While Windows 10 has an appealing look and feel to some, many of us feel overwhelmed by the massive jump in style from Windows 7. If youre struggling to feel comfortable with Windows 10, youre certainly not alone.
The good news is that Windows 10 is highly customizable, so you can engineer its design to look nearly the same as Windows 7. With a few tweaks to elements like wallpaper, color scheme, and default browser, youll be back to a Windows 7 look and feelin no time.
Change the Start Menu
Step 1: A download called Classic Shell once allowed you to change key menu aspects to look more like Windows 7. Unfortunately, support for Classic Shell ended in 2017, but the code was picked up and continued with Open Shell, which you can download here.With this free tool, you can modify the Windows 10 Start Menu to resemble the version provided in Windows 7. Once installed,youll see six entries on your Start Menu listed under Classic Shell. Here you will want to choose the Classic Start Menu Settings.
Step 2: On the Start Menu Style tab, choose the Windows 7 Styleas shown above.
Step 3: Next, head here to download the Windows 7 Start Menu orb [these are image files, so you can pick them up from many different places if you prefer]. Once downloaded, choose Customnear the bottom of the Start Menu Style tab and select the downloaded image. You may need to tweak the button size we used 60given the default setting was too large for our desktop resolution.
Step 4:On the Skintab, choose Windows Aero.
Step 5:Hit OKand youre done.
If you dont care much about the other style options, but you do really miss the option to make the taskbar transparent while you work, then we suggest downloading TranslucentTB instead. It will give you that sweet transparency without changing anything else.
Change the wallpaper
Step 1: To install a Windows 7 wallpaper, download the images from here.
Step 2: Right-click on the desktop and select Personalize.
Step 3: The Settingsapp now appears, defaulting to the Backgroundpanel. Make sure the Backgrounddrop-down menu reads Pictureand then select the Browsebutton to find your downloaded wallpaper.
Hide Cortana and Task View
Step 1: Right-click on the taskbar, select Cortana, and then Hiddento remove Microsofts assistant.
Step 2: Right-click on the taskbar and select the Show Task View Buttonto disable this feature.
Change the colors
Step 1: Right-click on the desktop and select Personalize.
Step 2: Choose Colorson the left of the Settingsapp.
Step 3: As shown above, we selected Navy Blue.
Step 4: Next, well switch the colors of the title bar. Check the Title Bars option towards the bottom of the panel. You can add the Start and taskbar if you prefer as well.
Swap Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer
Support has largely ended for Internet Explorer and there are difficulties in using it these days, so we dont necessarily recommend this step for everyone. However, it is possible to use IE on Windows 10 indeed, your version of Windows 10 should already have the final release of IE [Internet Explorer 11] available.
Step 1: Right-click on the Microsoft Edge icon and unpin the browser from the taskbar.
Step 2: Search for Internet Explorer using the Start Menus search field.
Step 3: Right-click on the result and select Pin To Taskbar.
Step 4: Open Internet Explorer, select the gear-shaped Tools icon in the upper-right corner, and select Internet options.
Step 5: Once the Internet options pop-up appears, select the Programstab.
Step 6: On this panel, click Make Internet Explorer My Default Browser.
Step 7: Select Internet Explorer on the resulting list and then choose Set this program by default.
Tweak Explorer
Here we used the free tool OldNewExplorer. Its downloaded as a RAR file so youll need to install third-party software to unpack the installer. The file to use is OldNewExplorerCfg.exe, and once launched, heres what youll need to change:
Step 1: Select Use Classical Drive Grouping In This PC.
Step 2: Select Use Libraries; Hide Folders From This PC.
Step 3: Select the Use Command Bar Instead Of Ribbon.
Step 4: Select the Show Details Pane On The Bottom.
Step 5:For Appearance style, you have three options: Default, Silver cream, and Flat white.
Step 6:For Status bar style, select Gray.
Step 7: Next, open File Explorer. Select Tools and then Folder Options. On the General tab, click This PC in the drop-down menu for Open File Explorer.
Step 8: While still on the General tab, uncheck Show Recently Used Files In Quick Access.
Step 9: Finally, uncheck Show Frequently Used Folders in Quick access.
Add Gadgets
Microsoft Gadgets was a popular option in Windows 7. You could instantly see various categories of vital news and daily updates on your laptop thanks to these handy apps. They could display the weather, a clock, stock updates, and more, all while using minimal system resources.
Much to users dismay, Microsoft had to eliminate Gadgets from all Windows OS for safety reasons. The Gadgets had a major security flaw because they came from third-party developers whose coding exposed users to countless cyber threats. Microsoft did keep some of the most popular Gadgets as system features, and some are available on the Microsoft store, like Sticky Notes.
Many Windows 10 users miss the way Gadgets functioned in Windows 7. The upside is that you can access many of these features by downloading the 8GadgetPack. The Microsoft store has certified the 8GadgetPack for safety, so you can get the same Windows 7 experience without the risks. Options include Clipboarders, Clock, Agenda, App Launcher, and more.