{"id":1123,"date":"2011-03-09T10:02:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-09T04:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=1123"},"modified":"2019-05-12T02:56:45","modified_gmt":"2019-05-12T02:56:45","slug":"unsaved-theme-shown-listing-windows-7-vista","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/unsaved-theme-shown-listing-windows-7-vista\/","title":{"rendered":"What Causes “Unsaved Theme” to Appear in Personalization window?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A desktop theme contains various settings such as cursors, icons, wallpaper, screensaver, and other UI settings. It’s obvious that when one of those theme parameters is changed, Windows saves the customized setting in a separate theme file named Custom.theme, which is displayed in the Personalization window as “Unsaved Theme”.<\/p>\n

\"Unsaved<\/p>\n

\"Unsaved<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Windows can’t find one of the files in this theme error<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

What Causes “Unsaved Theme” to Appear in the Personalization window?<\/h2>\n

The Unsaved Theme<\/strong> appears if some parameters of the theme (e.g., wallpaper, screensaver, cursor, or sound file, Window color setting, special folder icons, etc.,) are modified manually or by some third-party program. It could also be caused if you delete a background wallpaper file or any other element referenced in the theme file.<\/p>\n

For instance, you may have changed the desktop background wallpaper and then deleted your old wallpaper image file which was once a part of the theme. The current theme or any other custom theme which stills points to the deleted wallpaper image will show up as Unsaved Theme<\/strong>.\u00a0So, editing the Wallpaper filename (and\/or other theme elements paths) in your custom *.theme files should fix the Unsaved Theme problem.<\/p>\n

Another case:<\/strong> If you manually changed the icon of a shell folder like My Documents, My Music, etc., Windows had recognized the default theme as a changed theme and shows up as Unsaved Theme in the Personalization window.<\/p>\n

\nA Microsoft forums user longnh<\/em><\/a> said:<\/p>\n

“Yep, I manually changed an icon of a folder a long time ago but I didn’t remember. Since then Windows 7 had recognized the default theme as “changed theme”. When I applied the Windows 7 default theme, that icon wasn’t restored and Windows 7 kept creating “Unsaved theme”. I just changed to icon to default and the problem was gone.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks Ramesh again for the great suggestion.”<\/em>\n<\/div>\n

Additionally, if you use Bing Dynamic theme which automatically pulls down new wallpapers from the Bing servers periodically, it creates a background slideshow with the current set of downloaded images. It thus creates the Unsaved Theme containing only the currently displayed wallpaper.<\/p>\n

If “Unsaved Theme” is reappearing automatically even after deleting the theme or by wiping out the custom.theme<\/code> file, it could be a shell enhancement software running in the system and making changes to certain theme parameters (REF: Theme File Format<\/a>). To know which setting is exactly being modified under the hood, you could do so using a text file compare utility like Compare It!<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Start Compare It!<\/b><\/li>\n
  2. Open the following folder:\n
    %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Themes<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  3. Select the first .theme<\/strong> file — the theme you were previously using.
    \n\"Unsaved<\/li>\n
  4. Select the second .theme file Custom.theme<\/strong>\"UnsavedAnd here comes the comparison… every change highlighted in green color.\"Unsaved
    \n(Fig 5, the SizeAll<\/b> mouse cursor setting changed by an unknown program.)<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Depending upon which theme parameter was changed and the resulting value data, you might have a clue about the program which changed the setting. If not, you may use Process Monitor<\/a> to investigate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    A desktop theme contains various settings such as cursors, icons, wallpaper, screensaver, and other UI settings. It’s obvious that when one of those theme parameters is changed, Windows saves the customized setting in a separate theme file named Custom.theme, which is displayed in the Personalization window as “Unsaved Theme”. RELATED: Windows can’t find one of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-7","category-windows-vista"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9030,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-cant-find-one-of-the-files-save-theme-sync\/","url_meta":{"origin":1123,"position":0},"title":"[Fix] Windows can’t find one of the files in this theme error","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"At regular intervals, you may see an unprompted \"Save a Theme\" error message dialog on your Windows 10 computer. When you dismiss the prompt by clicking either \"Yes\" or \"No,\" the pop-up may reappear. Save a Theme Windows can't find one of the files in this theme. Do you still\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"save a theme error - windows can't find","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/disable-theme-sync-ramesh.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/disable-theme-sync-ramesh.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/disable-theme-sync-ramesh.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1035,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/share-desktop-theme-common-all-users\/","url_meta":{"origin":1123,"position":1},"title":"How to Install a Desktop Theme For All Users in Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A theme is a combination of desktop background pictures, Window colors, sound scheme and a screensaver. Windows 7 introduces a new file format (.themepack) which is basically a .cab file that can contain images, audio files for sound scheme, mouse cursors, icons and the .theme file itself. This file format\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/fruitninja-pg2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9392,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/how-to-use-windows-spotlight-as-desktop-wallpaper-slideshow\/","url_meta":{"origin":1123,"position":2},"title":"How to Use Windows Spotlight as Desktop Wallpaper Slideshow","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Windows Spotlight brings fresh wallpaper images for your lock screen daily. The wallpapers are stored in the Assets folder wherein the older wallpaper images will be purged automatically as the new set of images get downloaded. We saw how to save the lock screen wallpapers using various methods, including\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Utilities"","block_context":{"text":"Utilities","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/utilities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"spotlight image as desktop wallpaper - bing images - dynamic theme","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dynamic-theme-options-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dynamic-theme-options-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dynamic-theme-options-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dynamic-theme-options-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75279,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/desktop-background-resets-to-solid-color\/","url_meta":{"origin":1123,"position":3},"title":"Fix: Desktop Background Resets to “Solid color”","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When you access Personalize in Settings and set the background to \"Picture\", it immediately reverts to \"Solid color\". 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Fix: Desktop Background Resets to \"Solid color\" To resolve the issue, follow the steps below. 1) Delete the TranscodedWallpaper file Open the following folder using\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"windows 11 themes personalization","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/themes-list.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/themes-list.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/themes-list.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/themes-list.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17909,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/show-accent-color-start-taskbar-action-center-grayed-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":1123,"position":4},"title":"[Fix] “Start, Taskbar, and Action Center” Accent Color Setting Greyed Out","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"After installing the Windows 10 Feature Update 1903 or higher, you may have noticed that the accent color checkbox Start, taskbar, and action center is grayed out. 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If it's missing suddenly, here is how to add it back: Right-click notifications area in the Taskbar and click \"Customize notifications icons\" Click Turn system icons on or off Enable the Clock toggle button Taskbar fonts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows 10"","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/w10-clock-tray.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}