For further personalization, you can change the boot logo in Windows to anything you want. Follow these steps to add a custom boot logo in Windows.
By default, Windows 10 shows the modern Windows logo on the boot logo. Generally, the new logo sits on top of pure black background and looks pretty neat all the while being minimal and not burning our eyes in dark environments. But, if you got bored with the default Windows logo on the boot screen, you can add your own custom logo to the boot screen.
To do that, all you have to do is point Windows 10 to the image of your choice, and you are done. So, without further ado, let me show you the steps to change the boot logo in Windows 10.
Before Adding Custom Boot Logo:
Before making any changes, make sure you know and follow the below list.
- Important: Create a full backup or a rescue disk before making any changes to the Windows boot logo. This is because, if anything goes wrong, you will not able to boot back into Windows. That’s where the backup or rescue disk comes handy.
- Windows should be running in UEFI mode, not Legacy BIOS. You can easily check if Windows is running on UEFI or Legacy BIOS.
- If Windows is running on UEFI, make sure the Secure Boot feature is disabled. When Secure Boot is enabled in UEFI, you cannot change the boot logo.
- You cannot set GIFs or transparent images as the new boot logo.
- Have the image you want to set as the boot logo ready and available. The image can be no bigger than 300px x 300px. The size is not a strict requirement.
- You need administrative privileges to change the Windows boot logo.
- This guide is only applicable to Windows 10. It might not work in Windows 8 or 7 (I have not tested it).
Once you are sure of everything in the above list, follow the next section.
Step-by-Step Guide to Change Boot Logo in Windows 10
Again, make sure you did a full Windows backup or have a rescue disk before following the below steps.
1. Since Windows has no options to change the boot time logo, we are going to use a third-party free and open-source tool called HackBGRT. So, download this software, open the ZIP file, and extract the folder in it to your desktop.
2. Now, open the extracted folder, right-click on the “setup.exe” file and select the “Run as administrator” option.
3. The above action will launch the application’s command-line tool. Here, press the i key on your keyboard.
4. As soon as you press the key, the program’s config file will be opened in the Notepad. Out of the box, the application’s settings are configured properly. So, simply close the Notepad by clicking on the “X” icon on the top-right corner.
5. Once you close the Notepad, the HackBGRT will open the Paint application with its own default boot logo. Here, click on the “Paste” drop-down button and select the “Paste from” option.
6. Now, find the image you want to set as the new Windows boot logo, select it, and click on the “Open” button.
A quick tip: Since the boot logo doesn’t support transparent images, change the background color of your transparent image to black before adding it to the Paint application.
7. This action will add the image to the Paint application. If needed, resize the image by clicking on the “Resize” button.
8. Once you are done, select the “File → Save” option to save the file. After saving, close the Paint application.
9. As soon as you close the application, you are done with the HackBGRT installation. You can now close it too.
That is it. From now on, whenever you boot into Windows, you will see your new custom boot logo instead of the default Windows logo.
Restore Original Boot Logo
If you want to restore the original boot logo, you can do that using the same application. Just follow the below steps.
1. First, open the HackBGRT folder, right-click on the “setup.exe” file and select the “Run as administrator” option.
2. Since the application is already installed in your system, you will see additional options.
3. To completely remove HackBGRT and restore the original boot logo, press r. If you want to disable the application and restore the original boot logo, press d. In my case, I want to fully remove it. So, I pressed r.
4. As soon as you press the key, HackBGRT will restore the original boot logo.
Just reboot the system and you will see the original Windows boot logo.
That is all. It is that simple to change the Windows boot logo or add a custom boot logo. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
