This tutorial will show you how to change the background color in the Windows Photo Viewer app to any custom color for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Windows Photo Viewer is a basic lightweight image viewer program that was included in Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Windows Photo Viewer allows you to access the properties of an image, print the image, email the image, burn the image to disc, delete image, copy image, rotate image, manually scroll between previous and next images in a folder, and play a slide show of images from within a folder.
Windows Photo Viewer was hidden and replaced by the more modern Photos app in Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11.
If you restored the Windows Photo Viewer app, you can change its default background color to any custom color you want.
EXAMPLE: Default and custom background color in Windows Photo Viewer
Here's How:
1 Open the Paint app, and follow the steps below to get the hex value of the custom color you want:
- Click/tap on the Edit colors button on the toolbar in the Paint app.
- Select a base color you want to use.
- Adjust the slider until the color is how you want.
- Make note of the custom color's hex value (ex: "2BDB3F") without the hash (#) symbol.
2 Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
3 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below step 4)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Photo Viewer\Viewer
4 In the right pane of the Viewer key, double click/tap on the BackgroundColor DWORD to modify it. (see screenshot below)
If you do not have a BackgroundColor DWORD, then right click or press and hold on an empty space in the right pane of the Viewer key, click/tap on New, click/tap on DWORD (32-bit) Value, type BackgroundColor for the name, and press Enter.
You can delete this BackgroundColor DWORD value to restore the default background color of the Windows Photo Viewer app.
5 Follow the steps below to enter the hex value of the custom color: (see screenshot below)
- Select (dot) Hexadecimal.
- In the 'Value data" field, type ff in front of the color's hex value (ex: "2BDB3F") from step 1. For example: ff2BDB3F
- Click/tap on OK.
6 You can now close Registry Editor if you like.
7 You will see the new background color the next time you open an image with the Windows Photo Viewer app.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
Last edited:
