Taskbar Color Reverts When Changing Color Using SetWindowCompositionAttribute in WinUI3

Question

I am encountering an issue with the taskbar color on Windows. When I change the taskbar color using the SetWindowCompositionAttribute method, the color initially changes as expected. However, as soon as I click the 'Start' button, the taskbar color reverts to the default color specified by the Windows settings.

Steps to Reproduce:

Change the taskbar color using SetWindowCompositionAttribute.
Observe the taskbar color change.
Click the 'Start' button.
Notice the taskbar color reverting to the Windows default color.

Expected Behavior: The taskbar color should remain as set by SetWindowCompositionAttribute, even after interacting with the 'Start' button.

Actual Behavior: The taskbar color reverts to the default Windows settings when the 'Start' button is clicked.

Code Sample:

public static void SetTaskbarColor(Color color)
{
    var accentPolicy = default(User32Interop.AccentPolicy);

    accentPolicy.Color = color.ToAbgr();
    accentPolicy.AccentState = 2;
    accentPolicy.Flags = 2;

    var data = default(User32Interop.Windowcompositionattribdata);

    data.Attribute = User32Interop.WindowCompositionAttribute.WcaAccentPolicy;
    data.SizeOfData = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(User32Interop.AccentPolicy));
    data.Data = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(data.SizeOfData);

    Marshal.StructureToPtr(accentPolicy, data.Data, false);

    var taskbarHandle = User32Interop.FindWindow("Shell_TrayWnd", null);

    var secondaryTaskbarHandle = User32Interop.FindWindow("Shell_SecondaryTrayWnd", null);

    if (taskbarHandle != nint.Zero)
    {
        User32Interop.SetWindowCompositionAttribute(taskbarHandle, ref data);
    }

    if (secondaryTaskbarHandle != nint.Zero)
    {
        User32Interop.SetWindowCompositionAttribute(secondaryTaskbarHandle, ref data);
    }

    Marshal.FreeHGlobal(data.Data);
}

Here is the same thread in Q&A, you could refer to: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2046028/… — Jeaninez - MSFT
– Jeaninez - MSFT, Commented Sep 10, 2024 at 8:31

Jacob Mordon · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-12 09:08:59Z

0

Answer to this question is on this thread: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2046028/taskbar-color-reverts-when-changing-color-using-se

Solution was to add change of taskbar's color to Timer or Thread, which will repeatedly refresh it

answered Sep 12, 2024 at 9:08

Jacob Mordon

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