If you’re seeing grayed-out start and taskbar icons on your Windows 11 computer, it may be because of an issue with the accent color. To fix this issue, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Under System and Security, click on the Advanced tab.
  3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Change User Profile Settings.
  4. In the User Profile Settings window, click on the General tab.
  5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Change accent color for Start and Taskbar in System Preferences.
  6. In the new accent color window, select a color that you like and click OK to save your changes.

If you’re trying to change the color of the taskbar in Windows 11, you might find that the option to “Show accent color on Start” is grayed out in the Settings app. We’ll show you how to fix it.

Here’s the root of the problem: Windows 11 doesn’t allow you to apply an accent color to the taskbar unless you have your appearance set to “Dark.” Otherwise, if you visit Personalization > Colors in Settings, you’ll see “Show accent color on Start and taskbar” grayed out.

To fix this, we’ll need to take a trip to the Settings app. First, open Settings by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting “Settings” in the menu. (Or you can press Windows+i on your keyboard.)

In Settings, click “Personalization, then choose “Colors” in the right side of the window.

Under “Colors,” locate the option labeled “Choose Your Mode.” Here, you can select “Dark” or “Custom” in the drop-down menu. If you choose “Custom,” you can still use apps in “Light” mode as well, so there is more flexibility.

If you selected “Custom” in the step above, use the drop-down menu beside “Choose your default Windows mode” to choose “Dark.” This will allow you to apply a color to the taskbar. (Under “Choose your default app mode,” you can pick either option.)

In the “Accent Color” section, pick a color in the grid that you want to apply to your taskbar. You can also choose a custom color by clicking “View Colors.”

Next, flip the switch beside “Show accent color on Start and taskbar” to “On.”

As soon as you flip that switch, the color you chose will be applied to your taskbar. Victory!

You can play around with colors until you find the one you like the best. And when you’re all done picking your ideal color, close Settings. Have fun!

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