Prevent changing color and appearance
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows 2000
Path in the GPO console
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Personalization Description
Disables the Color (or Window Color) page in the Personalization Control Panel, or the Color Scheme dialog in the Display Control Panel on systems where the Personalization feature is not available. This setting prevents users from using Control Panel to change the window border and taskbar color (on Windows 8), glass color (on Windows Vista and Windows 7), system colors, or color scheme of the desktop and windows. If this setting is disabled or not configured, the Color (or Window Color) page or Color Scheme dialog is available in the Personalization or Display Control Panel. For systems prior to Windows Vista, this setting hides the Appearance and Themes tabs in the in Display in Control Panel.
Registry
HKCU
Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System Value name: NoDispAppearancePage
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_ControlPanelDisplay/CPL_Personalization_NoColorAppearanceUI Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Prevent changing color and appearance
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows 2000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"NoDispAppearancePage"=dword:00000001More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Prevent changing color and appearance
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'NoDispAppearancePage' -Value 1 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_ControlPanelDisplay/CPL_Personalization_NoColorAppearanceUI
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Prevent changing color and appearance
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System' -Name 'NoDispAppearancePage' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Prevent changing color and appearance
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'NoDispAppearancePage' -Value 1 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Prevent changing color and appearance
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Prevent changing color and appearance
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System' -Name 'NoDispAppearancePage' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Prevent changing color and appearance
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'NoDispAppearancePage' -Value 1 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.