel called Themes. Themes change the look of Windows wholesale, and affect not only desktop background and colours, but also system sounds. Click the ‘Theme settings’ link and you’ll be taken to the Control Panel, where you can pick from existing themes, get more themes online or create your own.
RAINMETER TOOL
If you’ve exhausted Windows’ native personalisation options and want more control, download Rainmeter from This free tool allows you to ‘re-skin’ Windows and totally change its appearance; it even lets you add ‘applets’ to your wallpaper for a more functional desktop. There are thousands of pre-made skins available thanks to the Rainmeter community.