How to Allow or Prevent Themes from Changing Desktop Icons in Windows 11 Windows 11 lets you personalize your PC with themes. This includes changing backgrounds, window borders, and in some cases, even desktop icons. But for IT administrators, this can be a choice. Do you allow themes to change icons or keep things consistent for branding and policy? In this video, we'll show you how to manage this setting so you can decide whether to give users more freedom or keep desktops uniform across your organization. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne’s IT video hub and our YouTube channel for more tech content like this. Some things to consider before proceeding to edit policies or the registry, you'll need admin access. Check this by going to Start > Settings > Accounts. If you see “Administrator” under your name, you’re good. Changes made in settings only affect your user account. To apply them across all users or devices, use Group policy or the Windows Registry. Keep in mind the Group Policy Editor isn't available in Windows 11 Home. In that case, use the Registry to block themes from changing icons across all accounts. Method 1: Allow or prevent themes from changing desktop icons via Settings This is the easiest method and works best for personal devices or single-user settings. Go to Start > Settings > Personalization > Themes. Click Desktop Icon Settings under Related Settings. Check or uncheck Allow themes to change desktop icons. Hit Apply, then OK. Method 2: Enforce policy via Group Policy Editor This will gray out the checkbox in Desktop Icon Settings so users can’t change themes. But remember, the Group Policy Editor is only in Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and hit Enter. Go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization. Open Prevent changing desktop icons and set it how you want Select Enable so themes can’t change icons Select Disable so themes can change icons Method 3: Configure via Registry Editor This method is useful if Group Policy isn’t available, such as on Windows 11 Home. Open the Registry Editor from the Start Menu. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft \Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes If you don’t see ThemeChangesDesktopIcons right-click Themes select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it ThemeChangesDesktopIcons. Double-click the value and set it to: 0 to block themes from changing icons 1 to allow themes to change icons When used with other policies, This setting helps keep desktops consistent across all devices. If your organization uses custom branding or layouts, blocking themes from changing icons will help preserve that look. For more information, check out our official blog post on Changing desktop icons linked in the description below.