Latest Windows 10 update strips accent color from Start menu in Fullscreen and Tablet modes

Brad Stephenson

Windows 10 Start Screen

The Windows 10 October 2020 Update began to roll out to compatible devices earlier today and, while it does come with several new features and improvements, it’s also seemingly completely ruined the aesthetic of the Start menu. At least for a few users.

This latest update made a subtle change to the way the Start menu displays app tiles by forcing a transparency affect and removing the colored boxes. The result has admittedly been rather nice for those that use the regular Start menu. It’s cleaner and a bit more streamlined than before.

Here’s a screenshot of my own Start menu after the update.

Windows 10 Start menu

As you can see, there’s no real problems. However, for those users like myself who prefer to have their Start screen in fullscreen mode at all times, the result is disastrous. The custom accent color is completely removed and preference is given to the Dark and Light (aka black and white) system settings.

At best, this change makes the Dark mode (see top image) boring. At worst, it makes some app tiles completely unreadable when you have Light mode selected. Check out the Fitbit tile in the screencap below to see an example of this.

Windows 10 Start menu fullscreen

This problem also persists when switching to Tablet mode with the chosen accent color, in my case hot pink, being completely abandoned for a boring grey or blinding white.

It’s unclear how many people this is affecting as the update is relatively new and it’s unlikely that the majority of Windows 10 users would have installed it yet. There’s also the reality that most Windows 10 users don’t use their Start menu in the (clearly superior) fullscreen mode or bother switching to Tablet mode.

Have you experienced any Start menu or color glitches on your Windows 10 device after installing today’s update? Share your experiences with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Twitter and Pinterest for more Windows 10 news.