How to Open & Customize Color Management Settings in Windows 10?

There are 2 ways to open Color Management Settings in Windows 10. The easiest and the recommended way is to search for Color Management in the search bar or in Cortana just beside the Windows logo on your system. This is enough to launch Windows 10 Color Management Settings, but I will also cover the second method later on in this guide.

A monitor is set up with multiple types of color programs installed in it. The monitor produces different color content for viewing different types of content e.g. photos, animation, videos, or text.

The Color Management System(CMS) makes sure that colors should appear the same no matter on which device you are viewing the output on.

Different devices include cameras, printers, scanners, etc. All these digital devices have their own color settings and the way they output a color. So when you output/import the camera picture onto your computer’s screen it may vary in color as compared to the image that you scanned from a scanner.

If you are into the world of gaming experience, photography, animations, etc. but find your color rendering inaccurate on different devices, then I think you are at the right place to correct it.

Also Read: How To Change Windows 10 Desktop Backgrounds?

People find difficulty with photographs and video color rendering. Scanners and cameras have different color characteristics and your monitors can’t produce the same set of colors that a scanner or printer produces. So without a correct color management system, the same image will look different on each of the devices.

In this guide, I will show you how to correct your color management settings in Windows 10 for your best experience in images, watching movies and gaming. But first let me show you a second way to open Color Management Settings in Windows 10.

How to open Color Management Settings in Windows 10?

I have already showed you the first method in the starting of this article, which is easy and quick. The second method to launch Color Management Settings is below:

• Right-Click on a empty space on your desktop and select Display Settings.

• Click on the Monitor number that you want to change the Color settings of and than scroll down to the bottom

• Click Advanced Display Settings.

• Now in the Advanced Display Settings Window click on Display Adapter Properties.

• At last, click on Color Management Tab and then click the Color Management button to open Color Management settings.

That’s it, but as you see its a long way to go, better just search in Cortana or the search bar and you can find any Windows 10 apps in less than a second.

When you should change the Color Management Settings?

First of all when you buy a computer/laptop or a separate monitor it comes with the default color settings. Changing the Color Management settings depends upon you, so if what you see on your monitor is what you want, you just do not need to change it. But for others the default settings are not enough and so there is a need to change the color settings.

You need to change the settings when you have higher color requirements that aren’t met by your computer default color configuration.

People with higher configuration computers working on photography and gaming will have to change the color management settings. Since all programs and devices produce different color quality.

What is a Color Profile?

A color profile is like a set of rules for colors, it make sure that the color is correctly rendered no matter on what output device you are seeing the colors on. In a simple words it transforms the color on a output device to a acceptable color on another output device, so the viewing experience remains always better.

There are devices that have different color profiles. People with High graphic gaming and photography editing will be using different color profiles if their computer is not installed with the new one.

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How to check the color profile and install the color profile for your monitor?

Below are simple steps that you can follow to check or install new color profiles according to your requirements:

•  Open Color Management app in Windows 10.

• A dialogue box will open showing you three tabs respectively – devices, all profiles, and advanced.
• Click on the Devices tab.
• You will see your monitor’s default color profile
• Check mark “use my settings for this device “.

• If you want to add another color profile for your monitor click on the Add button.
• A pop-up box will open as an ” associate color profile“.

• Windows have two types of device profiles such as WCS and ICC profiles.
• Click on the ICC profile that you want to choose and click OK.

Installing New Color Profile For Your Monitor.

In case you want to install a new color profile for your computer monitor, follow the below instructions:

• Download your monitor’s latest driver using Google search or going to the manufacturer’s site keeping in mind your monitor’s model number. 
• The file will be in the form of a “zip” or “Exe” file. Extract it further.
• You will see an “icm” file in your driver folder or in the WinRAR program. That’s the file you will need for the new color profile for your computer.

• Again open the Color Management settings.
• After clicking on the “Add” button , a pop-up window will open with the name “Associate Color Profile ” as in the screenshot below.
• Here you will have to click on the Browse button at the bottom left side of the window.

• Locate for the “icm” file in your computer you have downloaded recently.

• Select the ICC Profile file and click on the Add button.

You will see a slight change in your color display on your computer screen.

How To Reset The Color Profile Settings?

Please note that whatever changes you are making to the color settings will only apply to the user who is logged in at that time:

So If you are not satisfied with the new color profile and want to reset it to your older one, I will show you how to reset the color configuration:-

• Launch Color Management Settings.
• Click on Devices tab as done before.
• On the bottom right corner of the box, Click on the “Profiles” button.

• A drop-down menu will appear showing you several options
• Chose for “Reset my settings to the system defaults”
• Click the Close button.

After you reset, your monitor Color Profile will be set as default in your color management system.

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Conclusion

When you open Windows 10 Color management you will be notified that the system default color settings have been changed. The computer automatically recommends the best color profile, so it’s not always necessary to adjust the color settings for your monitor.

I hope your gaming or binge watching experience will increase with modified management. Or if you are a graphic designer, you will surely feel the difference in your graphics.

If you wish to edit photographs from different devices and find a change in colors on your computer, this article will be beneficial to you.

Feel free to write in the comments section below, and if you like this article share it with anyone who needs to see this.