Hey Stardock, I’ve been using WindowBlinds for years, loving the idea of customizing my Windows experience… but your program is a mess. Seriously.
I want to throw a simple Vista-style texture onto my taskbar. That should be easy, right? Nope. Endless loops, sliders that hide until I hover over them, TGA-only formats, no OK or Apply button… and if I try my own PNG or BMP, the program just ignores it. The Checkerboard test texture works everywhere—start menu, windows frames, taskbar—but my own work? Nope. Nothing.
I get that Windows 11 has its quirks, but come on, WB, this is your core feature. You give us all these options in menus, but in practice, it’s a frustrating guessing game. I love what the program could do, but right now… it’s a mess.
I even have Start11 Version 2, and it doesn’t help at all — I still can’t change anything anywhere.
Please fix the workflow so people can actually apply their own textures without losing their minds.
Hello,Sorry to hear you are having issues. To make sure everything get installed properly. Please try, uninstall Windowblinds, reboot immediately (important), download latest version available in your account product download page: https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products. Install it, reboot immediately again. Retest it and report back.
If the issue still appear. Please add more information.
Thank you,Basj,Stardock Community Assistant.
If i use Start11v2 Solo everything works! But all the Skins there seems just to run on a Windows with 2021. There are no Updates from the content creater to Windows 11 24H2!
I am running Windows 11 24H2, and I believe, there are lot of other WB users also running on 11 24H2 without issue other than those known minor one. Do know that the latest version WB11.07 just released couple of days ago. Ref: https://forums.stardock.com/538540/
Thank you,
Basj,Stardock Community Assistant
WB skins do not need updating for Windows updates. A skin from 2021 should work just fine.
Even a decade old skin should work.
So, please listen. What you are saying might be correct, but it doesn’t address my actual problem. The issue with the taskbar texture is still not working. It can’t be that I pay €10 for Start11 and then another €40 for WindowBlinds, which you advertise as working well together, and then they just conflict. I’ve already spent €50 on your software, and everything Start11 can do, StartAllBack can do as well—for just five euros. Your program feels unoptimized, and you haven’t addressed the problem at all. It’s like I’m pointing at the elephant in the room while you’re talking about your toenails.
Please provide the requested information I mentioned above. So we can help to identify your issue and perhaps suggest steps to resolved it.
Hello Stardock Team,
here are the details of my setup:
WindowBlinds: version 11.07
Start11: version 2: version 2.53
I’ve been trying to combine your software with some others to get the best possible experience. My plan is as follows:
StartAllBack for Explorer and Taskbar
Windhawk for the Start Menu
WindowBlinds only for the window frames
Unfortunately, I am running into serious conflicts when WindowBlinds is installed. As soon as I activate it, my taskbar becomes unusable and looks completely broken. When I also tried Start11 version 2, the Explorer would not even open anymore.
Another issue: if I try to move an icon on the taskbar, it immediately jumps back, almost like the animation you see when winning a Solitaire game on old Windows versions. Because Explorer stopped working, I wasn’t able to create or save a screenshot of the problem.
The core problem seems to be that WindowBlinds (and also Start11 v2) override the Start Menu even when I explicitly configure them not to, while StartAllBack respects such settings properly.
My goal is really simple:
Taskbar and Explorer handled by StartAllBack
Start Menu handled by Windhawk
Window frames styled by WindowBlinds only
But at the moment, it doesn’t work out that way because WindowBlinds is interfering too much with other components.
Could you please let me know if there’s a way to configure WindowBlinds (and Start11 v2) so that they only handle window frames, without touching the Start Menu or Explorer?
Thank you for your time and support.
I am sorry but I think you will experience issues with your plan.
Combining all those tools is going to cause you problems because there is liable to be overlap in the features or in how they work.
WindowBlinds is designed to work on an unmodified version of Windows and is a full OS skinning solution. You can't just turn certain bits on and off.
WindowBlinds should work just fine with Start11 and we don't have reports of issues with them but throwing in tools which rely on OS debug symbols (windhawk for example) is liable to cause problems simply due to how those tools work.
Did you try the taskbar textures without these extra tools running?
WB can skin the taskbar and Start11 has an option to add a texture to the background if you didn't want a WB skin. Likewise WB can apply a texture to an existing skin if you want to add extra texture rather than editing a skin in SkinStudio using the modify skin option.
SKS and the WB UI both allow the importing of PNG files so they can be saved in the correct TGA format. Some tools are unable to write suitable TGA files which is why it is far easier to just use the import options for a PNG and let us convert it. Why does WB use TGA rather than PNG? Because PNG files are slower to load and it would have added significant overhead to WB especially in the past when WB loaded the skins in each process.
It would be easier if you explained things with pictures and it is very important that you tell us about other utilities in use.
I am also a little confused as to what Start11 is providing you in all this given your other tools in use?
Hello,
I have tried your software both with and without the additional tools. I tried Start11 because Stardock states that “Start menu skinning requires Start11.” WindowBlinds, however, forces both the Taskbar and the Start Menu, which I wanted to avoid. I used Start11 in an attempt to disable that behavior.
Additionally, texture skinning for the Taskbar did not work as expected. The options exist, but even when explicitly set not to skin the Taskbar or Start Menu, these settings do not seem to function properly.
