Make Windows look the way you want: macOS, GNOME, KDE Plasma, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, elementary OS, or your own style. One-click presets, an optional Mac-style dock and top bar, and every change can be undone. Restyle never modifies Windows system files, never needs admin rights, and never connects to the internet.

Get the latest Restyle-win-x64.zip from the Releases page, unzip it anywhere and run Restyle.exe. Nothing to install; works on 64-bit Windows 10 (1903+) and Windows 11.

Windows SmartScreen may warn that the app is from an unknown publisher, because the download isn't code-signed. Click More info → Run anyway, or build it yourself from source (below).

• Presets: GNOME, KDE, Mac (light/dark), Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, elementary OS, Light & Clean and Windows Default, plus your own. Each one shows exactly what will change (before → after) before it's applied. Save, export and import presets as small JSON files.
• Customize: light/dark mode (apps and Windows separately), accent color, accent on title bars/taskbar, transparency, taskbar alignment/auto-hide/Search/Widgets/Task View, nine original built-in wallpapers, mouse pointer schemes (including importing cursor packs), desktop icons.
• Dock, top bar and control center (optional): see below.
• Backups: your original settings are saved automatically on first launch. Undo last change (survives restarts), Restore my original settings, and named backups.
• Safe and private: only per-user (HKCU) settings and documented Windows APIs; no uxtheme patching or theme DLLs; no network access, accounts, ads or telemetry. All data stays in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Restyle.
• Light: about 40–50 MB of memory for the settings window and 35–45 MB for the dock + top bar.

A Mac-style dock: Start button, pinned apps, open apps (with a dot), the Recycle Bin, hover magnification and a launch "bounce". Turn it on from the Dock page or run Restyle.exe --dock.

• Click an app to open it, bring it to the front, or minimize it (several windows: click to cycle).
• Right-click an app for Open new window, Close, Keep in Dock / Remove from Dock. Right-click the dock itself to toggle magnification, open settings, or quit.
• It runs as its own small process (≈35–45 MB), separate from the main window, and only while switched on. Start the dock when I sign in adds a per-user startup entry (HKCU\…\Run\Restyle Dock).
• It registers as a Windows app bar (SHAppBarMessage), so maximized windows stop above it, and it hides itself for fullscreen games and videos. It never takes keyboard focus.
• Hide the Windows taskbar uses the normal (undoable) taskbar auto-hide setting; the real taskbar, tray and clock are still one mouse-move away at the bottom edge.
• Completely hide the Windows taskbar hides Explorer's taskbar windows while the dock runs and shows them again the moment the dock quits (or crashes, or the PC restarts).
• Top bar (on by default): Start + the app you're using, date and clock (click: notifications/calendar), and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, volume and battery icons. The ^ button briefly brings up the real Windows tray for background apps (Windows only lets Explorer host tray icons), then hides it again.
• Control center (click the status icons): Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on/off with network and paired devices, dark mode, volume (Core Audio) and screen brightness (WMI, built-in screens only) sliders, battery, and shortcuts to Windows Quick Settings, Notifications, Settings and Lock.
• Settings live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Restyle\dock.json; a running dock picks up changes instantly.

You need the .NET 10 SDK on Windows 10 (1809+) or Windows 11.

dotnet build                          # build everything
dotnet run --project src/Restyle.App  # start the app

dotnet publish src/Restyle.App -p:PublishProfile=win-x64

This produces publish\Restyle.exe (self-contained, so it runs on any x64 Windows 10/11 PC with nothing to install) and a publish\Presets\ folder. Keep the folder next to the exe if you want to edit the built-in presets; if it's missing, Restyle uses the copies embedded in the exe.

Memory is kept low by software rendering (no GPU driver stack), a small GC nursery (System.GC.Gen0Size in the csproj) and idle heap compaction in the dock. Single-file compression is turned off on purpose: it halves the file but costs ~85 MB more RAM at runtime.

