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If you are Googling how to make Windows 11 look like Windows 10 and you stumbled upon this article, I’m certainly sure that you hate the Windows 11 look and want to get back to the classic, nostalgic look of Windows 10.
Most people hate this MacOS clone look of Windows 11 because many users find the Windows 10 interface more familiar, productive, and gets the job done, that’s why I’m writing this article.
There is one magical tool that can modify and customize your operating system and give you an indistinguishable look of Windows 10 to get the same experience that you got back when you were using it.
I’m talking about “ExplorerPatcher”, a third-party, powerful, open source, and lightweight tool that was developed with many contributions on GitHub.
This tool enables you to customize your operating system’s look, including Windows 11 taskbar, start menu, file explorer ribbon, and much more. You can explore it yourself and experience its benefits.
In this guide, I will explain thoroughly how to download the free tool “ExplorerPatcher” from GitHub. Then, I will explain how to restore the Windows 10 look on Windows 11 by following easy steps that everyone, including beginners, can follow and understand.
Things To Do Before Modding Windows 11
Windows 11 Compatibility
Make sure that you use a Windows 11 operating system and that you are running either one of those compatible versions with “ExplorerPatcher” (22H2, 23H2, and 24H2).
You can check the version you are running by going to Settings, scrolling down, and clicking on “About”. You will see something like this:
Always Back Up Your Data
You should create a system restore point or back up your important files beforehand in case something breaks or fails. You should always back up your files when modding or tampering with your Windows system files.
You can create a system restore point by pressing “Windows + S” on your keyboard or simply locating the search bar on the taskbar and searching for “Create a restore point”.
A window will pop up. Now, create a system restore point by clicking the bottom button that says “Create”, name it, wait, and you are done.
Administrative Privileges
Before you continue, check that you have administrative privileges and administrator account access on your computer before installing and configuring ExplorerPatcher to modify your system’s look and behaviour.
If you are the one using the computer and you have one account on your machine, then you are an administrator by default, and don’t worry about this step.
If you are someone who shares his/her computer with his/her family members and you created multiple accounts, then in this case I recommend you check.
How to Make Windows 11 Look Like Windows 10
Step 1: Download & Install ExplorerPatcher
Go to the “ExplorerPatcher” official page on GitHub and download the latest release available.
You should now see a file named “ep_setup.exe” in your downloads folder, run it, allow it to make system changes, and you will see that the file explorer suddenly freezes.
Now, don’t worry because this will take only 5 to 10 seconds, and you will be greeted with the normal Windows 10 taskbar.
Step 2: Opening ExplorerPatcher Properties
To open the ExplorerPatcher properties, you should right-click on the Windows 11 taskbar. There are a lot of choices to choose from, but the only choice related to the ExplorerPatcher tool is “Properties” just beneath “Task Manager”.
Step 3: Configure ExplorerPatcher
Now, you should configure the “ExplorerPatcher” tool to further tune it to be like Windows 10’s look and aesthetics. You can follow me, and you can copy all of my settings.
Taskbar Customization
If you want your Windows 11 taskbar to be like the Windows 10 taskbar:
First, Disable “Show task view button,” and what this does is just remove the task view button from your taskbar. If you like it and you are using it, then leave it. I prefer my taskbar to be clean.
Second, change the “Combine taskbar icons on primary taskbar” default setting from “Never combine” to “Always combine,” and what this does is combine multiple windows on the same icon of the same program, just like the Windows 10 default behaviour.
You can go with “Combine when the taskbar is full” if you would like.
That is all we have to do in the Taskbar Tab, leave everything as is, by default, the startup menu in the taskbar is configured with the Windows 10 icon. Now, you will see that you end up with something like this:
System Tray Customization
If you want your Windows 11 system tray to be like the Windows 10 system tray:
First, Disable the “Control Center button,” and what this does is remove the gear icon on your Windows 11 system tray that features the new ugly floating Control Center and makes the system tray look more like Windows 10.
That is all we have to do in the System Tray Tab, leave everything as is, by default, all system tray icons are configured with Windows 10 icons, like network and sound icons. Click on “Reset File Explorer” in the bottom left corner, and you are done. Now, you will see that you end up with settings like this:
File Explorer Customization
If you want your Windows 11 File Explorer to be like the Windows 10 File Explorer:
First, enable the first setting that says “Register as shell extension” to enable you to keep the Windows 10 ribbon style on dialog box prompt windows, such as the “Save as” dialog box.
