5. Personalizing Windows 10
In this chapter, you learn to change the way Windows 10 looks and acts by doing the following tasks:
Selecting a new desktop background
Adjusting colors in Windows 10
We live in a time when we can personalize everything. We just like things the way we like them—and Windows 10 is no exception. You can personalize many things about the way Windows 10 operates on your computer or device—changing your screen background, adjusting colors, choosing a visual theme, customizing the way the Start menu behaves, and so on. Now in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you can use the new Night Light feature to take the bright blue out of the light when you’re using your computer after dark. This makes reading the screen easier on your eyes.
Windows handles some of this customization for you. If you’re using a touch device, Windows 10 automatically appears in Tablet mode so that your experience is optimized for touch. If you’re using a desktop computer, your Windows 10 shows up to be mouse friendly. You won’t have to do anything to choose one or the other.
This chapter shows you how to make these changes to create the Windows 10 experience that’s right for you.
Selecting a New Desktop Background
Your Windows 10 Desktop background sets the backdrop for your whole computing experience. You might be surprised to discover what a difference a background makes. Try changing it, and you’ll see. Some images are energizing; others are relaxing.
You can use one of the images that are included with Windows 10 or choose photos that have meaning for you. You can also choose a solid color instead of a picture, if you like, or create a slideshow so you can see multiple images instead of just one.
Displaying Personalization Settings
Click the Start button to display the Start menu.
Click Settings.
Click Personalization. The Personalization settings appear. The Background category is selected by default.
Choosing a New Background Picture
Windows 10 makes it easy for you to substitute a new picture for the image your background currently displays. You can choose an image provided with Windows 10, or you can add one of your own. From the Personalization screen, follow these steps:
Click Background (assuming it’s not already selected).
Click the Background arrow and choose Picture.
Click a picture from among the thumbnails displayed.
Alternatively, click Browse to find and select a different picture.
Click the folder containing the picture you want to use.
Select a picture in the right side of the Open dialog box.
Click Choose Picture. The picture you have added is applied to the desktop in the Preview window at the top of the Personalization window.
Click the Choose a Fit arrow, and choose how you want Windows 10 to place the photo on the desktop. You can choose from Fill, Fit, Stretch, Tile, Center, and Span.
Close the Personalization window.
Selecting a Color Background
If you’d rather not use a picture for your desktop background, you can choose a color you like for the Windows 10 backdrop. From the Personalization screen, follow these steps:
Click Background if it is not selected.
Select Solid Color from the Background list.
Click the color you want to apply to the background. The Preview window shows the effect of the change.
Click Close to exit Settings when you have selected the color you want.
Creating a Custom Color
New in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you can create your own custom color for your desktop background. The tool you need is in the Background page of the Personalization settings.
Click Background if it is not selected.
Click the Custom Color button. You see a pop-up box with palette of colors.
Click the color you want to use.
Drag the slider to make the color lighter or darker.
Click Done to choose the color.
Adjusting Colors in Windows 10
If you’d like, Windows 10 can automatically pick out accent colors from the photos you select for the desktop background and then assign those colors to other elements of the user interface. You can also turn the feature off and, instead, manually assign colors to the Start menu, taskbar, and Windows 10 Action Center. You can control the transparency of the Start menu, taskbar, and Action Center. When you make the onscreen elements transparent, you can see the desktop image through them, for a nice effect.
Choosing Accent Colors and Transparency
Let Windows 10 know how you want the operating system to handle colors in the Colors category of the Personalization screen. You can choose which colors are used and determine whether you want the color to be displayed transparently in various onscreen elements.
Display the Personalization screen.
Click the Colors category.
To have Windows 10 automatically choose the accent color, leave the check box selected.
Scroll down to see more options.
If you want to turn on the Transparency setting so you can see the desktop background through menus and pop-up windows, move the slider to On.
Choose whether you want the accent color to appear in the Start menu/screen, on the taskbar, and in Action Center.
Click to use the accent color on the title bars of app windows.
Setting a Night Light in Windows 10
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update offers a neat new feature that can cut down on the wear and tear on your eyeballs after dark. There is a blue quality in bright on-screen light that brings out the bright white in online displays. But when the light in the room grows dim, that blue adds a glaring quality that makes reading and viewing (and eventually, sleeping!) harder on our eyes. Recognizing this, the developers of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update added a new feature that automatically dims the light for you at night—or at a time you specify. The settings for Night Light are in the System settings.