Even if it is technically challenging to skin only the Windows in Windows 11, I believe a paid program should allow the user to use the features they pay for without conflicting with other working software.
Currently, WindowBlinds and Start11 force me to disable or bypass other programs that are otherwise working correctly. The on/off switches for “do not skin Taskbar” and “do not use Start Menu” do not reliably work, which creates frustration and limits usability.
I hope this feedback helps improve the experience or at least clarifies the issues I am encountering.
The only 2 programs you will find that do NOT create issues for each other are Stardock's Windowblinds and Start 11. Anything else used will conflict negatively to one degree or another.
Potentially Stardock's software can be adjusted so as not to totally brick a system that has competitors' programs interfering with the functioning, but that's not carte blanche to use those other software [such as StartAllBack] at the same time as Stardock's options.
Running conflicting software WILL 'conflict' by definition.
Stardock's software naturally does not conflict with its fellow software.
Using Windowblinds along with Start 11 will give reliable results.
Hello,There is a "Use Startmenu" on off button. And there is a "Use Taskbar" on off button! And this dont work. Stardock have to delete this buttons, or make it work.
Just to clarify: You were referring to WindowBlinds, which does not include an option to disable skinning for the Start menu or taskbar. So even if you turn off the taskbar enhancement feature in Start11, WindowBlinds will still apply its skin to the taskbar and taskbar buttons. Unfortunately, WindowBlinds does not allow selective skinning—you can't choose which elements to skin or exclude. It's an all-or-nothing approach.
And the settings in Start11 work as they should.
Disabling the start menu option will swap you to the OS start menu rather than the Start11 one and the option to control Enhanced taskbar enables and disables that option.
Hello Basj,
Thank you for your previous reply. I would like to clarify two points, as there seems to be a discrepancy between Stardock’s documentation and my experience.
First, regarding WindowBlinds and Start11: Stardock states that “Start menu skinning requires Start11.” I understand this in two ways:
Interpretation A: With Start11, it should be possible to disable WindowBlinds’ effects on the Taskbar and Start Menu, allowing selective skinning.
Interpretation B: Without Start11, WindowBlinds cannot skin the Taskbar and Start Menu at all, meaning these elements would simply not be affected.
From my experience, neither interpretation seems to be fully supported: even with Start11, WindowBlinds still forces skinning on these elements. Could you please confirm whether selective control over the Taskbar and Start Menu is technically possible?
Second, regarding Curtains: Is it possible to use Curtains for Windows 11 only for window frames, including transparency effects, without affecting the Taskbar or Start Menu, and without additional tools? I want to ensure that I can style the windows independently without unintended interference.
Thank you very much for your clarification.
These should be better answered by Neil, he is the Main Dev for Windowblinds and Start11. Please wait for his respond to your queries.
Neither interpretation is correct.
On a stock unmodified Windows 11, WB will skin the taskbar background but not the start menu as there is no Windows 7 style start menu for it to skin. Technically WB may set the OS accent colour which might impact the colour of the menu depending on OS settings, but thats all.
With Start11 installed as well, WB will skin the taskbar buttons in addition to the background when enhanced taskbar is enabled, otherwise just the background and will skin the Win7/Modern style menus Start11 provides and optionally the Win10/win11 styles Start11 provides IF the skin includes support which is a minority of skins.
Should you have WB running, Start11 will defer to WB for the skinning of those elements by default though the menu style for Win7/Modern can be overridden from Start11 settings under configuration on the Start Menu page.
Now should you use a tool which causes the OS to ask for taskbar theme elements, WB will provide them, but they would need to use them like Win10 did. The same is true of start menu elements where the Win7 menu elements exist ready for something to use them, but the caller would need to be call compatible with Windows 7 and often third party implementations are not (unlike Start11)
With regards to Curtains. That does not work on Windows 11. It is for Windows 10 only. On Windows 10 it does have the option to not apply skins to the taskbar and likewise Start11 skins so would have been a better match for you but due to OS changes this does not work on Windows 11 unlike WB.
Hello Basj and Mr. Banfield,
Thank you again for your detailed explanation. I would like to clarify my goal more precisely.
I am looking for a solution similar to Curtains under Windows 10: to apply transparency and styling only to the window frames, without affecting the Taskbar or Start Menu, and without additional tools. Curtains worked like this under Windows 10, but it no longer supports Windows 11.
WindowBlinds can technically provide this effect on Windows 11, but it intervenes too deeply in the system, affecting Taskbar, Start Menu, and other elements. This creates instability, especially with resolution changes or when other programs are running. I want a solution that is stable, selective, and does not interfere with other working software.
To summarize, my requirement is:
Window frame styling and transparency only
Taskbar and Start Menu unaffected
Stable under Windows 11
No deep system intervention that breaks other functionality
Is there any current or upcoming Stardock solution that meets these criteria?
Thank you for your clarification.
Unfortunately your requirement can not be meet by Windowblinds/Start11. As explained before. You can not pick and choose which part Windowblinds get to skin and which part not.
Been reading this thread for a few days, since WB and Start 11 DO work well together, Maybe Curtains could be another option. As it doesnt dive as deep into OS.
Just my 2 cents.
Thanks Don
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
