Image via Zainah Yousef/The DZSH Group
Customization is a big deal with a lot of people who enjoy tech-oriented things. It’s a big reason why so many people flock to certain operating systems over others in order to get their desired customization. Windows 10 had plenty of customization tricks and tips, but with Windows 11, you can also customize it to fit your style.
The default settings for Windows 11 come with a few things that already make it look fairly clean already. However, there are a few extra steps you can take to make Windows 11 really look nice and pleasing to the eye.
1. Hide Icons From Screen
Your first step to making Windows 11 look much better is actually really simple. Your screen is likely cluttered with a ton of apps that you’ve downloaded over the lifespan of your laptop.
Eventually, all of these icons can become a burden to look at. First, start by removing some of the icons from your screen that you don’t need. Some people have file folders and random apps they don’t use, so start by getting rid of some of those things.
Next, to hide the icons on your home screen, it’s a super simple process. Just left-click on your home screen. You’ll see a box that gives you a few options like this:
As you can see, I’ve already hovered over the ‘View’ option. Go ahead and do that and you’ll see a few options after that.
The last option labeled ‘Show Desktop Icons’ is the one you want to look for. Click on that option so that the check mark goes away.
You’ll find that your screen will have no more displayed icons. If you ever want them back, just repeat the process and make sure the check mark is enabled.
2. Mess Around with the Taskbar
For this step, you’ll really need to remove whatever apps you don’t need from your Taskbar. The smaller and cleaner it is, the easier it will be for you to use. It will also look much nicer when it’s not full of random apps.
Pick the ones that you use the most. For example, I use Google Chrome, Mail, Netflix, Steam, and Files the most. Those are the ones that are stuck in my Taskbar constantly. Sometimes, I’ll pin other apps depending on if I need them and then I’ll remove them when I don’t need them.
Next, you can do a few things to change your taskbar:
- Install Rounded Taskbar
- Install Translucent Taskbar
- Remove the Taskbar from the settings in Windows (you will have to hover over it for the Taskbar to show from now on)
Personally, I use the rounded taskbar. I don’t make it super round, I just mainly cut it off so that it’s not the whole length of the screen and that it has just simple slightly rounded corners.
You can download Rounded Taskbar from here.
3. Get a New, Clean Wallpaper
You can easily search up clean wallpapers on Google. However, there are obviously some wallpapers that are more unique and cool to look at than others.
Steam has an app called Wallpaper Engine. It’s $3.99 on Steam and very worth purchasing. It allows you to scour an entire database of wallpapers that can be animated, audio responsive, clean, aesthetically pleasing, and more.
As you can see, I looked up something as simple as ‘forest’ and look at how many cool results I got back. They’re basically all animated, so it’ll be really nice to look at too.
If you’re not sure why spending $3.99 for wallpapers is a good idea, you can also make playlists of your favorite wallpapers and you can upload your own. So, if you’re an animator, it’s a cool place to get your animations as a wallpaper.
Other than that, most apps that offer you the chance to put an animated wallpaper will use a lot of your computer’s power.
4. Optional: Rainmeter
Rainmeter is a unique tool that lets you have more customization power over your desktop’s appearance. I did have Rainmeter installed, but I eventually removed it because I felt that it was slowing my laptop down.
Rainmeter comes with very unique things like modular clocks and more. However, if you really want your clock to look cool on your screen, Wallpaper Engine has some wallpapers that include clocks as well.
Really, Rainmeter can be a great tool, but you will likely have to sacrifice some performance in your computer for it.
Still, installing Rainmeter is simple. You just have to click here to do it. I’ll walk you through what’s next either way:
1. Download Rainmeter and follow the prompt’s instructions
The installer will just guide you through what to do. If you’re not a massive tech wizard, make sure to click ‘standard’ for the installation options.
2. Run Rainmeter
Next, once you’ve finished installing Rainmeter, run the application. On your desktop, you’ll get something that looks like this:
Obviously, at this point, nothing has really happened with your desktop screen. To remove these boxes above, just left click and remove the skin.
3. Find a Skin
Now, you need to find a skin for Rainmeter. There are plenty all over the internet you can find.
I installed something called Jax-Core. This one has plenty of neat little widgets you can add to make your screen look just a bit nicer.
Just follow the installation manual on Jax-Core’s Github. Don’t worry about anything, it’s all super simple and should take you just a few minutes to complete.
You can make your volume look more aesthetic and even add a modular clock.
I think that Jax-Core is the best way to not mess around too much with the visuals while still maintaining some level of customization involved.
There’s a couple of ‘apps’ within JaxCore. I chose to use mClocks and YourFlyouts v2. You can enter each one, mess around with the settings and see what you like best. Each ‘app’ really walks you through what to do.
In the end, this is what my desktop looked like with JaxCore:
The wallpaper is by ardiles3215 on Wallpaper Engine, by the way.
Conclusions
After all that is said and done, you should have a desktop that fits your fancy. If you’re still not happy with the way it looks, it’s good that Rainmeter has skins that you can just keep messing around with until you’re happy.
If you don’t care too much for the Rainmeter stuff, just skip it.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