Display the Settings window by clicking the Start button and choosing Settings.
Click System.
Click the Display category if it isn’t already selected.
Drag the Night Light slider to the On position.
Click Night Light Settings to customize the time the setting goes into effect.
Drag the slider to adjust the color used at night.
Drag to the On position to schedule the Night Light hours.
Click to let Windows 10 set the Night Light schedule according to your local sunrise and sunset times.
Click to specify your own hours for Night Light.
Adjust the On and Off times for Night Light.
Personalizing the Lock Screen
The Lock screen is the first screen you see when you press Power and your Windows 10 PC or device comes to life. The Lock screen shows your profile image and also might show you some notifications—called badges—from your email, messaging, and calendar apps. For example, small numbers beside the notifications icons can show you how many email messages and instant messages you have. That’s a great time-saver because you can see what needs your attention before you even unlock your computer!
You can also talk to Cortana without even unlocking your computer or device. You can simply say, “Hey, Cortana!” to wake it up and then speak your command. Pretty neat.
You can personalize the look of your Windows 10 Lock screen by changing your profile picture or by choosing your favorite Lock screen pictures. Windows 10 gives you a number of photos to choose from, but you can use one of your own personal images if you like. What’s more, in Windows 10 you can create a custom slideshow using your favorite images from different sources, so the Lock screen displays family, friends, and more, even while your computer is locked.
Choosing a New Lock Screen Picture
Initially, Windows 10 uses a default picture for your Lock screen, but you can change that image to show something that has personal meaning for you. You can change your Lock screen picture whenever you like by following these steps:
Display the Personalization settings.
Click the Lock Screen category.
From the Background list, select Picture.
Click a photo if you want to use one that is shown in the thumbnail views.
Click Browse to select your own photo.
Click the folder containing the photo you want to use.
Click the photo you want to use.
Click Choose Picture to add the photo to the Lock screen.
Adding a New Lock Screen Picture On-the-Fly
If you’re viewing photos on your computer and see an image you particularly like, you can make that photo your Lock screen image instantly. Here’s how to do that:
In the Photos app, display the photo you want to use as the Lock screen.
Click the three dots in the upper right to display the photo options list.
Click Set As.
Click Set as Lock Screen. The new photo is applied instantly as your Lock screen image.
Creating a Slideshow
Another feature in Windows 10 lets you create and play a slideshow on the Lock screen, which can add some ambiance to your room when you’re not actively using your PC. Here’s how to create a slideshow for your Lock screen:
Display the Lock Screen category in the Personalization screen.
Choose Slideshow from the Background list.
If you want Windows 10 to use photos from the Pictures folder on your PC or device, select Pictures.
If you want to choose a folder in another location (such as OneDrive folder), click Add a Folder and choose the folder you want to use.
Click Advanced Slideshow Settings to choose the way the pictures appear on your screen.
Choose whether you want to include only pictures that fit your screen.
Drag to On if you want the slideshow to include pictures stored in OneDrive and in your Camera Roll folder (while connected to your phone).
If you want to conserve battery power and turn off the slideshow when power is low, drag the slider to Off.
Click to choose when you want the slideshow to turn off (30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, or Don’t turn off).
Stopping the Show
When you’re ready to start working, you can tap, click, or press a key on the keyboard, and Windows 10 scrolls the slideshow away and displays your login information so you can enter your password or PIN and get to work.
Choosing a Windows 10 Theme
It’s a great thing to be able to change the colors, backgrounds, and more in Windows 10; that gives you control over the look of the operating system so you can work and play in an environment that suits you. One challenge, though, is that lots of personalizing could add up to a mish-mash of effects. Themes can help you fix that.
Windows 10 themes coordinate the look of your desktop background, color scheme, sounds, and screensaver. You can choose the theme in the Themes category of the Personalization screen.
Displaying Themes
Display the Personalization settings.
Choose Themes.
Click a Windows 10 theme you want to apply.
Change the background, color, sound, or mouse cursor settings to create a custom theme.
Click Save Theme to preserve the new changes.
Type a name for the theme.
