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50 Best Windows 8.1 Themes

Be it an application or an entire operating system, the ability to apply themes to it makes using it a much more personalized experience. Like any major operating system, Windows has had theming support available since its early days, and it has been constantly improved over time. Last year, we brought you a list of 25 of our favorite themes and visual styles for Windows 8, and now, it’s time to look at what has since become available for the latest version of Microsoft’s OS i.e. Windows 8.1. So, let’s take a look at some of the most beautiful themes for Windows 8.1 by both Microsoft and third-parties.

Best-Windows-8.1-Themes

Third-Party Themes

Before you can apply third-party themes, you must first patch the UxTheme.dll file on your computer. Fortunately, the process has been made super-easy, thanks to the UXTheme Multi-Patcher tool. Here’s how it works:

Download the latest version of UxTheme Multi-Patcher and extract the contents of the downloaded zip file. Next, launch the tool, make sure the ‘Set Windows X’s Live as default home page’ option is unchecked (unless you do want your browser’s home page to be changed), and click the ‘Patch’ button.

UxTheme Multi-Patcher 9.0

You will then need to restart your computer once, and after that, you’ll be able to apply any third-party themes to Windows.

Now let’s take a look at some of the best third-party themes available for Windows 8.1.

1. 8 Plus (by ~froggz19)

8 Plus Windows 8.1 Theme

2. Abisso 2014 (by ~ezio)

Abisso 2014 Theme for Windows 8.1

3. Adobe CS6 (by ~xXiNightXx)

Adobe CS6 Windows 8.1 Theme

4. Aero Glow 8.1 (by ~MrGriM01)

Aero Glow Windows 8.1 Theme

5. Aero7 (by ~DaMonkeyOnCrack)

aero7 Theme for Windows 8.1

6. AeroByDesign (by ~LiveOrDieTM)

AeroByDesign Windows 8.1 Theme

7. Bel Minimal (by ~cu88)

Bel Minimal Theme for Windows 8.1

8. Blaze (by ~sagorpirbd)

Blaze Theme for Windows 8.1

9. CamVs (by ~HungHello)

CamVs Windows 8.1 Theme

10. Claro (by ~2befree)

Claro Theme for Windows 8.1

11. Dark Aero (by ~Nighthawk-F22)

Dark Aero Windows 8.1 Theme

12. Elegant (by ~swapnil36fg)

Elegant Theme for Windows 8.1

13. Gray8.1 (by ~gsw953onDA)

Gray8.1 Windows 8.1 Theme

14. Gray8.1 Glass (by ~gsw953onDA)

Gray8.1 Glass Windows 8.1 Theme

15. Mimi (by ~cu88)

Mimi Windows 8.1 Theme

16. Naumn (by ~cu88)

Naumn Windows 8.1 Theme

17. Soft Glass 8 (by ~sagorpirbd)

Soft Glass 8 Theme for Windows 8.1

18. Tequila port (by ~rian76)

Tequila Windows 8.1 Theme

19. TwentyThirteen (by ~Sand-And-Mercury)

TwentyThirteen Theme for Windows 8.1

20. Vanilla (by ~link6155)

Vanilla Windows 8.1 Theme

21. Vlinder (by ~cu88)

Vlinder Theme for Windows 8.1

22. White Window Borders (by ~gersma)

White Window Borders Windows 8.1 Theme

23. Xgreen (by ~TermitBOSS)

Xgreen Windows 8.1 Theme

24. Xsun (by ~TermitBOSS)

Xsun Windows 8.1 Theme[3]

25. xZmN (by ~cu88)

xZmN Theme for Windows 8.1

Official Themes by Microsoft

Microsoft has officially made available a big repository of beautiful themes for Windows, and here’s our pick of the most beautiful ones released last year.

26. Animal Affection

Animal Affection Theme for Windows 8.1

27. Autumn Bounty

Autumn Bounty Theme for Windows 8.1

28. Colors of Nature

Colors of Nature Theme for Windows 8.1

29. Delectable Designs

Delectable Designs Theme for Windows 8.1

30. Diffusion

Diffusion Theme for Windows 8.1

31. Fun Fruit

Fun Fruit Theme for Windows 8.1

32. Grow

Grow Theme for Windows 8.1

33. Harvest Time

Harvest Time Theme for Windows 8.1

34. Hopes and Dreams

Hopes and Dreams Theme for Windows 8.1

35. Impressions from Schleswig-Holstein

Impressions from Schleswig-Holstein Theme for Windows 8.1

36. Kinect Rush: A Disney•Pixar Adventure

Kinect Rush A Disney Pixar Adventure Theme for Windows 8.1

37. Lugares Coloridos

Lugares Coloridos Theme for Windows 8.1

38. Masquerade

Masquerade Theme for Windows 8.1

39. NASA Hidden Universe

NASA Hidden Universe Theme for Windows 8.1

40. Nature Macros

Nature Macros Theme for Windows 8.1

41. Painted Skies

Painted Skies Theme for Windows 8.1

42. Rainbow of Birds

Rainbow of Birds Theme for Windows 8.1

43. Rango

Rango Theme for Windows 8.1

44. Salt Lakes and Dead Sea

Salt Lakes and Dead Sea Theme for Windows 8.1

45. Small World

Small World Theme for Windows 8.1

46. Thailand

Thailand Theme for Windows 8.1

47. Tropical Fish

Tropical Fish Theme for Windows 8.1

48. Waterfalls

Waterfalls Theme for Windows 8.1

49. Winter Garden

Winter Garden Theme for Windows 8.1

50. Zune Elements

Zune Elements Theme for Windows 8.1

Got your own favorite Windows 8.1 theme that you want to share with us and our users? Don’t forget to let us know about it in the comments section below.

