Did you love the desktop widgets in earlier versions of Windows? Well, I loved most of them, and they were useful, too. So, did you ever feel like bringing widgets back to Windows 11/10? Well, not exactly the widgets, but you can have an almost similar or even better experience with Rainmeter. Rainmeter is a free open-source desktop customization tool that lets you add widgets and skins to your desktop.
How to use Rainmeter for Windows PC
Being one of the most popular UI customization tools, Rainmeter has got a lot of attention in the community. The tool works on the basic model of skins, where you can create and apply your own skins. Or you can download the skins created by someone else. You can find a lot of good skins available online. People from the Rainmeter community usually distribute their work for free.
Once you’ve downloaded and installed any of your favorite skin, you can start customization. You can simply place a skin anywhere on your desktop and then lock its position. Some of the basic skins that you should consider are the time/clock skins, a weather skin, a to-do list, and hardware status.
A skin can be as simple as a weather widget displaying weather or as functional as a Music player or a to-do app. You’ve got thousands of choices and a million of combinations. You can download numerous skins and use their various elements in combinations to have infinite possibilities.
Rainmeter also supports layouts, you can save layouts and use them in future. The layouts store various settings and relative positions of different skins on your desktop.
Finding Rainmeter Skins
Head over to this Rainmeter ‘Discover’ section to find the latest skins created by various developers. Also, a basic skin is included, which can get you started if you are going to make your own skins. DevianArt is the largest repository of Rainmeter skins, and this is the place where you can actually find what you want.
Also, there are other websites where you can get skins for your computer. Editing a skin is also possible, all you need to do is right click a skin and select ‘Edit Skin’. This would open up a new notepad windows where you can easily view and edit the code for that particular skin.
Creating your own Rainmeter skins
Rainmeter is all about customizing your computer and literally doing it yourself from scratch is the motive. Rainmeter has provided a complete manual that can get you started at developing skins. All you need is a good text editor Rainmeter installed on your computer. This manual will guide you from basics to all the advanced concepts of Rainmeter. Also, the manual includes tutorials on publishing your skin as a package on DevianArt and other similar websites.
Rainmeter is a great desktop customization tool with an active community supporting it. You can find a lot of enthusiasts working on some skins and making their desktops look more beautiful. If you are a designer or want to try something in UI designing and development, Rainmeter can be a good start.
Click here to download Rainmeter. I am sure that you will like it.
How do I customize my desktop with Rainmeter?
To customize your desktop with Rainmeter, you need to install and apply various skins or themes. This app is compatible with countless official and third-party themes that you can install to personalize the desktop within moments. Whether you use Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11, you need to go through the same thing.
What is Rainmeter desktop customization?
Rainmeter is a third-party app that lets you customize your desktop from top to bottom. Whether you want to use a new look, theme, or widget, you can do that with the help of the Rainmeter app. The best thing is that you can apply the same customization across all the versions of Windows.