All values are under HKEY_CURRENT_USER unless noted. Changes are broadcast with WM_SETTINGCHANGE (ImmersiveColorSet / TraySettings) so they show up immediately.

Settings that don't exist on your Windows build are disabled in the UI and skipped by presets. Explorer is only ever restarted when a changed setting requires it, and only after you say yes.

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Restyle\

• original.json: snapshot taken on first launch (Restore my original settings)
• backups\: your named backups
• history.json: the undo history (last 50 changes)
• Presets\: presets you saved or imported
• Wallpapers\: built-in wallpapers, rendered at your screen resolution the first time they're used
• Cursors\: cursor packs you imported (copied here; nothing in C:\Windows is touched)

To remove Restyle completely, first restore your original settings if you want them back, then delete the exe and this folder.

Presets are small JSON files. Only the settings you list are changed; everything else is left alone.

{
  "name": "Ubuntu-ish",
  "description": "Dark, orange accent, dock-style left taskbar.",
  "order": 5,                       // position on the Presets page (lower = first)
  "settings": {
    "appsTheme": "dark",            // "light" | "dark"
    "systemTheme": "dark",
    "accentColor": "#E95420",       // "#RRGGBB" or "auto"
    "accentOnTitleBars": false,
    "accentOnTaskbar": false,
    "transparency": true,
    "taskbarAlignment": "left",     // "left" | "center"
    "taskbarAutoHide": false,
    "taskbarSearch": "icon",        // "hidden" | "icon" | "box" | "iconAndLabel"
    "taskbarWidgets": false,
    "taskbarTaskView": true,
    "desktopIcons": true,
    "wallpaper": "builtin:gnome-blobs",   // or a file path; %VARS% are expanded
    // "wallpaper": { "path": "C:\\Pictures\\x.jpg", "fit": "fill" },  // fill|fit|stretch|tile|center|span
    "cursorScheme": "Windows Black"       // any installed scheme name
  }
}

Built-in wallpaper ids: gnome-blobs, plasma-shapes, soft-light, nord-waves, mint-hills, aqua-waves, midnight-waves, aubergine, pop-peaks.

Where to put it:

• Just for you: use Presets ▸ Import a preset…, or drop the file into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Restyle\Presets\ (Open presets folder button).
• Ship it with the app: add it to src/Restyle.App/Presets/ (it's copied next to the exe and embedded).

No recompiling is needed to edit presets: change the JSON and switch back to the Presets page.

1. Create a class in src/Restyle.Core/Settings/. For a simple on/off registry value, derive from DwordToggleSetting and fill in the key, value name and default; otherwise derive from Setting<T> and implement Read() and Apply(value). Give it an Id, a Name and a plain-language Description (shown as the tooltip). Override MinimumBuild, RequiresExplorerRestart or BroadcastAreas as needed.
2. Register it in SettingsCatalog.
3. Add a row for it in CustomizePage (Switch(...) or Combo(...) is usually one line).

Backups, undo, presets and the "what will change" list pick up the new setting automatically.

src/Restyle.Core/        settings layer, apply/undo engine, backups, presets (no UI)
  Platform/              registry + Win32 wrappers (IRegistry, ISystemApi) and OS version detection
  Settings/              one class per setting, plus the cursor pack importer
  Engine/                SettingsEngine (plan → apply → broadcast → record undo), ChangeHistory
  Backup/, Presets/      snapshot and preset storage
src/Restyle.App/         WPF UI (.NET 10 Fluent theme; follows light/dark mode automatically)
  Presets/               the built-in preset JSON files
  Dock/                  dock, top bar and control center

Ideas, bug reports and pull requests are welcome.

• New settings: see Adding a new setting.
• New presets: just add a JSON file to src/Restyle.App/Presets/ (see Adding a preset).
• Keep the project's promises: per-user settings only, documented Windows APIs, everything undoable, no network access.

MIT: free to use, modify and share, including in your own projects.