39 Comments

  1. 2020 here… do themes actually exist? I guess if you count diff. walls, icons & noises a theme, sorta…but they’re all really still the same, aren’t they?

  2. the how one save this themes plz sand me this emil=tanhasanmol12@gmail.com

  3. By the way, Sorry for my bad English, I’m from Germany and I’m 13 Years old! Hey i have
    any Problem with the theme “Blaze”, If I change the theme, It don’t looks like on the Picture!
    Windows 8.1 64x
    And I have installed Ux Theme Multi Patcher 🙁

    It looks like there:

    • You probably shouldn’t include your age in the comments you post on public forums. There are a lot of creeps on the internet. …Just a thought.

  4. I’ve looked everywhere for the TwentyThirteen, especially the 1.05 version shown here and I can’t find it anywhere? It is not on deviantart anymore.

  5. i love the abbiso 2014 but with theme patcher my computer didnt start up windows 8.1 nor in safe mode nor in any mode,also refreshing pc didnt work but pc full refresh worked tht means by complete reinstall, but still love these themes but cant use them

  6. I enjoy Win 8.1Pro, I rarely use Tiles, using Desktop and Classic Start, same as Win 7, very stable no issues, moved fwd and setup using Hyper-V a Virtual Drive and installed Win 10 and have progressed thru to Insider Preview 10074, very interesting with just the odd cliche – once again tiles can be retired to leave your screen clean. MS have really pulled out the stops can’t wait to see the final product. At 73 yrs old I have been lived thru the early days and where we are now is looking back, is mind boggling, we are for the most just going along for the ride. Enjoy the journey and you’ll be amazed. Stay cool .

  7. Anyone know of a theme that has a tracer effect around the border of the Taskbar and windows explorer frames?

  8. Since the last 30ish are all just different wallpapers on the same desktop surely this should be called the best 20ish windows 8.1 skins?

  9. The trouble with a lot of themes I see is that they are basically a background graphic with a very plain set of windows colours.

    Show me the ones that can give me gradation in windows and on the taskbar!

  10. Most of these just show a desktop wallpaper, how is that supposed to give me an idea of the theme?

  11. Do not listen to this guy! UXTheme multi-patcher will destroy windows 8 if you ever try to uninstall it. It can also destroy your pc after installing windows updates.

    • OMG you’re SOOOO right! I’ve always thought software ‘destroying’ a PC was a myth. How wrong I’ve been; I just tried uninstalling UXTheme multi-patcher and that very instant, my machine just blew up! It was as if a bomb exploded inside it. Completely destroyed! And it also destroyed Windows 8, just as you predicted. Broken pieces of my Windows Explorer as well as several particularly sharp shards of the Start Screen that shot out at me in the explosion nearly put me into the hospital.

      On a serious note, it’s generally not a good idea to blame a tried-and-tested-by-hundreds-of-thousands software for ‘destroying’ your PC or OS after you’ve possibly used a malicious, virus-laden version of it from an untrusted source, or simply used the tool without following instructions properly.

  12. if i update my windows while the patch is installed,will i get the black screen after update?

  13. lol. Windows 8.1. That was the reason I stopped reading this blog a 4 or 5 times a week. Now I visit once a month at most.

    • The nice thing about individuality is that people don’t have to dislike the things that you do.

    • Its a bit unrefined, but Microsoft has been making some significant improvements. I’ve customized it and took the time to make it a part of my workflow and I wouldn’t choose to go back to 7 at this point.

    • I agree with you Matt, I was a bit skeptical at first, knowing my way around win7 was an important part of my work flow. When I saw the changes that came with win8 I wasn’t encouraged at all… But since using it for about 6 months now and learning my way around it changes your mind. I would never go back to win7… Also stick in an SSD with your win8 OS and your machine boots and runs like a dream

    • Are you eff’n wealthy or what? A 1 TB SSD costs enough for about 2 mortgage payments. Also, 8.1 sucks. It’s a hog. It’s uglier than all hell. Reminds me of Windows 3.1…is anyone old enough to remember what it looked like?

    • Never said anything about a 1TB SSD… A 64GIG is relatively cheap and it is only used for your program installations…

    • You can say,”it’s not my thing” dude. Instead of replies like that. Actually I guess you can’t afford 8.1.right?