Second, enable the second setting that says “Disable the Windows 11 context menu” to get rid of the annoying Windows 11 context menu and bring back the productive Windows 10 context menu.
I don’t know why Windows 11 developers suddenly had the idea of putting something so stupid, non-productive in front of people.
Third, change the Control interface setting from “Windows 11 command bar” to “Windows 10 ribbon.” That way, you will restore the classic control ribbon that is located above all windows that will pop up after.
If you feel nostalgic and you want to restore the Windows 7 classic look of the file transfer dialog, enable “Always use legacy file transfer dialog”.
Click on “Reset File Explorer” in the bottom left corner, and you are done. Now, you will see that you end up with settings like this:
Start Menu Customization
Now, what is the most iconic, important part of the Windows OS?
It’s the Start Menu. If you want your Windows 11 Start Menu to be like the Windows 10 Start Menu:
First, change the first setting that says “Start Menu style” from “Windows 11” to “Windows 10” and that will make you able to restore the iconic Windows 10 Start Menu style, but if you click on the Start Menu now, you will see that it pops up from the center in a wrong way, shortly we will fix this.
Second, change the setting that says “Position on screen” from “Center,” which is set by default to “At screen edge“. That way, you are able to make the Start Menu pop up the right way in Windows 10. Now, you will end up with settings like this:
Window Switcher Customization
The window switcher is an interface you use by pressing (Alt + Tab) on your keyboard.
To be able to restore the Window Switcher look of Windows 10, you will have to change only the Window Switcher style from “Windows 11” to “Windows 10”.
Click on “Reset File Explorer” in the bottom left corner, and you are done. Now, you will see that you end up with settings like this:
Other Settings Customization
If you want to completely change the way Windows 11 looks to something and authentic to Windows 10, you will have to tweak some additional settings:
First, you should enable the setting that says “ Disable rounded corners for application windows” because Windows 10 doesn’t have rounded corners on app windows.
Second, enable all settings related to a setting called “Prevent the following Control Panel links from being redirected to the settings app”; that way, you will not be redirected to the settings when you go to Control Panel and want to change settings such as “Adjust date/time” and “Programs & Features”.
You will, from now change those settings in their respective classic interfaces, and that’s cool
Now, you will see that you end up with settings like this:
Step 4: Tweak Windows 11 Settings
Disable Snap Layout
To disable Windows 11’s newest feature, “Snap Layout”.
First, press “Win + R” on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box. Now, simply type “regedit” in the open field. You can also open the registry editor by searching for it in the search bar.
Second, once you are in the “Registry Editor” window, you will see a bunch of registries on the left side. Now, open them in this order: HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Windows>Current Version>Explorer. Now, click on “Advanced”.
Next, you will see a bunch of file registries on the right side. Right-click on the empty, white area space and select “New” and select “DWORD (32-bit) Value”. Next, name it “EnableSnapAssistFlyout”, make sure the value is “0x00000000 (0)”.
We created this new value so you can enable it and restore the default value that restores the Snap Layout feature if you want in the future. Finally, open the task manager and select “File Explorer,” and restart it.
Download & Apply Windows 10 Icons
Windows 10 without its iconic icons is not called Windows 10. If we want to make Windows 11 look like Windows 10, we have to bring back Windows 10 icons to Windows 11.
First, download Windows 10 icons, unpack them with WinRAR or the default one from Windows 11. It’s recommended to keep them safe in the “C:\Windows” folder because if you mess with them after applying them, you will see those icons doing weird glitches.
Now, go to Settings>Personalization>Themes and click on “Desktop icon settings”
Next, change every Windows 11 icon to Windows 10 icons from the folder you just downloaded earlier, apply, and you are done.
Download & Apply Windows 10 Wallpapers
To complete the transformation, you will have to download & apply Windows 10 with a specific default wallpaper you want.
They are available freely on the internet. Once you have downloaded them, go to Settings>Personalization>Background and click on “Browse photos”.
Choose the one you downloaded with the correct screen resolution and click “Choose Picture,” and you are finally done transforming and making Windows 11 look like Windows 10. Congratulations!
Conclusion
Most people still love Windows 10 because it feels functional, efficient, and more productive.
Now you can enjoy a familiar and productive experience on Windows 11 with the classic Windows 10 look.
You’ve learned how to make Windows 11 look like Windows 10 using ExplorerPatcher and even how to restore the nostalgic Windows 10 wallpapers.
Still wondering whether the upgrade was worth it in the first place? Don’t miss our detailed comparison: Is Windows 11 Better Than Windows 10?
