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How to save customized themes in Windows 7

Windows theme packs are a fun way to customize your Windows desktop. We'll show you how to save your customizations so you can share them with others or to use later.

Ed Rhee
Ed Rhee, a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is an IT veteran turned stay-at-home-dad of two girls. He focuses on Android devices and applications while maintaining a review blog at techdadreview.com.
Ed Rhee

Windows theme packs are a fun way to customize your Windows desktop. Theme packs save your wallpaper, window color, default system sounds and screensaver in a single file. Here's how to save your customizations so you can save them for later use or to share them with others.

Save customized theme

Step 1:
Go to Start-->Control Panel-->Appearance and Personalization-->Personalization to view and customize your themes.

Windows 7 personalization
Screenshot by Ed Rhee

Step 2:
After you've customized your theme by selecting your wallpaper, window color, default sounds and screensaver, locate your "Unsaved Theme" in the "My Themes" section.

Unsaved theme
Screenshot by Ed Rhee

Step 3:
Right-click on the unsaved theme and select Save Theme and name your theme. Right-click on your theme again and select Save theme for sharing. Name the theme and save the resulting theme pack on your computer.

Save theme for sharing
Screenshot by Ed Rhee


Install theme pack

To install the theme pack you just created, all you have to do is double-click on the theme pack and Windows will automatically apply it and add it to your theme list. The theme pack will have a .themepack extension and the preview icon will look like this:

Theme pack icon
Screenshot by Ed Rhee
My theme
Sample custom theme. Screenshot by Ed Rhee

There you go. Now you know how to save your customized themes as theme packs so you can share them with your friends, family, or gaming clan.