Theme - Change or Save

How to Change or Save a Windows 7 Theme​

   Information

This will show you how to choose a theme to change the pictures (desktop background), colors, and sounds on your computer all at once in Windows 7.

You will also see how to save and delete your custom theme. Saving or deleting a theme is not available in Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic.

   Note

• My Themes is your current theme. These .theme files are located in the hidden C:\Users\User-Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes folder.
• Aero Themes are the Windows Aero themes. They are located in the C:\Windows\Resources\Themes folder.
• Basic and High Contrast Themes are the Windows 7 Basic, Windows Classic, High Contrast #1, High Contrast #2, High Contrast Black, and High Contrast White themes. They are located in the C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes folder.
• Regional Themes - See: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1176-themes-regional.html

   Tip

• If you would like to, you can also load a theme pack to your computer from a friend or website to have available to use as your current theme.
• For free themes from Microsoft, see: Windows 7 themes - Microsoft Windows

OPTION ONE

To Change the Theme in Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic

1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click on the Display icon.

2. In the left blue pane, click on the Change color scheme link. (see screenshot below)

3. Select the color scheme (theme) that you would like, and click on Apply to test to see how you like it. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: Aero themes are not available in the Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic editions.

4. When finished, click on OK. (see screenshot below step 3)

5. Close the Display window. (see screenshot below step 1)

OPTION TWO

To Change the Theme in Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise

1. Right click on a empty space on the desktop and click on Personalize. (See screenshot below)

2. To Change the Theme
A) Click on one of the available themes. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: See the NOTE box at the top of the tutorial for more about these. To have the regional themes added, see: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1176-themes-regional.html.

B) Go to step 4.
3. To Create a Custom Theme
NOTE: Any changes that you make to a theme that you have already saved will automatically be updated and saved to it. There will be no need to save it as a new theme again in step 4 below unless you want a new theme.
A) Change the Desktop Background picture and settings.

B) Change the Window Color and Appearance settings.

C) Change the Sounds for the Windows 7 sound events to any sound file that you would like instead.

D) Change the Screen Saver and settings to be used for this theme pack.

E) Change, add, or remove any Desktop Icons that you want to with.

F) Change the Mouse Pointers to use pointers of your choice.

G) Proceed to OPTION TWO below to save your customized theme as a theme pack.
4. To Save the Current Theme to a File
NOTE: This will be your custom theme with a picture (desktop background), colors, sounds, and screen saver that you have selected and put together for the theme.
A) Under My Themes, click on the Save theme link towards the right. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: This will save your theme as .theme file for use on your computer only. If you want to share the theme with family and friends, then see: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2026-theme-pack-create-save-install-delete.html.

B) Type in a name you want for this theme, and click on the Save button. (See screenshot below)

5. To Delete a Selected Theme
NOTE: You cannot delete the current theme. If you want to delete the current theme, then you must select another theme in step 2 first.
A) Under My Themes, right click on the saved theme you want to delete and click on Delete theme. (See screenshot below)

B) Click on Yes to confirm the deletion. (See screenshot below)

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Allow or Prevent Changing Theme
• How to Make your own Windows 7 Theme Pack
• How to Change the Windows 7 Desktop Background
• How to Change the Window Color and Appearance in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Windows 7 Transparency
• How to Change the Event Sound Effects in Windows 7
• How to Create a Desktop Slideshow in Windows 7
• How to Prevent or Allow Themes to Change Windows 7 Desktop Icons
• How to Use the Regional Themes in Windows 7
• How to Change or Restore Default Windows 7 Desktop Icons
• How to Change the Screen Saver in Windows 7
• How to Change the Mouse Pointers in Windows 7
• How to Prevent or Allow Themes to Change Windows 7 Mouse Pointers
• How to Create a Windows 7 Personalization Shortcut
• How to Apply Custom Themes in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable the Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Previews
• How to Specify a Default Theme to Load for New Users in Windows 7
• Change Windows 7 to Look and Function like Windows XP again
• How to Enable Custom Themes without Modifying System Files
• How to Add or Remove "Personalize" from Desktop Context Menu in Windows 7 and Windows 8

 

[hclarkjr]

how do i get the save theme box to appear? it is not there for me

 

[Brink]

Hello Harry, and welcome to Seven Forums.

It looks like you have a custom "Red Fusion" theme installed that may be why. What options do you have when you right click on it?

