10 Best Windows 10 Themes, Skins, Visual Styles

10 Best Windows 10 Themes, Skins, and Visual Styles in 2019

If you’ve been looking for a Windows theme then I believe that you already know what a theme actually is. A theme can be called by multiple names – Visual Style, Theme, Skin. A theme is a great way to refresh the look of your PC. I’ve listed here the 10 best looking, beautiful, and free Themes/Skins/Visual Styles for Windows 10 in 2019.

The best, most trustable, and richest source for themes or any kind of computer graphics-related content is DeviantArt. DeviantArt has a dedicated section for Windows 10 Visual Styles. Navigating to this page, and then searching for themes gives us the most accurate results. Here is the URL:

CATEGORIES > Customization > Skins & Themes > Windows Utilities > Visual Styles > Windows 10

SORT > Popular All Time

https://www.deviantart.com/customization/skins/windows/win10/popular-all-time/

Notes about the themes included in this post:

  1. All include the links to the original theme creator’s page. You read the official description, comments on the theme, and contact the theme author directly.
  2. All are free.
  3. All support at least Windows version 1803.

10 Best Looking Themes/Visual Styles/Skins for Windows 10 in 2019

1. ARC X Windows 10 Theme by niivu

https://www.deviantart.com/niivu/art/ARC-X-Windows-10-Theme-772549960

Currently, the most popular theme for Windows 10. It started out as a theme project for Linux distributions but made its way to Windows 10 as well.

The ARC theme supports multiple Windows versions, works with many different configurations, and comes in various colour combinations; Dark, Light, a mixture of Dark and Light, and more.

2. GreyEveTheme FINAL – Windows 10 High Contrast Theme by eversins

https://www.deviantart.com/eversins/art/GreyEveTheme-FINAL-Windows-10-High-Contrast-Theme-643504863

GreyEveTheme FINAL is a beautiful dark theme that won’t hurt your eyes, unlike other dark themes whose developers don’t set the contrast between the dark backgrounds and the bright text or elements properly.

One thing that you may notice that it does play with your system files, you don’t need to patch any file or do any kind of modifications or replacements of Windows files. As mentioned by the developer in the description of the theme, all you need to do is just double-click the theme file and you’re set.

This theme is based on the Windows High Contrast theme engine and hence is different from the dark theme that Windows provides. It gives you dark backgrounds on applications and design elements that the Windows Dark Mode theme does not.

3. Mercurian for Windows 10 by devillnside

https://www.deviantart.com/devillnside/art/Mercurian-for-Windows-10-769937061

Anybody can see that Mercurian is a theme for the Gamers, but not exclusively for them also. It brings back the memories of Windows XP + WindowBlinds era. I can see a lot of people picking this one out of this list as their preferred theme. The pure black base and luminescent blue makes it perfect for almost anybody looking for a flashy theme.

4. cakeOS by niivu

https://www.deviantart.com/niivu/art/cakeOS-760118003

cakeOS is a really beautiful and colourful theme for Windows. You may want to change the fonts to make it look even better. A designer theme with pleasing subtle colours.

Both modes, Light and Dark, are available. This theme supports gradient colour schemes for various desktop elements, something not found in a lot of themes. The colour combinations and their saturation settings also very carefully done; very mild in nature. You also have three types of Windows Explorer outlines – borderless, bordered or rounded. Two caption button styles are also included.

5. Penumbra 10 – Windows 10 visual style by Scope10

https://www.deviantart.com/scope10/art/Penumbra-10-Windows-10-visual-style-568740374

Another beautiful dark theme. Before Windows released their own Dark Mode theme, it was regarded by many as the best dark theme available for Windows 10.

6. Papyros by niivu

https://www.deviantart.com/niivu/art/Papyros-677659016

Papyros is one of the earliest themes for Windows 10 but is still updated and it completely compatible with the current version of Windows.

7. Glassic by niivu

https://www.deviantart.com/niivu/art/Glassic-780843509

The one thing about Windows Vista that was admired by almost everyone was the Aero Glass. It was the most popular theming features of Windows 7 as well. The theming on both of these operating systems was all about Aero, Glass, Transparency, and Translucency.

Windows 8 did not support Glass at all but Windows 10 brought it back gradually. However, there is no such thing as a Glass theme for Windows 10 from Microsoft. The Glassic theme is a beautiful and colourful designer theme for Windows that uses Glass.

8. ClassiX by niivu

https://www.deviantart.com/niivu/art/ClassiX-775543665

For all the Classic theme lovers, here is the best possible theme available for Windows 10. The ClassiX theme tries to recreate the Windows Classic theme and its magic as perfectly as possible.

9. Grey10 by arsonist1234

https://www.deviantart.com/arsonist1234/art/Grey10-741483850

Grey10 is a Dark, Flat and Minimal theme for Windows 10. It also scales perfectly. Another great option for people looking for Dark themes for Windows.

10. FREE iConadams Theme for Windows 10 by valvator

https://www.deviantart.com/valvator/art/FREE-iConadams-Theme-for-Windows-10-720195921

FREE iConadams Theme ticks many check-boxes – it is Colourful, Rounded, and Elegant.

How to Install Custom Themes/Skins/Visual Styles in Windows

Follow the instruction gives in the description of each theme or the installation notes provided with the theme pack.

Always create a System Restore point before doing anything that modifies the system files, which is theme files in this case.

Note – Themes may not work for many reasons, some of them are:

  1. Always create a backup before making any changes to your Windows system files. Theme files may be corrupt during download, and may corrupt system theme files after installation. This can cause corrupt visual styles in Windows.
  2. Due to the fast pace of Windows UI development, the skins applied during the previous Windows version may not work after the update.
  3. Old versions of theme patching programs may not work with the updated Windows system theme files.
  4. Windows update done over a custom theme, the updated files may not be patched, and clash with the theme files and settings.
  5. Custom UI settings such as setting scaling at 125% when the theme is made to work for 100% may also be a reason for a theme not looking good on your system.
  6. Installation of the fonts used in the theme are important for the theme to work perfectly. Usually, the theme developer will either provide the fonts (free ones) or put a link or links about the font(s) used in the theme.
  7. Themes may not apply if you have some other theme related plugin software. The other software may interfere with the theme files and the theme’s settings.
  8. Your version of Windows may not be supported by the theme developer. So, check if your Windows version is supported or not. You can check about the version support in the Description and the Comments found on the original theme page.
  9. Antivirus or your computer security software may prevent the modification of system files so that may also be something to look into if the themes are not being installed properly.
  10. Visit the links given under each theme name to go to the dedicated theme page, read the description carefully, and follow the installation instructions.

This covers most of the things that you need to know about theming and themes in Windows.

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