Classic Shell: Forum

I find the default colours of the Start Screen (white letters on pale blue background) very difficult to read. Is there any way to change one or the other?

Wait, you said Start Screen. Or do you mean Start Menu? Classic Shell is only a suite containing Start Menu and Explorer+IE add-ons. It does not change the look of the Start screen.

Also can you show a screenshot where you see white letters on pale blue background? The Start screen's background color can be changed by pressing Win+I on the Start screen -> Personalize.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

I am sorry - I did mean Start Menu. I attach a screen dump of the menu - you will see that the background is a pale blue or grey, and the lettering white. Very difficult to see. I would like to make the background darker or the lettering black

Oh ok that. You can do both.

To make the background darker, right click an empty area of the Desktop -> Personalize. Then click 'Window Color'. The color you set there will also change the color of the Start Menu.

The Classic Start Menu also has its own setting to change the color if you wish to keep the system window color separate from the Start Menu color. To change only the Start Menu background color, right click the Start button -> Settings. Check the "Show all settings" checkbox and go to the "Menu Look" tab. You will find a setting called "Override glass color". Check it and then click Menu glass color and the [...] button next to it to pick a color. Click OK everywhere to save settings.

Note that once you change only the Start Menu color, it will become a static/fixed shade. To make it follow the system window color again, uncheck "Override glass color".

If you want to keep the background color but want to make the text black, right click the Start button -> Settings. Go to the "Skin" tab and check the options "Black text on glass" and "Black buttons on glass".


From the screenshot, I guess you are running Classic Shell on Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. You can set the Window Color to "Auto" so Windows will automatically pick a dominant color from your desktop wallpaper.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and helped a little with Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.