AWS UXC: Customize Console with Account Colors & Region/Service Visibility

AWS users now have more control over their cloud environment’s appearance and usability with expanded customization options within the AWS Management Console. Building on the introduction of AWS User Experience Customization (UXC) in August 2025, Amazon Web Services is rolling out features that allow administrators to tailor the console’s display of AWS Regions and services, alongside existing account color settings. This aims to reduce cognitive load and streamline workflows for teams managing multiple AWS accounts and services.

Categorizing Accounts with Color

The initial phase of UXC, launched in August 2025, enabled account administrators to assign colors to AWS accounts for easier visual identification. As AWS noted in their announcement, this feature addresses the challenge of managing multiple accounts, previously relying on account numbers for differentiation. Administrators can now set colors – for example, red for production, yellow for testing, or orange for development – which are visible in the console’s navigation bar to all authorized users. To set an account color, users with admin privileges can navigate to their account name in the navigation bar and select “Account,” then choose a preferred color and update the settings.

Streamlining Console Views: Region and Service Visibility

The latest expansion of UXC introduces the ability to control which AWS Regions and services are displayed within the console. This customization is designed to simplify the interface for users who only work with a subset of AWS’s extensive offerings. By hiding unused Regions and services, AWS aims to reduce clutter and improve focus. Administrators can access these settings through the gear icon on the navigation bar, selecting “See all user settings” and navigating to the “Account settings” tab.

Configuring Region visibility allows administrators to choose between displaying all available Regions or selecting a specific list. Similarly, service visibility can be customized to show only relevant services, categorized for easier selection – including a “Popular services” category. Once configured, the console will only display the chosen Regions and services in the respective selectors and menus. For example, a team focused solely on compute and storage might choose to display only the EC2, S3, and Lambda services, simplifying the console interface.

AWS emphasizes that these visibility settings only affect the console’s display. Access to services and Regions remains unchanged through the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI), AWS SDKs, APIs, or Amazon Q Developer. This ensures that programmatic access to all AWS resources is not impacted by the console customization.

Programmatic Customization with AWS CloudFormation

Beyond the console interface, AWS as well provides programmatic control over these customization settings through AWS CloudFormation. Using a template, administrators can define account color, visible services, and visible Regions as code, enabling infrastructure-as-code approaches to console configuration. An example CloudFormation template provided by AWS demonstrates how to set an account color to red and restrict visibility to S3, EC2, and Lambda services in the us-east-1 and us-west-2 Regions.

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: "2010-09-09" Description: Customize AWS Console appearance for this account Resources: AccountCustomization: Type: AWS::UXC::AccountCustomization Properties: AccountColor: red VisibleServices: - s3 - ec2 - lambda VisibleRegions: - us-east-1 - us-west-2

This approach allows for automated and repeatable console customization across multiple accounts, ensuring consistency and reducing manual configuration efforts. The template can be deployed using the AWS CLI:

$ aws cloudformation deploy  --template-file account-customization.yaml  --stack-name my-account-customization

Implications for Security and Access Control

Whereas the UXC features primarily focus on usability, they also have implications for security and access control. By limiting the visible services, administrators can subtly guide users towards approved tools and workflows, potentially reducing the risk of accidental misconfiguration or unauthorized access. However, it’s crucial to remember that these settings do not replace robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies. IAM policies remain the primary mechanism for controlling access to AWS resources. The UXC features simply adjust the user interface, not the underlying permissions.

What Comes Next: Feedback and Iteration

AWS encourages users to provide feedback on the new UXC features through the Feedback link within the console, the AWS re:Post forum for the AWS Management Console, or by contacting AWS Support. This iterative approach allows AWS to refine the features based on user needs and ensure they effectively address the challenges of managing complex AWS environments. Further development may include more granular control over service visibility, integration with other AWS tools, and expanded customization options for the console’s overall appearance.