{"id":70831,"date":"2024-01-24T20:22:13","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T14:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=70831"},"modified":"2024-01-25T09:10:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T03:40:05","slug":"desktop-background-greyed-out-personalize-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/desktop-background-greyed-out-personalize-settings\/","title":{"rendered":"Desktop Background Option is greyed out in Personalize Settings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you attempt to change my desktop wallpaper, the &#8220;Background&#8221; dropdown option may be greyed out in Settings \u2192 Personalize. The &#8220;choose your background color&#8221; option may also be grayed out. Also, on the top, it says the following:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"err\">Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization.<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-70832\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/desktop-background-grayed-out-policies.png\" alt=\"desktop background grayed out due to registry based policies\" width=\"750\" height=\"720\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This happens even if your Windows 10\/11 device is activated and the device is a private computer, not connected to any company or school network.<\/p>\n<p>You may have checked the following settings already:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In the &#8220;Ease of Access&#8221; setting, &#8220;Remove background images&#8221; is not checked.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\">In the Local Group Policy Editor (&#8220;Control Panel&#8221;: &#8220;Personalization&#8221;), &#8220;Prevent changing desktop background&#8221; is set to not configured. Also, setting it to &#8220;Disabled&#8221; may not help.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\">In the &#8220;<code>%AppData%\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Themes<\/code>&#8221; folder, you may have already renamed &#8220;TranscodedWallpaper&#8221; to &#8220;TranscodedWallpaper.old&#8221;. Still, the setting to change wallpaper may be greyed out.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Cause<\/h2>\n<p>The desktop background option may be grayed out due one or more registry-based policies &#8212; i.e., the &#8220;Wallpaper&#8221;, &#8220;WallpaperStyle&#8221;, or the &#8220;NoChangingWallpaper&#8221; policy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/personalize-some-settings-managed-organization\/\">Personalize Settings Says, &#8220;Some settings are managed by your organization&#8221;<\/a><\/div>\n<h2>Resolution<\/h2>\n<p>To reenable the desktop background option, follow one of these options.<\/p>\n<h3>Option 1: Remove Personalize policies using REG file<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/personalize-some-settings-managed-organization\/\">Personalize Settings Says &#8220;Some settings are managed by your organization&#8221;<\/a> article.<\/li>\n<li>Download and run the <strong>personalize-policies-remove.reg<\/strong> file.<\/li>\n<li>Click Yes to confirm.<\/li>\n<li>Log off and log back in for the change to take effect.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Note that the .reg file in the above link removes <strong>all the personalization policies<\/strong>, if any, including the wallpaper policies. Note that no personalize policies are set in a default Windows installation.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Option 2: Remove Personalize policies using Regedit.exe<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Create a Restore Point.<\/li>\n<li>Open <strong>Regedit.exe<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Delete the following registry keys if they exist.\n<pre class=\"registry\">HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\ActiveDesktop\n\nHKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Exit the Registry Editor.<\/li>\n<li>Log off and log back in for the changes to take effect.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Option 3: Remove the Wallpaper policies using a REG file<\/h3>\n<p>Use the following .REG to remove <strong>only the wallpaper-related policies<\/strong>. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/how-to-use-reg-files-registration-entries-windows\/\">how to create a .reg file<\/a>.<\/p>\n<pre>Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00\n\n[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System]\n\"Wallpaper\"=-\n\n[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\ActiveDesktop]\n\"NoChangingWallpaper\"=-\n\n[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\ActiveDesktop]\n\"NoChangingWallPaper\"=-\n<\/pre>\n<p>That should restore the desktop background drop-down options.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/cant-set-windows-spotlight-background-windows-11\/\">Can&#8217;t Set &#8220;Windows Spotlight&#8221; as Desktop Background in Windows 11<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you attempt to change my desktop wallpaper, the &#8220;Background&#8221; dropdown option may be greyed out in Settings \u2192 Personalize. The &#8220;choose your background color&#8221; option may also be grayed out. Also, on the top, it says the following: Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization. This happens even if your &#8230; <a title=\"Desktop Background Option is greyed out in Personalize Settings\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/desktop-background-greyed-out-personalize-settings\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Desktop Background Option is greyed out in Personalize Settings\">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":[8,869],"tags":[381,879,441],"class_list":["post-70831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows-10","category-windows-11","tag-personalization","tag-policies","tag-registry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75279,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/desktop-background-resets-to-solid-color\/","url_meta":{"origin":70831,"position":0},"title":"Fix: Desktop Background Resets to &#8220;Solid color&#8221;","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\". Let's see how to fix this issue. 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 &quot;Windows 10&quot;","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":5343,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/show-most-used-apps-option-grayed-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":70831,"position":1},"title":"&#8220;Show Most Used Apps&#8221; Setting Greyed out in Personalize","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The \"Show most used apps\" toggle switch may be grayed out on the Personalization \u2192 Start page in Windows 10 or 11. This is due to a Privacy setting that turns off the ability to track recent programs. Enable \"Show most used apps\" option Open Settings (WinKey + i) Click\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"show most used apps greyed out privacy options","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/w10-start-most-used-greyed-out-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/w10-start-most-used-greyed-out-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/w10-start-most-used-greyed-out-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/w10-start-most-used-greyed-out-2.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":70831,"position":2},"title":"[Fix] &#8220;Start, Taskbar, and Action Center&#8221; 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. The recent Windows 10 versions come with a new Light Theme (\"Light\" color mode) that displays the Taskbar, Start menu, action center, notification\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"show accent color on taskbar start menu disabled or greyed out","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/taskbar-accent-disabled-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/taskbar-accent-disabled-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/taskbar-accent-disabled-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1582,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/personalize-some-settings-managed-organization\/","url_meta":{"origin":70831,"position":3},"title":"Personalize Settings Says &#8220;Some settings are managed by your organization&#8221;","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If the Personalize settings page show the red text message Some settings are managed by your organization at the top, it means that some of the settings in that particular page are locked down by an administrator in that computer, via Group Policy Editor or through the registry. For classic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","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\/personalize-policies-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/personalize-policies-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/personalize-policies-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2278,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/add-taskbar-date-time-clock-missing-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":70831,"position":4},"title":"Date\/Time (Clock) Missing in Taskbar in Windows 10. How to Add it Back?","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Date\/Time or the tray clock is shown by default in the Notification area. 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 &quot;Windows 10&quot;","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":[]},{"id":5938,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-10-desktop-background-slideshow-not-seeing-subfolders-library\/","url_meta":{"origin":70831,"position":5},"title":"Windows 10 Desktop Background Slideshow Not Seeing Subfolders","author":"Ramesh","date":"November 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The new Settings interface in Windows 10 doesn't allow selecting multiple files at once as the desktop slideshow. You can only select one folder at a time. Also, the images in the subfolders are not utilized for the slideshow. As a workaround, people used the old Desktop background Control Panel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"desktop slideshow - set as desktop background - old control panel interface","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/w10-slideshow-subfolders-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/w10-slideshow-subfolders-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/w10-slideshow-subfolders-3.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/w10-slideshow-subfolders-3.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70831","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=70831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}