UPDATE: This tutorial will also work in Windows 8.1.
After receiving so many emails from lots of AskVG readers regarding same problem, today I decided to post this article. Many people who are using Microsoft's latest OS Windows 8, are wondering where is the "Advanced Appearance Settings" option?
Actually in previous Windows versions such as Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, users could customize the text size and color using "Advanced appearance settings" option present in Desktop Properties (Personalization) window.
But unfortunately Microsoft has removed this feature from Windows 8. But there is a similar option available in Windows 8 to change screen text size.
So if you are also using Windows 8 and want to access "Advanced appearance settings" option in Windows 8, this tutorial will help you.
In this tutorial, we are going to tell you how to change text size of title bars, menus, message boxes, palette titles, icons and tooltips in Windows 8.
We have divided this tutorial in 2 parts:
- METHOD 1: Using Desktop Personalization
- METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor
So without wasting time lets start the tutorial:
METHOD 1: Using Desktop Personalization
1. Right-click on Desktop and select "Screen resolution" option.
2. It'll open "Screen Resolution" window which allows you to change screen resolution and orientation. Click on the link "Make text and other items larger or smaller" as shown in following screenshot:
3. It'll open "Display" settings window. Alternatively, you can open "Display" window by selecting "Personalize" option from Desktop context menu and then click on "Display" link given at the bottom of left-sidebar.
Here you can change the text size of various items such as icons, title bars, etc by selecting the item from drop-down list and then selecting the desired size for it from the 2nd drop-down box.
4. Once you set the desired text size, click on "Apply" button.
METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor
If you want to change other advanced appearance settings which are not available in the above mentioned location of Windows 8 such as background color, border padding, caption buttons size, icon size, icon spacing, scrollbar size, etc, you can change or customize them using Windows Registry.
1. Press "WIN+R" key combination to launch RUN dialog box then type regedit and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor. Now go to following keys one by one:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Colors
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
Above mentioned Registry keys store all the advanced appearance settings information, so you can customize the advanced appearance settings in Windows 8 by changing the values of various DWORD and strings given in the right-side pane.
TIP: These Registry keys are same for Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. So to make the task easier, you can boot into Windows 7 and customize the advanced appearance settings using Desktop Personalization window. Then open Registry Editor and take a backup of the above mentioned Registry keys by right-click on them and select Export option. It'll create .REG files. Copy those REG files to Windows 8 computer and run them. The Registry scripts will add those customized settings to Windows 8. Restart Windows 8 computer and you'll see the new settings.
That's it. This is how you can access "Advanced Appearance Settings" option in Windows 8.
Posted by: Vishal Gupta | Categories: Troubleshooting, Windows 8 / 8.1
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Mohamed Ghoneam
Thanks VG .
Ayan
Thanks for the find. Is there a way though, to change the size of onsreen elements such as the size of scrollbars, the window border, max/min/close buttons? All these elements could be resized from the Advanced Appearance Settings option in Win7 currently. I usually resize them to look better on my screen. I couldn't find such an option in Win8.
VG
^^ You can change the color, font, size of other elements by editing following keys in Registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Colors
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
Ayan
Thank you! That isn't an elegant solution. Wonder why Microsoft removed such a basic customization option that has been part of Windows since Win95.
VG
^^ I think it was removed because Microsoft removed classic theme from Windows 8. Advanced Appearance Settings was developed to customize Classic theme parts although it also affects Aero and Basic themes.
Addy
Is this possible in Win 7
VG
^^ Its already present in Windows 7 and previous Windows versions. Can you please provide more details what do you want to ask actually?
alex
oh i thought this was about windows 8 RTM pro damit
VG
^^ What do you mean? It'll work in all Windows 8 editions.
JamesDean
This is silly... we use this settings option to make the background in excel gray - since we use excel all day long and white is just too bright on the eyes. Hope its brought back as well.
….
When I restart my PC every settings still the same not working : ( I cant change any of these options
Mel
I just bought a laptop with windows 8 but the screen color came way bright, which affects how I view pictures and whatnot, terrible quality. Is there any way to fix this since they removed the desktop color settings?
VK
Have a new laptop that came with 8. on Win7 I could change the background color of Excel and Word or Outlook to light Grey from White. I need that color as sometimes I type text in white and it helps working with Excel or Word as it doesn't print the white text. Need to do the same in Win8. is there any way to do it? or should I just drop win 8 and go back to 7?
VK
found the answer to my earlier question. lots of people will find it useful. came from a publication called "Wall Street Training", which is kind of where they teach you to use grey background in excel so that you can write down notes to yourself that will not show up on the printed document:
When building financial models, analyses and spreadsheets, it is common to hide cells in white so that they do not appear on a print- out. Likewise, sometimes, a cell needs to be shaded so as to distinguish it from other cells, but again without the shading printed out – simply shade the cell with white fill. However, in order to see the white cells and white shaded cells, it is necessary to change the background of Excel and your computer to a color other than white.
Windows 8
* From the Metro UI (or press the WINDOWS key on your keyboard), search for regedit (be sure to type the entire word!)
* Press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER to run this program with administrator privileges, or right-click the regedit application that appears as a search result on the left and select "Run as administrator" on the bottom panel
* Using the navigation panel on the left, click into HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Control Panel -> Colors
* Scroll down on the right panel to the "Window" entry and double-click on it
* Change the "Value data" to the RGB values for a gray color, such as 192 192 192 or you can go higher all the way to 216 216 216 which will give you a lighter shade of grey (you may adjust to your preference)
* Save all your work and restart your computer
Tat
So, how to change COLOR of the text on the screen?
You named your page "How to Access “Advanced Appearance Settings” Option and Change Font Size, Color in Windows 8?"
So, how to change COLOR of the text on the screen (not font size and not background color)?
Russell English
I experimented with your suggestion
To be cautious I started with one element of a windows component
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Colors
Name:= ActiveBorder
Type:= REG_SZ
Value:= was 212 208 200
- I assume this is RGB
- I trialed 250 0 0 (RED)
rebooted
made no difference to WinExp nor Control panel windows
- my custom values remained but made no effect
What am I doing wrong ?
Thanks for all your articles.
VG
^^ ActiveBorder will not work as Windows Explorer windows use pre-defined image resources stored in msstyles file to create borders. This key was used to effect classic theme only.
Joshua
What is the registry value for the white text in win8 active/inactive title bars???
Mister
I still cannot figure it what do I put for the FONT SIZE to be 14pt everywhere? Is it GRZDKLM? Is it 20125 32518? What's the damned Microsoft code / cipher / press-mark or whatever it is for the FONT SIZE in registry?