Click Save to save the theme.
Customizing the Start Menu
By now you’ve probably used the Start menu a number of times, and you realize how easy it makes navigating to the settings and apps you need.
Although the Start menu is something of a return to the classic way of interacting with Windows, the Windows 10 Start menu goes several steps beyond what you may have been used to in Windows 7 or earlier versions. For example, the Windows 10 Start menu includes a Most Used list on the left and a grid of live tiles on the right that enable you to launch apps and access information faster than ever before.
You can customize the Start menu to adjust the list of programs that appear in the Most Recently Used list and even change the color of the Start menu if you like. You can also resize the Start menu by dragging it to the size you want and further personalize it by adding and arranging the app tiles you want to be able to access easily.
Modifying the Most Used List
The Most Used list at the top of the Start menu displays the program icons of the apps you’ve used most recently. You can change the programs displayed there by removing the ones you no longer need.
Click the Start button to display the Start menu.
Right-click the program icon of the item you want to remove in the Most Used list. A menu appears.
Click More. A submenu of choices appears.
Click Don’t Show in This List. The program icon and name is removed.
Changing Start Menu Settings
By modifying a few settings, you can change the way Windows 10 displays items on your Start menu. These settings are in the Start category of Settings. You can get to it by clicking Settings and then choosing Personalization, or you can use the shortcut shown in the following steps.
Right-click anywhere on the Windows 10 Desktop. A list of options appears.
Click Personalize. The Personalization settings appear.
Click the Start category.
To hide the display of the Most Used list in the Start menu, move this slider to Off.
To turn off the display of recently added apps, drag this slider to the Off position.
If you want the Start menu to appear full-screen (similar to what you see in Tablet mode), move the slider to the On position.
By default, Windows 10 shows recently opened items in jump lists that appear on the taskbar and in the Start menu. To turn this off, drag the slider to Off.
Click Choose Which Folders Appear on Start to customize the folders displayed in the Start menu.
Resizing the Start Menu
By default, the Start menu stretches to half the width of your screen, if not more, showing lots of app tiles. You can resize the menu, if you like, so it takes up less or more space on your desktop.
Click the Start button to display the Start menu.
Hover the mouse over an edge of the menu. When it changes to a double-headed arrow, click and drag the border to the left or down.
To make the menu narrower, click the right border of the menu and drag to the left.
Drag the top border of the menu down to create a more compact effect.
Tweaking Additional System Settings
Two more customizations you might want to make every so often include changing the time (especially if you’re a traveler and don’t have your computer set to adjust the time automatically) and the profile picture used with your Microsoft account. You can change both items right from your Windows 10 desktop.
Changing the Time
It’s likely that the first time you log in to Windows 10, the program will ask you to verify or choose your time zone. By default, when connected to the Internet, Windows knows where you are and what time it is, allowing it to update your clock automatically. You can, however, manually set the time and time zone by following these steps:
Select the Settings tool in the Start menu to open the Settings screen.
Click the Time & Language category.
If you want to adjust the time manually, turn Set Time Automatically to the Off position. The Change button becomes available.
Click the Change button and enter a new date and time.
Choose a new time zone by clicking the arrow and choosing your zone from the list.
Leave the Adjust for Daylight Saving Time Automatically turned on if you want the time to be adjusted for you when Daylight Saving Time changes.
If you want to display your calendar in other languages (for example, Simplified Chinese), you can select the language from this list.
Click the link to change the format of the date and time if you want this information displayed differently.
Changing Your Account Picture
Your account picture appears—in a tiny size—on the left side of your Windows Start menu. You also see it when you swipe up or click your Lock screen. You can change your account picture in Windows 10 as often as you like.
Display the Start menu.
Click your profile picture. A small menu appears.
Click Change Account Settings. The Accounts screen appears.
Click Browse for One to display the Open dialog box and choose a picture; click Choose Image to add the image.
If you want to add a picture using a camera connected to your computer, click Camera.
Your webcam display opens, showing a picture of you. When the picture you want to capture is displayed, tap or click anywhere on the screen to take the photo (not shown in figure).
Windows 10 displays the picture in a preview screen.
Click the cropping handles to adjust what remains visible in the picture.
When the picture is displayed the way you want it to appear, tap or click Done.
