How to Enable Color Filters in Windows 11

Here are a number of methods to enable Color Filters in Windows 11. The newest OS has a built-in set of color filters to help users with visual disorders (color blindness). It lets people use modern computers without buying or installing third-party software with similar capabilities.

The Color Filters feature is not actually new to Windows 11. It exists as part of Ease of Access system since Windows 10. The available options include the Grayscale, Invert, Grayscale Inverted, Deuteranopia, Protanopia, Tritanopia classic filters. The following screenshot demonstrates the Grayscale color filter in action.

Similar to Windows 10, users running the newer OS can enable or disable them using familiar options.

Enable Color Filters in Windows 11

There are a number of methods to enable Color Filters in Windows 11. You can use Quick Settings, the Settings app, and a hotkey. If that's not enough, you can also apply a Registry tweak. Let's review these methods.

Enable Color Filters in Windows 11 using Quick Settings

1. Click the volume or network icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen to open Quick Settings. Alternatively, you can press Win + A.
2. Next, click the Accessibility button. It is available in Quick Settings by default.
3. Finally, turn on the Color filters toggle.

You are done.

Note: If the Accessibility button is missing in your Quick Settings, you can quickly re-add it there. Follow our tutorial on how to add and remove options from Quick Settings.

Also, Windows 11 applies the default color filter when you enable the accessibility feature from Quick Settings. To select another filter, you need to pick it in Windows Settings. Here's how.

Turn on Color Filters with the Settings app

1. Press Win + I to open Windows Settings or use any other method you prefer.
2. On the left, select the Accessibility section.
3. In the right pane, click the Color Filters button.
4. Turn on the Color Filters toggle.
5. Next, select one of the available filters: red-green, blue-yellow, grayscale, inverted grayscale, or inverted. You can preview filters in the upper part of the Settings page.

Done!

Once you have selected the filter you need, you can quickly disable or enable color filters in Windows 11 using the Quick Settings menu.

If you often switch on and off the color filters, it is a good idea to enable the color filters keyboard shortcut. It can be enabled in Settings, and is disabled by default.

Using a keyboard shortcut

1. Open the Settings app (Win + I) and head over the Accessibility > Color Filters page.
2. On the right, turn on the Keyboard shortcut for color filters option.
3. Close the Settings app, and press the Win + Ctrl + C keyboard sequence.
4. Windows 11 will apply the specified color filter.
5. Press the same keys to disable the filter.

That's indeed a useful way to toggle enable the color adjustments in Windows 11. Besides the options in the Settings app, you can enable the Win + Ctrl + C hotkey in the Registry.

Enable or disable the hotkey in the Registry

1. Open the Registry editor app by pressing Win + R and entering regedit into the Run box.
2. Browse it to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ColorFiltering key. You can go to that key directly.
3. On the right, modify or create a new 32-bit DWORD HotkeyEnabled.
4. Set its value data to 1.
5. To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to sign out and sign in again to your user account.

Done.

To save your time, you can download the following ready-to-use Registry files: Download Registry Files.

Finally, you can turn on different color filters in Windows 11 using tweaks in Windows Registry.

In the Windows Registry

1. Press Win + R and enter the regedit command.
2. Go to the following destination: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ColorFiltering. You can copy the path and paste it into the address bar to get there faster.
3. On the right side of the window, find two values: Active and FilterType. The first one is responsible for enabling or disabling color filters in Windows 11. The second one determines what color filter the system uses.
4. To turn on color filters in Windows 11, double-click the Active value and change its value data from 0 (disabled) to 1 (enabled).
5. Next, open the FilterType value. Change its value data according to the following list:
   • 0 = grayscale.
   • 1 = inverted.
   • 2 = grayscale inverted.
   • 3 = red-green (green weak, deuteranopia).
   • 4 = red-green (red weak, protanopia).
   • 5 = blue-yellow (tritanopia).
6. To apply changes, sign out of Windows and sign back in. Alternatively, restart your computer.
7. To disable color filters in Windows 11 using Registry Editor, change the value data for the "Active" value from 1 to 0. After that, restart your computer.

You are done.

Finally, to save your time, you can download and use the following ready-made Registry files.  We have prepared a couple of REG files that let you turn on/off color filters in Windows 11 with a single click. Also, there is a file to disable color filters.

Ready-to-use Registry Files

Download files in the ZIP archive using this link, then extract to any folder you like. Open the file for the color filter you want to turn on and confirm changes in Windows Registry.

To restore default settings, open the "Disable Color Filters in Windows 11.reg" file.

That's it.