Force a specific background and accent color
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Personalization Description
Forces Windows to use the specified colors for the background and accent. The color values are specified in hex as #RGB. By default, users can change the background and accent colors. If this setting is enabled, the background and accent colors of Windows will be set to the specified colors and users cannot change those colors. This setting will not be applied if the specified colors do not meet a contrast ratio of 2:1 with white text.
Registry
HKLM
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_ControlPanelDisplay/CPL_Personalization_PersonalColors 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: Force a specific background and accent color
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization]
"PersonalColors_Background"=""
"PersonalColors_Accent"=""More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Force a specific background and accent color
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PersonalColors_Background' -Value '' -Type String
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PersonalColors_Accent' -Value '' -Type StringIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_ControlPanelDisplay/CPL_Personalization_PersonalColors
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<data id="PersonalColors_Background" value=""/>
<data id="PersonalColors_Accent" value=""/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Force a specific background and accent color
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization' -Name 'PersonalColors_Background' -Expected '' -Kind String)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization' -Name 'PersonalColors_Accent' -Expected '' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Force a specific background and accent color
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PersonalColors_Background' -Value '' -Type String
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PersonalColors_Accent' -Value '' -Type StringSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Force a specific background and accent color
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
# 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: Force a specific background and accent color
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization' -Name 'PersonalColors_Background' -Expected '' -Kind String)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization' -Name 'PersonalColors_Accent' -Expected '' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Force a specific background and accent color
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1 only
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PersonalColors_Background' -Value '' -Type String
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PersonalColors_Accent' -Value '' -Type StringBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.