Theme (colors, etc.) lost after recover from sleep mode

Question

Theme (colors, etc.) lost after recover from sleep mode

Eric 1708 1

Hi there,

I am on Windows 11 (but I had the same problem on Windows 10), and I defined a personal file *.theme located in C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. If I double-click on it, the specifications of my theme are correctly installed. Super!

However, if my PC comes out from the sleeping mode, all color specifications (background colors, etc.), are lost, and I collect – for example – a white background in my applications, etc.

This looks like a well-known bug in Windows, and there are several people that tried to solve it, for example by defining a scheduled task upon waking up the PC from the sleeping mode. See for example here:

https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/87880-regedit-color-choice-doesnt-survive-sleep.html

I remained unable to solve this. Can someone help me to do that? For example, how can I define a new scheduled task that will re-install my theme each time my PC comes out from the sleeping mode? Are there any other way to overcome this problem?

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Best, Eric.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

MUSTAFA SALAH 1,880

Hello

Check the below:

Settings > Accessibility > Color filters. Ensure this is Off
Settings > Accessibility > Contrast themes. Ensure this is set to None
Open (Registry Editor) Tool

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Accessibility\HighContrast
Flags = 122

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM
ColorPrevalence** = 0
Composition = 1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\UserProfileService
ExtensionDebugLevel = 2

Update / Re-Install the Last Driver for your Graphics Card.
Disable "Fast Startup"
(Power Options >

Does your PC use an Integrated GPU (Intel/AMD) alongside a dedicated one (example: NVIDIA)?

Same Issue??

Maybe your User Profile is corrupted. Better Create new local user account & copy your data from old to new

(Settings > Users > Other users > Create New)

I hope that helps!
Regards,
M

Eric 1708 1 Reputation point

2026-03-29T06:59:15.7233333+00:00

thanks,

I've tried all that. The problem is still the same.

I assume that, when you say, e.g;, "**122", you actually mean "122". Correct?

Also, I do not think my system uses an integrated GPU.

Also, my user profile looks fine. If I double-click on my theme file manually, all works correctly.

This really looks like a bug in Windows. For example, when I was on Windows10, I just had to double-click each time on my theme file. On Windows 11, I first have to go to parameters -> personalize for this to work (which makes the problem even more tedious)..

Any other idea?

Best, Eric
MUSTAFA SALAH 1,880 Reputation points

2026-03-29T07:52:37.3233333+00:00
Hi Eric,

Yes, the default value is 122 without astrisks/starts. I want you to create another profile and reproduce the problem.

If the same, so you are right (it might be a bug).

Have you tried (Hibernate) instead of (Sleep) do you get the same results?

Are you using third-party app for custom them or windows store theme?

Try this:

Turn it off.

If same issue,

Last option is play around register and i believe all of this will be just a workaround.

To confirm, try installing custom theme from ms-store or using other tool and check.

If you are using (PowerToys) ->check for "Light Switch" option and disable it

If your device is a laptop (try to turn off the power-saving mode for your model)

Check manually where the theme saved from registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes

look for "CurrentTheme" -----> check the location path of .them file

That's all I got > I hope it helps!

Answer 2

Hendrix-V 18,605 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Eric 1708,

Thank you for sharing the detailed information.

Based on your description, the custom theme installs correctly when applied manually, but after the PC resumes from Sleep, the system reverts to default colours (e.g. white backgrounds) until the theme is reapplied. This behaviour can occur when Windows does not immediately reload the user’s theme colour composition after waking from a low‑power sleep state, even though the theme settings themselves are still present.

As a workaround, you can configure Windows to automatically reapply your theme each time the device wakes from Sleep:

Step 1: Create a Script

Open Notepad, paste the following:

timeout /t 5
start "" "%SystemRoot%\Resources\Themes\YOURTHEME.theme"

Replace YOURTHEME.theme with your theme file name.
Save as: C:\Scripts\ApplyTheme.cmd

Step 2: Create a Wake Trigger Task

1 - Press Win + R > type taskschd.msc then press Enter

2 - Select Create Task

Go to General tab

Name: Reapply Theme On Wake
Check: Run with highest privileges

Triggers > New

Begin task: On an event
Log: System
Source: Power-Troubleshooter
Event ID: 1

Actions > New

Program: C:\Scripts\ApplyTheme.cmd

Conditions

Uncheck: Start only if on AC power

3 - Click OK to save.

This will ensure your custom theme is automatically restored after the system resumes from Sleep without requiring manual intervention.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Hendrix-V 18,605 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-17T06:19:40.4233333+00:00

Hi,

I just wanted to follow up and check if the information I provided was helpful. If you have any further questions or updates regarding this issue, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section. I'd be happy to assist you.
Eric 1708 1 Reputation point

2026-09-04T03:03:28.2666667+00:00

Hi Hendrix-V,

Sorry to answer you that late!!

I've just tried what you proposed me to do. This is not solving the problem, unfortunately.

I hope I did not make anything wrong.

Best, Eric.
Eric 1708 1 Reputation point

2026-09-04T03:04:27.5433333+00:00

So, I finally was able - thanks to you - to solve the problem. Actually, your script must be changed since parameter/personalization must be opened. So, this should be something like:

@echo off

start "" "ms-settings:themes"

timeout /t 2 /nobreak >nul

start "" "%SystemRoot%\Resources\Themes\eric.theme"

taskkill /im SystemSettings.exe /f

Thanks for your help on that. Eric.