Rainmeter comes with illustro, a small suite of skins to help get you started. But most of the skins you use will be ones that you have downloaded from somewhere on the Internet.¹

There are two ways of adding skins to Rainmeter: automatically, or manually.

Installing Automatically

Most Rainmeter skins can be installed automatically. They come in the Rainmeter Skin Installer (.rmskin) format, and they look like this:

If you've installed the latest version of Rainmeter, you can just double-click the file to start the skin installer. There's a small confirmation dialog before the install begins.

This window lists each component that will be installed. Many skins are bundled with other files - including themes, fonts, add-on software, and third-party Rainmeter plugins. If a component is marked with an asterisk (*), that means that a component of the same name has already been installed. If you continue, the old copy will be moved to a "Backup" folder, so you can restore it later if you want to.

Some skins will give you the option to automatically load a skin or theme the next time Rainmeter starts, making it even faster to get started with the new skin or skins.

When you're ready, click Install. Within a few seconds, Rainmeter will restart, and your new skins will be ready to use.

Installing Manually

Before Rainmeter 1.3, most skins had to be unzipped and moved to the Skins folder by hand. All versions of Rainmeter are 100% backwards-compatible, so these older skins will still work just fine, but you'll still need to know how to install them.

First of all, if a skin comes in an archive, such as a ZIP, RAR or 7Z file, you'll need the right software to "extract" them. 7-Zip is one of the popular choices, since it can handle almost any archive you're likely come across. After you install the software, you can right-click the archive in Explorer to extract it.

The archive may include a readme.txt file with further instructions. If not, look for a folder with the same name as the skin - it might be inside another folder that is actually called "Skins". Move the folder to your Rainmeter "Skins" folder:

Windows 7/Vista: C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\Rainmeter\Skins
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\My Documents\Rainmeter\Skins

Finally, if Rainmeter is already running, right-click the tray icon and select Refresh all. Your new skins will now be available to load from the Manager or context menu!

Skin Setup

After installing, most skins will work right out of the box, with little or no setup.

Other skins, especially those that are part of a large "suite," may have their own interface for customizing your settings and preferences. Some, such as the Enigma and Gnometer suites, have these tools built right into the skins themselves. Others, such as ABP, come with a separate utility. Suites like these will always provide their own instructions to direct you to their configuration tools.

However, for still other skins, you might be required to make changes to the skin itself. Usually, skin authors will try to make this as easy as possible, by placing the most important options near the beginning of the skin file, and providing in-line instructions to guide you.

On the next page, you'll learn the basics of editing a skin.

1. Most of the skins you find on community websites, such as deviantArt, Customize.org or the Rainmeter forums, are safe to download. We have many volunteers who do a good job of keeping harmful and deceptive software out of your way. That said, it pays to be cautious. Make sure to check for warning signs, and above all, use your common sense.