I went looking for a concise guide to all of the default Windows system colors at work on Friday, but couldn’t find one anywhere. So…I decided to create my own. The table below shows you what the default values are for Windows’ system color palettes. You can access these in native code using GetSysColor(), or in managed code through the SystemColors collection of color objects.

Also, since I am no longer running XP Media Center 2005 on any of my computers, I was unable to add Royale to this list. If someone with Royale could screenshot the “Your OS” column and email it to me, or post a link to it in the comments, I would be most appreciative and would add that in as another column.

Additionally, if I ever get any spare time I will also add in columns for the default Windows high contrast schemes.

The table is simply too large to show here, so please check out the full list at this archived page.