 

[hclarkjr]

nothing happens at all when i right click

 

[Brink]

Strange. Are you able to select another theme, and/or change the desktop background to see if it will allow you to save a theme then?

 

[hclarkjr]

the red fusion folder disappeared just now and the save option come back, i clicked the red fusion theme and it disappeared again. weird

as soon as i delete the red fusion folder the save theme button comes back as well as right click. how do i get that theme which is the purpose of this post

i did patch the 3 files with universal patcher too

 

[Brink]

Yep, that's it then. I guess that with a custom theme that there are no save options since it's custom and can't be modified in itself without creating a new theme. If you save a theme, then select the "Red Fusion" theme, do you still have the saved theme in your "My themes" area, or does it disappear as well?

 

[hclarkjr]

it disappears as well

 

[Brink]

You should be able to use the "Red Fusion" theme as is without being able to make any modifications to it if that is the one you are wanting to use. It's should be fine this way.

 

[hclarkjr]

it does not apply though. the color stays the same from the last theme.

 

[Brink]

Oh, well I guess there's some sort of problem with the theme. You might check with Sergio to see if he can help modify, or get you some of the individual items in the theme so you can create your own theme with it.

http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/28583-red-fusion-windows-7-a.html

 

[Cavsfan]

Hi, I reinstalled windows 7 home premium and downloaded all of the themes from the personalization > themes - get more themes and they do not appear for other users on my system. I even cut and pasted them into C:\windows\resources\ease of access themes.
They were in C:\users\me\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\themes after I downloaded them and before I cut and pasted them to the above location.


They still do not show up for other users. Is there a way to do this and is this not the correct way? I would hate to think that each user of this system (3) would have to download them each individually.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Brink]

Hello Cavsfan,

I have not tried this, but if it's a .theme file, then you might also try copying it into the other user accounts' C:\users\(user-name)\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\themes folder since it was there in your user account, or in the C:\Windows\Resources\Themes folder to see if it may be available for them afterwards.

 

[Cavsfan]

Hello Cavsfan,

I have not tried this, but if it's a .theme file, then you might also try copying it into the other user accounts' C:\users\(user-name)\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\themes folder since it was there in your user account, or in the C:\Windows\Resources\Themes folder to see if it may be available for them afterwards.

Thanks for the reply!
They are .themepack files and I was hoping to avoid them being duplicated 3 times on the disk.
These are all adminstrator accounts. So, I was hoping to be able to put them somewhere that all users would see in their logins.
(I tried the C:\windows\Resources\Themes folder first but thought that was for aero only and it did not work either)
Thanks

 

[Brink]

Have you already tried copying the .theme file that the .thempack installed in your account into their user accounts' C:\users\(user-name)\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\themes folder yet?

 

[Cavsfan]

Have you already tried copying the .theme file that the .thempack installed in your account into their user accounts' C:\users\(user-name)\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\themes folder yet?

No, I don't think the other 2 users are that interested in the extra themes.
But, I just thought there was a way that once downloaded, they would appear for all users.
But, it's no big deal. Thanks!

 

[Sudhir]

how to change a them without showing any UI to the user

 

[Brink]

Hello Suhir,

Usually you could change a theme without the GUI by using a themepack file instead.



This may also be helpful for dekstop backgrounds:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/62048-desktop-background-specify-prevent-change.html

and

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/62038-desktop-background-allow-prevent-changing.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[erco61]

These are excellent instructions for creating a new theme.

How can I set my new theme as the default theme for a new user?

Thank you,

ERCO61

 

[Brink]

Hello Erco, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I'll create a separate tutorial on this tonight with more details. For now, you can do it through Group Policy at the location below. The saved .theme files of a user are located in the hidden C:\Users\User-Name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes folder, and these: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1176-themes-regional.html



Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

UPDATE for New Tutorial:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/80384-theme-specify-default-theme-load-new-users.html

 

[erco61]

Thanks Shawn:

I enabled the "load a specific theme" policy and set the path as "c:\Users\Public\myTheme.theme"

I then restarted and created a new Admin user and a new standard user. If I log in as either new user, the theme is set to classic by defaut.

As the new admin user, I checked that the policy is enabled and I can browse to the myTheme.theme file. I can double click the file and the theme now changes to the desired theme.

Why is the theme not automatically set for the new user upon login? Can you see what I did wrong?

Thank you for your help,

ERCO61