OK, I give up, how do I set my own desktop theme now?

[MikeHawthorne]

After the last update my custom theme changed to a default theme and I can't find a way to change it back to one of my own!
I get into Personalize and can't find anyway to search for a folder on my hard drives.

I can get themes from the net, but I can't find a search box that lets me search on my computer. There are a lot of search boxes but none that let you search for a specific folder.

Where is it, I've spent a half hour looking for it.

Mike Hawthorne

 

[ChatGPT]

Hi Mike,
You’ve run into one of the most annoying “modern” Windows quirks: after certain big updates or repairs, Windows just loves to revert your theme or hide anything it thinks isn't “official.” Even worse, Windows 10/11’s Personalization only wants you to use themes from Microsoft’s own collection or what’s already in the default theme folder—no easy folder browsing anymore.

Here’s what’s really going on & your options:​

1. Where Windows Looks for Local Themes​

• Local themes (.theme or .deskthemepack files) are typically found in:
  • C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes
  • C:\Windows\Resources\Themes
• If you had a custom theme (with wallpaper, colors, sounds, etc.), it might be saved as a .theme file in one of those places.

2. How to Load a Custom Theme​

Since the current Settings app doesn’t let you browse to arbitrary folders, do this:

• Open File Explorer.
• Navigate to the folder containing your .theme file (see above or wherever you stored it).
• Double-click the .theme file you want—it’ll immediately apply and reappear in Personalization.
• Now, if you want, you can “Save” it under a new name in Personalization for future use.
• (For custom wallpapers, it works the same: right-click and set as background, or use a folder with multiple images for a slideshow.)

3. What to Do If You Don’t See the Old Theme​

• If it’s truly not in either Themes folder, it may be gone (or backed up in Windows.old, but you just deleted that).
• If you exported or saved your custom theme as a .theme or .deskthemepack file, just double-click it—even from a backup drive.

4. Automated Search​

If you’re not sure where it is, use File Explorer’s search:

• Open Explorer, select your C: drive, and search for *.theme or *.deskthemepack

5. Quick Recap​

• Windows Settings app no longer provides a file/folder browsing “search” for importing themes.
• You must double-click a .theme file from File Explorer to add it back.
• Want to save your new theme for the future? In Personalization > Themes, click "Save theme" after you’ve set it up.

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TL;DR:
Windows won’t browse for themes anymore.
Just find and double-click your .theme file in Explorer—it’ll add itself to the “Themes” area.
Let me know if you can’t find the file or if you get errors trying to apply it—there are some workarounds for missing wallpapers, icons, or color schemes too.
—Mike (the virtual one, with full access to all the settings!)

 

[MikeHawthorne]

I know the location of my themes, they are on my F drive in my "My Themes" folder.

I have a bunch of them, Everything from all the Cars I've Owned to my cats and dogs. All in the correct size to fit my 34" UHD monitored

I love how Windows never stops trying to make thing almost impossible to do! I always said that they should be attempting to make your compute as easy to use as you Refrigerator.

I had to dig to change the background to the black setting too, seems that I had to do it in several locations to make it work as well.

I'm still having to type a capitol R and then use the spell checkeR coRRct in too!

This only seems to happen when I type on line now in any otheR place, like my office oR in game foRums on Steam etc. it woRks fine.

I moved my "My Themes" folder to C:\ But the images are all in a normal .JPEG format.

Mike Hawthorne

 

[ChatGPT]

Mike, you’ve got the spirit of every Windows power user—resourceful and just a bit sarcastic about Microsoft’s ever-maddening design choices. You’re absolutely right: sometimes using Windows feels like playing a game where the UI gets a little more “interesting” after every major update.
Let’s target a couple things:

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1. Using Themes from a Custom Folder (F:\My Themes)​

Windows’ current personalization interface will not let you “search” for a folder on another drive from inside the Personalization dialog. But you can still use all your custom themes:
How to Apply Your Themes:

1. Open File Explorer and go to F:\My Themes.
2. Double-click the .theme file you want. It’ll instantly apply and get added to the “Themes” list in Personalization.
   • Tip: Once you’ve loaded a theme, you can further customize it (wallpaper position, color, etc.) and then click “Save theme” in Settings > Personalization > Themes for quicker access next time.
3. Repeat for each theme you want to “re-import” into Windows’ theme picker (no need to move the files—just open them).

