SetSysColors function (winuser.h)

Article
10/13/2021

Sets the colors for the specified display elements. Display elements are the various parts of a window and the display that appear on the system display screen.

Syntax

BOOL SetSysColors(
  [in] int            cElements,
  [in] const INT      *lpaElements,
  [in] const COLORREF *lpaRgbValues
);

Parameters

[in] cElements

Type: int

The number of display elements in the lpaElements array.

[in] lpaElements

Type: const INT*

An array of integers that specify the display elements to be changed. For a list of display elements, see GetSysColor.

[in] lpaRgbValues

Type: const COLORREF*

An array of COLORREF values that contain the new red, green, blue (RGB) color values for the display elements in the array pointed to by the lpaElements parameter.

To generate a COLORREF, use the RGB macro.

Return value

Type: BOOL

If the function succeeds, the return value is a nonzero value.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The SetSysColors function sends a WM_SYSCOLORCHANGE message to all windows to inform them of the change in color. It also directs the system to repaint the affected portions of all currently visible windows.

It is best to respect the color settings specified by the user. If you are writing an application to enable the user to change the colors, then it is appropriate to use this function. However, this function affects only the current session. The new colors are not saved when the system terminates.

Examples

The following example demonstrates the use of the GetSysColor and SetSysColors functions. First, the example uses GetSysColor to retrieve the colors of the window background and active caption and displays the red, green, blue (RGB) values in hexadecimal notation. Next, example uses SetSysColors to change the color of the window background to light gray and the active title bars to dark purple. After a 10-second delay, the example restores the previous colors for these elements using SetSysColors.

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "user32.lib")

void main()
{
    int aElements[2] = {COLOR_WINDOW, COLOR_ACTIVECAPTION};
    DWORD aOldColors[2];
    DWORD aNewColors[2];

    // Get the current color of the window background. 
 
    aOldColors[0] = GetSysColor(aElements[0]); 

    printf("Current window color: {0x%x, 0x%x, 0x%x}\n", 
        GetRValue(aOldColors[0]), 
        GetGValue(aOldColors[0]), 
        GetBValue(aOldColors[0]));

    // Get the current color of the active caption. 
 
    aOldColors[1] = GetSysColor(aElements[1]); 

    printf("Current active caption color: {0x%x, 0x%x, 0x%x}\n", 
        GetRValue(aOldColors[1]), 
        GetGValue(aOldColors[1]), 
        GetBValue(aOldColors[1]));

    // Define new colors for the elements

    aNewColors[0] = RGB(0x80, 0x80, 0x80);  // light gray 
    aNewColors[1] = RGB(0x80, 0x00, 0x80);  // dark purple 

    printf("\nNew window color: {0x%x, 0x%x, 0x%x}\n", 
        GetRValue(aNewColors[0]), 
        GetGValue(aNewColors[0]), 
        GetBValue(aNewColors[0]));

    printf("New active caption color: {0x%x, 0x%x, 0x%x}\n", 
        GetRValue(aNewColors[1]), 
        GetGValue(aNewColors[1]), 
        GetBValue(aNewColors[1]));

    // Set the elements defined in aElements to the colors defined
    // in aNewColors

    SetSysColors(2, aElements, aNewColors); 

    printf("\nWindow background and active border have been changed.\n");
    printf("Reverting to previous colors in 10 seconds...\n");

    Sleep(10000);    

    // Restore the elements to their original colors

    SetSysColors(2, aElements, aOldColors); 
}

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winuser.h (include Windows.h)
Library	User32.lib
DLL	User32.dll