WinShades icon

WinShades

Read more comfortably on screen

WinShades applies customizable colour overlays and letterbox reading rulers to any window or your entire screen — designed for dyslexia, visual stress, and eye strain.

Get it from the Microsoft Store

Why coloured overlays?

Many people with dyslexia or visual stress find that text appears to blur, shift, or flicker on screen. Coloured overlays reduce glare, increase contrast, and create a more stable reading environment — helping to improve focus, reduce eye strain, and make reading more comfortable.

Screenshots

WinShades fullscreen shade overlay WinShades application shade and colour picker WinShades letterbox reading ruler

Features

🖥️

Fullscreen Shade

Applies a coloured overlay across the entire screen to reduce glare and visual stress while reading.

🪟

Application Shade

Applies a coloured overlay to a specific application window — ideal for tinting a browser, document viewer, or e‑reader.

📐

Fullscreen LetterBox

Places horizontal bars across the entire screen, acting like a reading ruler to help you track lines of text.

📏

Application Letterbox

Adds reading-ruler bars to a specific application window. Drag the bars to adjust the visible reading strip.

🎨

Colour Picker & Presets

Fine-tune your overlay colour and opacity. Seven preset colour boxes let you switch instantly between saved colours.

🔊

Read Aloud

Select text in any application and have it read back to you — helpful when reading becomes tiring.

Spell Check

Select text in any application and check for spelling errors. Misspelled words are underlined — right-click for suggestions.

Fully Accessible

Full keyboard navigation and screen reader support. High contrast and DPI-aware for accessibility compliance.

Suggested overlay colours

Pre-loaded as presets — try them as starting points and adjust to find what works best for you.

🟡 Yellow 🔴 Rose 🔵 Aqua 🟢 Green 🟣 Lilac 🟠 Peach

Get WinShades

Available on the Microsoft Store with a 7-day free trial. Requires Windows 10 version 1904.1 or later.

Download from Microsoft Store