How to Enable High Contrast Mode in Windows 10

Windows comes with a number of themes that provide high contrast mode.  They are useful when it is hard to read text on the screen because you need more color contrast. Also, high contrast mode is useful for users with visual impairment. Let's see how to enable high contrast mode in Windows 10.

High Contrast Mode is a part of the Ease of Access system in Windows 10. It includes many options to improve the usability of the operating system, especially for users with various health issues.

Windows 10 includes a few high contrast themes that provide a different look to the OS. The following screenshot demonstrates one of them:

There are several ways to enable/disable the high contrast themes in Windows 10. Let's review them.

Enable High Contrast Mode in Windows 10

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Ease of Access - High Contrast.
3. On the right, turn on the option Turn on high contrast located under the section Use high contrast.
4. In the drop down list Choose a theme, you can select the following themes: High Contrast #1, High Contrast #2, High Contrast Black, High Contrast White. Choose some theme you like.

Tip: There is a hotkey in Windows 10 that you can use to quickly enable High Contrast. Press the left Shift + left Alt + PrtScn keys together to toggle High Contrast on and off.

Turn on High Contrast Mode with Control Panel

The classic Control Panel app can be used to enable or disable High Contrast. Here is how it can be done.

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Click on Ease of Access.
3. In Ease of Access, click on the Ease of Access Center. 
4. Click on the link Set up high contrast.
5. On the next page, click on the link Choose a High Contrast theme.

You are done.

Tip: You can open the classic theme browser dialog in Window 10 with the following command:

explorer shell:::{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}

This will open the classic Personalization dialog, where you can choose any of availably high contrast themes in Windows 10.

For more details, refer to the following articles:

• Add classic personalization Desktop menu in Windows 10
• Add Personalization To Control Panel In Windows 10

That's it.

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