Customizing Fluent Search: Personalization
Fluent Search offers deep personalization options that let you tailor the app's appearance to match your style, your system, or your mood. From built-in themes to pixel-level control over transparency, colors, fonts, and animations — every visual aspect is customizable.
Access all personalization settings at Settings → Personalization.
Themes
Fluent Search ships with a collection of built-in themes, and you can create, import, export, and share your own.
Built-in themes
| Theme | Description |
|---|---|
| Classic | Default Fluent/Mica style with Windows blue accent |
| Adaptive | Accent color and background dynamically change based on the selected result |
| Fluent | Wallpaper-based Fluent design |
| Bleach | Fully transparent with orange accent |
| Azure | Purple accent with a light wallpaper |
| Emerald | Blue-gray accent with a nature wallpaper |
| Violet | Blue accent with a purple wallpaper |
| Phantom | Pink accent with semi-transparency |
| Solarized | Solarized color palette with purple-blue accent |
| Forest | Green accent with a nature wallpaper |
| Sun | Warm orange accent with a sunset wallpaper |
Custom themes
You can modify any combination of colors, window effects, fonts, and backgrounds, then save your setup as a custom theme:
- Customize your appearance settings as desired
- Save the theme from the Themes section
- Export the theme file to share with others
- Import themes from files or the Community Themes gallery
Community themes
Browse and apply themes contributed by other Fluent Search users directly within the app:
- Go to Settings → Personalization → Themes
- Browse the Community Themes section
- Click any theme to preview and apply it
To contribute your own theme, see Contributing themes.
Colors
Light and Dark mode
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Dark | Dark background with light text |
| Light | Light background with dark text |
| System | Automatically matches your Windows theme setting |
| High Contrast | Uses a high-contrast dark theme with no transparency effects |
Accent color
The accent color is used for highlights, selected items, borders, and active elements. Three modes are available:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Manual | Pick any color using the color picker (default: Windows Blue #0078D4) |
| System Color | Automatically matches your Windows accent color |
| Adaptive | Dynamically changes based on the currently selected result — gives visual feedback as you navigate |
Additional color options:
- Use accent background — Blend the accent color into window backgrounds for a tinted look
- Use accent window border — Apply the accent color to the window border
Window style
Customize the search window's shape and behavior:
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Search bar size | Height of the search bar in pixels (35–70) | 45 |
| Corner radius | Roundness of all UI corners (0–25) | 12 |
| Dynamic window height | Resize the window based on the number of results | Off |
| Max results to show | When dynamic height is on, how many results to display (1–25) | 9 |
| Show in taskbar | Whether Fluent Search appears in the Windows taskbar | On |
| Always on top | Keep the window above all other windows | On |
| Keep window size | Remember window dimensions after restart | On |
Search bar watermark
Customize the placeholder text shown when the search bar is empty:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Default | "Search anything" |
| Date and Time | Shows the current date and time (configurable format) |
| Custom | Your own text |
| Dynamic | Changes randomly with varied, fun prompts |
Custom search icon
Replace the default search icon in the search bar with a custom image or glyph.
Text
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Font family | System font for all Fluent Search text | Segoe UI Variable Text |
| Font scale | Scales all text (0.5× to 2.5×) | 1.0 |
| Minimalistic UI | Hides extra text, result types, and additional information for a cleaner look | Off |
| Show result type | Always display what type each result is | Off |
| Show operation shortcuts | Display keyboard shortcuts next to result operations | On |
| Show progress bar | Show a search progress indicator | Off |
Effects
Window transparency
| Effect | Description |
|---|---|
| None | Opaque background |
| Transparent | Simple transparency |
| Blur | Background blur (auto-converts to Acrylic when GPU is enabled) |
| Acrylic Blur | Modern Windows acrylic blur effect |
| Mica | Windows 11 Mica effect — the window subtly reflects the desktop wallpaper |
Window opacity can be adjusted from fully transparent (0.0) to fully opaque (1.0). Default: 0.90.
Note: Transparency effects require GPU acceleration to be enabled.
Custom wallpaper
Set a custom image as the background for the Fluent Search window, or use your current desktop wallpaper.
Animations
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Enable animations | Master toggle for all animations | On |
| Window animations | Animate window open/close | On |
| Popup animations | Animate dropdowns and popups | On |
| Results animations | Animate search result transitions | On |
| Opacity animation | Use fade animations for windows | Off |
| Animation duration | How long animations last (50–2000ms) | 150ms |
Disable animations for a snappier feel or to reduce visual motion.
By experimenting with these settings, you can create a Fluent Search experience that looks and feels exactly right for you — from a minimal, distraction-free tool to a richly themed visual experience.
For a visual guide on customizing Fluent Search, see: Fluent Search - Customization