Solved Accent Color Seperate from Taskbar / Start Menu Color


shoober420

shoober420

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Im trying to setup the Accent Color, vut have the taskbar / start menu be a different color from eachother. this appears to be possible with this reg key:

Code: 
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Accent" /v "StartColorMenu" /t REG_DWORD /d "0xffc3c3c3" /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM" /v "StartColorMenu" /t REG_DWORD /d "0xffc3c3c3" /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize" /v "StartColorMenu" /t REG_DWORD /d "0xffc3c3c3" /f

using the reg key to change accent color also changes the taskbar / startmenu color, even though "StartColorMenu" is present.

Code: 
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Accent" /v "AccentPalette" /t REG_BINARY /d "bce7f10099c6dd005a8dbe004577af00365e9400233e72000c194a0088179800" /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM" /v "AccentPalette" /t REG_BINARY /d "bce7f10099c6dd005a8dbe004577af00365e9400233e72000c194a0088179800" /f
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize" /v "AccentPalette" /t REG_BINARY /d "bce7f10099c6dd005a8dbe004577af00365e9400233e72000c194a0088179800" /f

is it possible to have the taskbar / start menu be a different color other than the chosen accent color? i tried to use the "StartColorMenu" reg key but "AccentPalette" overrides it.

heres a picture of what i mean
2025-04-2403.34.574466762821429465487.webp

i want to keep the grey taskbar / startmenu, but have the two on buttons and the little line under Settings be a different color, like blue for example. but it chooses what AccentPalette is set to instead of what StartColorMenu is set to.

in the picture, i have AccentPalette on light grey just to get the windows 95/98 look as close as possible in the meantime. but this forces the on buttons and line under Settings to be grey too.

it should let me make the taskbar / start menu light grey with StartColorMenu, and then choose AccentPalette color to change the on buttons, but thats not possible.

here is the whole script
github.com

windows11-scripts/AccentColor.bat at main · shoober420/windows11-scripts

Windows 11 Scripts. Contribute to shoober420/windows11-scripts development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 27783
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i7 7700 @4.0ghz
    Memory
    64gb DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 5500 XT
    Other Info
    https://www.github.com/shoober420
i was able to figure it out. you have to adjust the AccentPalette reg key according to this

Code: 
rem # Accent Palette Binary Example (Teal)
rem # https://gist.github.com/AveYo/80fc6677b9f34939e44364880fbf3768

rem # aa = alpha / ff = alpha 255 (disabled)

rem #    "AccentPalette"=hex:\
rem #    00,80,80,aa,\                     ; Links in action center and apps
rem #    00,80,80,aa,\                     ; Taskbar icons underline
rem #    00,80,80,aa,\                     ; Start button hover
rem #    00,80,80,aa,\                     ; Settings icons and links [Teal]
rem #    00,80,80,aa,\                     ; Startmenu background / Active taskbar button - IF "EnableTransparency"=dword:00000000
rem #    00,80,80,aa,\                     ; Taskbar front and Folders on start list background [None]
rem #    00,80,80,aa,\                     ; Taskbar background - IF "EnableTransparency"=dword:00000001
rem #    00,80,80,aa                       ; Unused
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 27783
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i7 7700 @4.0ghz
    Memory
    64gb DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 5500 XT
    Other Info
    https://www.github.com/shoober420
AveYo's reg-based method is the only one I've seen work. You're not allowed to pick certain Accent colors if they lack enough visual contrast with other palette colors. I believe it's a "safety" feature, or one enforced for the visually impaired (which is why High Contrast works better).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
There is definitely a thing that changes certain colors for sure. I noticed this when manually putting in RGB values under Personalization < Colors. Fortunately adding the hex in registry keeps the value desired.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 27783
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i7 7700 @4.0ghz
    Memory
    64gb DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 5500 XT
    Other Info
    https://www.github.com/shoober420
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Personalization Turn On or Off Show Accent Color on Start menu and Taskbar in Windows 11
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