Custom Window Border color using (dwmapi)

[mvoud]

hi, I’m trying to fix a problem that I can’t find on google or on other platforms, I would like to change the color of the window borders in this case (red) using the api called ‘dwmapi’ I’ve tried many methods but I can’t doing it works.
here is an example of code that I tried to use to change the color of the window.

  #define DWMWA_BORDER_COLOR 34
  #define DWMWA_CAPTION_COLOR 35
  #define DWMWA_TEXT_COLOR 36

		DWM_COLORIZATION_PARAMS params;
		params.dwColorizationColor = RGB(0, 255, 0);  
		params.dwColorizationAfterglow = RGB(0, 0, 255); 
		params.dwColorizationColorBalance = RGB(255, 0, 0); 
		params.dwAlpha = 255;
		params.fOpaque = FALSE;

		DwmSetWindowAttribute(hwndHandler, DWMWA_CAPTION_COLOR, &params, sizeof(params));
		DwmSetWindowAttribute(hwndHandler, DWMWA_TEXT_COLOR, &params, sizeof(params));
		DwmSetWindowAttribute(hwndHandler, DWMWA_BORDER_COLOR, &params, sizeof(params));

		BOOL useDarkMode = TRUE;
		DwmSetWindowAttribute(hwndHandler, DWMWA_USE_IMMERSIVE_DARK_MODE, &useDarkMode, sizeof(useDarkMode));

the following code I wrote doesn’t work, is there any solution to solve this problem? did I put this code after the glfw window was created or im wrong?
and the variabile DWM_COLORIZATION_PARAMS dosen’t exixt in win32 so i have re-created the function

typedef struct _DWM_COLORIZATION_PARAMS {
    DWORD dwColorizationColor;
    DWORD dwColorizationAfterglow;
    DWORD dwColorizationColorBalance;
    DWORD dwAlpha;
    BOOL  fOpaque;
} DWM_COLORIZATION_PARAMS;

[dougbinks]

From the documentation for the DwmSetWindowAttribute function’s enum DWMWINDOWATTRIBUTE the pvAttribute parameter should point to a value of type COLORREF which is simlpy a DWORD colour such as 0x000000FF for red.

You should link to dwmapi.lib, and get the HWND for your window using the native function access:

#define GLFW_EXPOSE_NATIVE_WIN32
#define NOMINMAX
#include <GLFW/glfw3native.h>
#include "dwmapi.h"

{

    // create window and change border colour (this is only the thin surround border)
    GLFWwindow* window = glfwCreateWindow(640, 480, "My Title", NULL, NULL);
    HWND hwnd = glfwGetWin32Window(window);
    COLORREF colour = 0x000000FF;
    DwmSetWindowAttribute(hwnd, DWMWA_BORDER_COLOR, &colour, sizeof(colour) );

    // rest of code
}

The above code worked for me, though the border here is just the thin surround not the background of the caption.

[mvoud]

sorry for my late response.
This function is correct and the program is actualy compiling, but im having a compatibility issue with windows 10… how can i fix without upgrading to windows 11?

[dougbinks]

I don’t think there is a way outside of Windows 11 Build 22000+.

The main alternative is to use an undecorated window and draw the controls yourself with a UI.