5 steps I take to make Windows 11 modern and consistent

The discharge of

Windows 11
in 2021 marked a turning level in Microsoft’s consideration to person interface design. With a renewed funding in its Fluent Design UI system, the corporate started the method of modernizing its decades-old flagship PC working system. This means of visible rejuvenation is an ongoing improvement, and for my part, there’s nonetheless fairly a bit of labor that must be finished to shine up some tough edges that proceed to persist.

As an enormous tech large,

Microsoft’s
efforts are somewhat glacial. Fortunately, a passionate group of builders, Home windows lovers, and lovers of fine person interface design have come collectively to rectify a number of the extra apparent visible inconsistencies discovered all through the OS. Paired with some minor settings changes, it is doable to have Home windows 11 wanting its very best. Listed below are 5 steps I all the time take to modernize the look of each PC I personally arrange.

1

Allow gentle mode

Gentle themes look slicker and extra fashionable than darkish themes

For essentially the most half, I am an enormous fan of darkish mode interfaces. They’re simpler on the eyes, they permit for blur and transparency results to shine, and, merely put, they give the impression of being cool. Nonetheless, there is no denying that gentle mode is slick in its personal proper: for my cash, Home windows 11’s gentle mode manages to supply a way of modernity that its darkish mode counterpart does not fairly match as much as.

When it comes to consistency, Microsoft nonetheless hasn’t delivered a top-to-bottom implementation of darkish mode throughout all of Home windows. Many legacy Win32 components of the system stay light-themed, although there are third-party instruments on the market (such as StartAllBack) that may brute-force darkish mode throughout extra floor components.

To allow gentle mode in your Home windows 11 PC, observe these steps:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Navigate to Personalization > Colour > Select your mode.
3. Click on or faucet on the drop-down menu, and choose Gentle from the record of obtainable choices.

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2

Obtain MicaForEveryone

Make old-school Win32 title bars pop

A few years again, Microsoft rolled out a Home windows 11 replace that positioned a really delicate Mica blur onto the title bar of traditional Win32 program home windows. Sadly, the impact is hardly noticeable, and it actually does not match up with the Mica-rich app surfaces discovered on modernized Home windows system apps.

The answer to this specific inconsistency is the wonderful MicaForEveryone device, which is a free obtain over on GitHub. The app is light-weight, serving the only objective of including in a richer Mica impact throughout Win32 title bar surfaces. As an added bonus, the device enables you to swap over to different blur kinds — specifically Microsoft’s personal translucent Acrylic material.

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3

Obtain TranslucentTB

Make the system taskbar extra Home windows 7-esque

TrnaslucentTB is one other free and light-weight PC app that goes a great distance in bettering the visible design and consistency of Home windows. The app’s choices are accessible through a System Tray shortcut icon, with choices to show the taskbar solely clear, translucent, or someplace in between. As with MicaforEveryone, there’s an choice to allow an Acrylic-style taskbar blur, which is my private favourite choice.

Paradoxically, enabling an Acrylic Home windows taskbar makes the OS look much more just like the a lot older

Windows 7 with its Aero theming
. The best way I see it, Home windows 7’s taskbar has survived the take a look at of time, and stays extremely fashionable and constant even in 2025. Acylic is not an ideal match, however it’s shut sufficient so as to add a bit additional aptitude to the OS as an entire.

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4

Domesticate Fluent Apps

The Microsoft Retailer is dwelling to many fabulous Fluent experiences

Pocket-lint / Recordsdata / FluentWeather / Wino Mail

Lots of Microsoft’s personal native Home windows apps blatantly misappropriate the corporate’s Fluent Design interface tips, and that is in the event that they help Fluent styling to start with. Fortunately, there is a rising variety of apps out there on the Microsoft Retailer that I affectionately check with as “Fluent Apps.” These apps are fashionable, native-feeling, and put Microsoft’s efforts to disgrace. I’ve written up a complete record of a few of

my all-time favorite Fluent Apps
, however some standouts embody:

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5

Obtain Rectify11

Rectify Microsoft’s inconsistent accent coloration theming

Throughout the Settings app, Microsoft means that you can decide a system accent coloration, which exhibits up throughout a few of Home windows 11’s person interface surfaces. Because it at the moment stands, nonetheless, many components of the OS nonetheless do not respect this accenting system, together with context menus in File Explorer, the cursor highlighting impact for choosing information and folders, and the textual content highlighting device for renaming desktop icons.

Rectify11 is a complete device that makes it straightforward to tweak a number of facets of Home windows 11, with choices to tweak icons, deliver again desktop Devices, remaster person avatars, and extra. For the needs of bettering the consistency throughout the system, I take advantage of Rectify11 to normalize the accent colorization throughout legacy Win32 surfaces of the OS.

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