How to Install Windows 8 Themes in Windows 7

In my earlier post Download Windows 7 and Windows 8 Themes for Free we have mentioned at the last of my article that Windows 8 themes can not be installed in Windows 7. Today I am showing how to install Windows 8 Themes in Windows 7.

While Windows 7 themes use .themepack extension, themes created in Windows 8 use .deskthemepack extension. You can’t install Windows 8 theme in Windows 7 even if you rename the .deskthemepack extension to .themepack. 

How to install and use Windows 8 themes in Windows 7 step by step guide :

Step 1. Download Windows 8 theme from the Windows Personalization gallery which you like.

Step 2.  Download and install 7-Zip (free) software.

Step 3. Right-click on the Windows 8 theme file, select 7-Zip and then select Extract Files option. Extract the contents of the theme file to a New Folder on desktop. You should now get a .theme file and also a folder named DesktopBackground. This folder contains all desktop backgrounds included in the .deskthemepack file.

Step 4. Now you can open the folder, right-click on a picture and then select Set as desktop background (in Windows 8 only). But if you want to create your Windows 7 theme using all extracted pictures from Windows 8 theme, you should follow the next two steps also.

Step 5. Right-click on your Windows 7 desktop and select Personalize option. Once the Personalization window opens, click on Desktop Background and then click on Picture location browse button to browse to the DesktopBackground folder that you have obtained after extracting Windows 8 theme file.

Click on "Save changes" button.

Step 6. Finally click on the newly created theme file and select Save theme for sharing option. Enter a name for your theme to save your theme. This will save the theme in .themepack extension. You can use this theme on Windows 7 as well as Windows 8 also. Enjoy.