On Windows 11 build 25309, you can enable an early preview of the new Auto Color Management (ACM) feature, and in this guide, you will learn how.
Microsoft is expanding (via @PhantomOcean3) the hardware-accelerated system-level color management (Auto Color Management) feature to all SDR displays. (Previously, it was only available for select qualifying and specially provisioned SDR displays.) When you enable the feature, it will allow you to have all colors across all apps, whether or not they are color-managed, appear accurately and consistently on every supported display.
The requirements to use the Auto Color Management feature, include WDDM driver version 3.0 or greater, AMD RX 400 Series or later, or AMD Ryzen processors with Radeon Graphics. Intel integrated 12th Gen (Alder Lake) or later, or discrete DG1 or later. Or NVIDIA GTX 10xx or later (Pascal+).
The new feature has been officially announced and it should enable by default on build 25309, but if it’s not, there’s a quick way to enable it. If you want to get hands-on with the new feature, you can use a third-party tool called “ViveTool” created by Rafael Rivera and Lucas on GitHub, to enable the option on your computer.
This guide will teach you the steps to turn on this new feature on Windows 11.
Enable new Auto Color Management feature on Windows 11
To enable the new vAuto Color Management (ACM) feature on Windows 11, use these steps:
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Download the ViveTool-vx.x.x.zip file to enable the new Auto Color Management feature.
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Double-click the zip folder to open it with File Explorer.
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Click the Extract all button.
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Click the Extract button.
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Copy the path to the folder.
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Open Start.
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Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
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Type the following command to navigate to the ViveTool folder and press Enter:
cd c:\folder\path\ViveTool-v0.x.x
In the command, remember to change the path to the folder with your path.
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Type the following command to enable the new Auto Color Management (ACM) on Windows 11 and press Enter:
vivetool /enable /id:36371531
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Restart the computer.
Once you complete the steps, the “Advanced display” settings page (on Settings > Display) will include a new “Automatically manage color for apps” option to enable the Auto Color Management (ACM) feature on Windows 11.
Microsoft notes that this feature doesn’t have specific requirements for display or connection, but it recommends panels with a wider-than-sRGB gamut, and optionally 10-bit per color channel or greater. Also, even if your hardware supports the feature and you enable the option, it may take some time to appear since the company is gradually rolling it out.
If you change your mind, you can revert the changes with the same instructions, but on step 10, make sure to run the same commands but use the /disable switch instead of /enable.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].