Microsoft To Do will not allow me to scroll through the themes provided on the desktop app.

Su 20 Reputation points
2026-07-02T09:06:44.7633333+00:00

When clicking "change theme" for a list, the scroll bar is bugged - not allowing me to move down to other options and cutting off the text "Pick a theme". Thus, I am unable to change the background to anything other than blue, purple, pink, and orange, despite the preset photography backgrounds being present. I have tried changing the app to full screen, closing it, and redownloading it off the app store, but it has not changed anything.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Microsoft To Do | For home
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Answer accepted by question author
Kai-H 26,135 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-07-02T13:37:11.8+00:00

Hi, Su

This looks more like a display/UI issue in the Microsoft To Do desktop app rather than a problem with your account or the list itself. Since reinstalling did not change it, the broken theme picker may be caused by cached app data, Windows scaling, or the current desktop app build.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

First, try using the keyboard instead of the mouse inside the theme window. Open the list, select the three dots, choose Change theme, then press Tab, Down Arrow, or Page Down to see if the hidden photo backgrounds can still be selected even though the scroll bar is not working.

If that does not help, reset the app rather than only reinstalling it. In Windows, go to Settings, Apps, Installed apps, find Microsoft To Do, select Advanced options, then choose Repair first. If it still happens, choose Reset. This clears the app’s local data/cache, while your tasks should sync back after signing in again.

It is also worth checking Windows display scaling. Go to Settings, System, Display, and temporarily set Scale to 100% or 125%, then reopen To Do and try the theme picker again. Odd scaling can sometimes cut off small pop-up windows like this.

As a workaround, try changing the list theme from https://to-do.live.com/. If the theme changes there and syncs back to the desktop app, that confirms the issue is mainly with the desktop app interface.

If none of these work, I’d report it through Feedback Hub or Microsoft To Do feedback, because it sounds like a real UI problem in the current app version.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 


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  1. Patricia Harvey 0 Reputation points
    2026-08-03T16:32:13.48+00:00

    I changed the theme on my Iphone and it propagated to my desktop (Mac) app. Might they that.

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