How to Get Back Windows 7 Personalization UI in Windows 10

Windows 10 has changed a lot of things when it comes to internal settings and user interface. While some of the changes like the Start Menu and dropping Charms bar are highly admired by the users, there are many changes users are still not able to cope with. You can take the Windows Personalization Screen from the earlier versions, as the best example. From what I have noticed, even changing the theme is quite a task for a newbie on Windows 10.

So today I will show you how you can work with themes on Windows 10 on the new UI and also a way to get back the familiar UI from the days of Windows 7, which most us might be comfortable with. Let’s get started.

Working with Themes on Windows 10

The Themes settings on Windows 10 can be accessed using the Personalization option using the right-click context menu. Here when you click on Themes, you will just see a link that says, Theme Settings.

After you click on the Theme Settings, it will open up the old Personalization panel from where you can click and apply any theme of your choice. Themes can also be downloaded from the online repository and once downloaded, just double click on them so that they become a part of the My Themes Section.

Now, the theme configuration Windows might look like the traditional personalization panel, but it lacks the options to change wallpaper, sounds and even the screensaver. But if you would like to get the option back, you can use a small utility called Personalization Panel for Windows 10 from the Winaero team.

Get Back the Familiar Windows 7 Personalization UI

To get started, download the ZIP File from the Winaero homepage and save it to a folder. Once the contents of the folders are extracted, run the file Personalization.exe. This will open the classic Personalization UI. You might get a Windows SmartScreen notification. Click on the option More Info and select the Run Anyway option.

The Personalization Panel will be just like old times. You can change wallpapers directly, choose taskbar colors and even get a screensaver. If you have a dual monitor setup, you can use the option to even apply dual wallpapers for each monitor.

More Personalization: Here’s how you can change the lock screen wallpaper on Windows 10 and get Dark Mode too.

You can simply create a shortcut of the .exe file on your desktop and just double click on it to launch the panel. But if you have administrative access, you can integrate it to the right-click context menu in Windows 10. At the bottom left edge of the panel, click on option. It will give you two buttons, one to add the tool and one to remove. Click on the appropriate button and save the settings.

Next time when you select the Personalize option from the context menu on desktop, it will open the Winaero Personalization Panel, a la Windows 7.

Love the Old, But Welcome What’s New

Let’s be frank, tricks like these are like band-aid. Sooner or later, Microsoft will make the changes permanent. So for now, we can have the comfort of getting the old stuff back, like the Start Menu etc. But I am not sure how long these tricks are going to last. Sooner or later, there will be a time to move on, and when that time comes, just be prepared.