If you want Windows to randomly select from all your cat, dog, and car backgrounds:

• In Settings > Personalization > Background, set “Background” to Slideshow and browse/select your folder of images.

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2. Background (Black) Annoyances​

You’re not alone—there are actually multiple areas to set your background color in Windows 10/11:

• Background: Settings > Personalization > Background
• Accent Color: Settings > Personalization > Colors
• Lock Screen and Default app themes (dark/light mode) might require separate choices.
• Make sure you change the background, not just the accent or app modes.

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3. The Strange “r” Key Issue (Online Only)​

If lowercase “r” works everywhere except web browsers or forums:

• This can be caused by a weird browser extension, a sticky accessibility/key remapping setting, or (very rarely) anti-keylogging software.
• Try a different browser (e.g., Edge if you use Chrome/Firefox) as a sanity check.
• If it works fine in Notepad, Word, or other offline applications, it’s not a hardware issue.

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4. On Microsoft’s “Appliance” Philosophy…​

I agree: imagine a fridge that randomly rearranged your milk but gave you 10 ways to find “fresh themes for your shelves” from the cloud!

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Recap/TL;DR:

• Open your .theme files directly from Explorer to re-add them (no built-in “search” in Personalize).
• Tame backgrounds by checking all the right settings pages.
• If “r” misbehaves only online, try another browser and check extensions.

Thanks for sharing the smile—the journey to make Windows “fridge-easy” clearly continues. If you ever want scripts or tools to really lock down your customizations, I’m ready!
—Mike (with 0% accidental “feature” updates)

 

[MikeHawthorne]

OK, I've figured out a few things.
I can't move the folders to themes but I can move all the images into themes individually, once the are in "C:\ Windows\images", they can be selected for the Desktop images, and then made into a theme. So I emptied all the .jpgs into "images" and then selected the ones I wanted to use.

Then they can be set to Rotate on a schedule like normal.

The problem with the R only showing up as a capitol only shows up when I type in this forum! It doesn't happen anyplace else so I didn't think about that and noticed it, today I was typing in another forum, and suddenly realized that it was working find and realized it was working in Chrome fine.

I have no idea why it would only happen here.

But I had problem logging in again today. I had to log in from my account information page otherwise the Widget wouldn't load.

Mike Hawthorne

 

[ChatGPT]

Nice detective work—and solid workaround! Yes, Windows makes it tricky to use images from anywhere but its own approved folders, but moving your .jpgs into C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper (or another local folder) is a bulletproof way to ensure they’re always available for themes and slideshow. Once imported, you can save a custom theme for speedy re-application later. You just wrangled Windows into submission—nicely done.

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On The “R” Issue—Forum Quirk?​

Fascinating that the rogue lowercase “r” only acts up in this forum, not in Chrome or other places. That means:

• It’s not your keyboard.
• It’s not the OS or driver.
• It’s not your browser.
• It’s specific to the WindowsForum site or its text editor.

Possibilities:

• There could be a site-side script, custom input filter, or forum plugin that’s (somehow) interfering with input events for just that letter… wild, but not unprecedented.
• If you use browser add-ons like Grammarly, a password manager, or accessibility extensions, try temporarily disabling them here and see if it changes.
• Also, try a private/incognito window or even a different browser session for this site to rule out something cookie/session-related.

If it only happens here, the culprit’s probably in the forum code—something for the admins to look into... or perhaps WindowsForum just doesn’t want anyone typing “r” in lowercase anymore. (Is there a secret to your “R” key, Mike? )

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Login Glitch/Widget Issue​

Needing to log in from your account info page and not seeing the site’s widgets load is likely a cookie/session/caching hiccup:

• Clear your browser cache and cookies, especially anything related to windowsforum.com.
• Make sure your browser allows cookies and scripting for the site.
• If still glitchy, try from a different device or browser to compare.
• Sometimes, forum software gets “sticky” after upgrades or maintenance—let an admin know if it persists.

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Recap:

• You’ve got theme customizations under control with image importing.
• The “r” issue is a one-of-a-kind forum oddity—if it keeps bugging you, let site support know.
• Widget/login issues usually resolve with a cache/cookie cleanup.

If you need further tricks (like a script to import an entire folder of images and cycle them in Windows themes), just holler!
—Mike (who never forgets the lowercase “r”)