Is there a black on gray theme?


Weilan

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Windows 13
The default Light theme on Windows 11 (since Windows 10) has always been too "white" for me, I tried using the Dark theme for about 1.5 months and how inconsistent it is with some windows still being white really annoys me. I really miss how XP, Vista and 7 looked and how easy it was to customize them, you just patched uxtheme.dll and loaded your 3rd party themes, now you have to use one program for taskbar and start menu, another for windows title bars and who knows what else and when they are different programs by different people, there is not chance they will look or work in tandem.


I was wondering if there is some kind of a light gray theme with black text, something like this image I created:

Untitled.png

I know about the "Classic" high contrast theme, but that one just doesn't look as nice as the real Classic theme that was still available up to Windows 7. I've tried WindowBlinds, but it feels like that one is just fancy themes and WindowBlinds 10 doesn't work for Windows 11 and you have to buy WindowBlinds 11 which is something I don't want to be dumping money into just in hopes to get some QoL basic features that should be part of Windows to begin with.



TL;DR:

Windows 11 Light theme too white and bright, Dark theme too inconsistent and annoying, is there a gray theme that's not "Classic" high contrast?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 13

Attachments

  • NoneCG Themes.zip
    1.4 MB · Views: 11
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 3900X 4.1GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4080
    Monitor(s) Displays
    MSI 1440p@165Hz + Epson projector 6040UB 1080p@60Hz
    Screen Resolution
    DLDSR 2160p@60Hz
    Keyboard
    Logitech 915
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    100MB
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MalwareHunter + MalwareBytes
I have this one:

View attachment 56434

That works with mostly everything.

Uses SecureUxTheme: GitHub - namazso/SecureUxTheme: 🎨 A secure boot compatible in-memory UxTheme patcher

and

@FreeBooter 's Blue folder icon from Change_Windows_10_11_folder_icons.zip https://www.elevenforum.com/account/th-attachment-manager/36082/view
I tried installing this, but I don't think it's working properly.

image.png



Also, what I was looking for is not a dark theme, but a black text on light gray background, like the Classic theme like this:
win7classic.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 13
Mmmm... you made this 1 2 3?...

1680031804902.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 3900X 4.1GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4080
    Monitor(s) Displays
    MSI 1440p@165Hz + Epson projector 6040UB 1080p@60Hz
    Screen Resolution
    DLDSR 2160p@60Hz
    Keyboard
    Logitech 915
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    100MB
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MalwareHunter + MalwareBytes
I was able to do this for Win 8, and then 10. I think it consisted of using like UltraUXThemePatcher followed by making one tweak in the OS registry. I'll see if I can figure out what I did as I just moved to Win 11 using a new machine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    i5-13400F
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B-760M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    internal
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 27 gaming
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 2 TB M.2
    PSU
    Thermaltake 700W
    Case
    DarkFlash C285P

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
I tested by saving the theme in Win 10 and then loaded it in Win 11, and for some reason it worked. Many apps grey backgrounds, but not all. It worked for Regedit, but only on the right window. For the left one with the tree, it didn't It also didn't work for Task Manager.

Meanwhile, it also worked for Excel, Word, and so on.

Here's a sample:
 

Attachments

  • sample - Copy.png
    sample - Copy.png
    10.7 KB · Views: 1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    i5-13400F
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B-760M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    internal
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 27 gaming
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 2 TB M.2
    PSU
    Thermaltake 700W
    Case
    DarkFlash C285P
does it work on device manager? and also, can you test black to see if it works as well? i dont have a win 10 to test with at the moment
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
It doesn't work on Device Manager, but it works on Regedit, Excel, Word, SizeMe, and other apps.

I think this is what I did in Win 8.1


That is,

I installed UXTheme Patcher.

I edited the registry at

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors -> Window

and entered the value 200 200 200

Then I resaved the theme.

When I upgraded to Win 10, it carried over. And when I saved the theme in the Win 10 machine and loaded it in Win 11, the same thing happened.

There's another suggestion here:


That is, save the theme file, edit it using Notepad, and look for and change the registry items mentioned earlier.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    i5-13400F
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B-760M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    internal
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 27 gaming
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 2 TB M.2
    PSU
    Thermaltake 700W
    Case
    DarkFlash C285P
But did you patch 11 or just import that theme file? Just curious if it works without patching.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
I didn't patch Win 11 but only double-clicked on the .theme file I saved in Win 10. The Win 10 machine was patched, though.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    i5-13400F
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B-760M
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    internal
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 27 gaming
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 2 TB M.2
    PSU
    Thermaltake 700W
    Case
    DarkFlash C285P

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP OMEN 17''
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-11800H
    Motherboard
    HP 88F7 - Intel HM570 (Tiger Lake PCH-H) chipset
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Tiger Lake-H - GT1 Integrated Graphics [Hewlett-Packard] + NVIDIA 3070
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    Crucial nvme

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