Add classic personalization menu in Windows 10 build 10074

As you may already know, Microsoft ditched the classic appearance (personalization) and themes UI in Windows 10 because some of those settings are moving to the Settings Modern app. If you prefer the good old classic Personalization options, I would like to show you how to add a cascading menu for the Desktop. All items on this menu will open the classic appearance options.

There are some built-in commands which can be used to access the classic appearance options in Windows 10. At the moment of this writing, all these commands work in Windows 10 build 10074, which is latest public preview build of Windows 10. These commands can be typed in the Win + R dialog.
The commands are as follows:

• Screensaver
  The following command can be used to open screensaver settings:

  rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,screensaver,@screensaver

  

• Sounds
  The following command can be used to open sounds preferences:

  rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL mmsys.cpl ,2

  
  Tip: Get new sounds from Windows 10 HERE.

• Desktop Background
  Use the following command to open the Desktop Background settings:

  explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageWallpaper

  

• Desktop Icons
  To customize Desktop icons, run the following command:

  rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,0

  

• Window Color
  To open the familiar window color options, run the following command:

  explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageColorization

  

It is a good idea to add these commands to the Desktop context menu for fast access. You can add them to an "Appearance" submenu which will group all the items together:

To get it, apply the following Registry tweak:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; 
; Created by https://winaero.com
;

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Appearance]
"MUIVerb"="Appearance"
"SubCommands"="Wallpaper;Colors;Sounds;Screensaver;Icons"
"icon"="desk.cpl"
"Position"="Bottom"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Screensaver]
@="Screensaver"
"Position"="Bottom"
"Icon"="desk.cpl"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Screensaver\Command]
@="rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,screensaver,@screensaver"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Sounds]
@="Sounds"
"Position"="Bottom"
"Icon"="mmsys.cpl"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Sounds\Command]
@="rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL mmsys.cpl ,2"


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Wallpaper]
@="Desktop Background"
"Icon"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\desk.cpl"
"Position"="Bottom"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Wallpaper\Command]
@="explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageWallpaper"


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Icons]
@="Desktop Icons"
"Icon"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\desk.cpl"
"Position"="Bottom"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Icons\Command]
@="rundll32 shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,0"


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Colors]
@="Window Color"
"Icon"="%SystemRoot%\\System32\\desk.cpl"
"Position"="Bottom"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\Colors\command]
@="explorer.exe shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921} -Microsoft.Personalization\pageColorization"

I made a ready-to-use Registry tweak for you. The Undo tweak is included. You can download it here:

Download ready-to-use Registry tweak

Remember, these commands can stop working at any moment, because Microsoft might remove the classic appearance bits from Windows 10 sooner or later.

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