diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferences.ui b/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferences.ui
index 8fdb97220f..a2a395e765 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferences.ui
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferences.ui
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     <x>0</x>
     <y>0</y>
     <width>476</width>
-    <height>581</height>
+    <height>585</height>
    </rect>
   </property>
   <property name="windowTitle">
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
       <string>Start page options</string>
      </property>
      <layout class="QGridLayout" name="gridLayout">
-      <item row="11" column="1">
+      <item row="12" column="1">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefFileChooser" name="fileChooser_3">
         <property name="toolTip">
          <string>an optional custom folder to be displayed at the bottom of the first page</string>
@@ -55,14 +55,14 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="11" column="0">
+      <item row="12" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_10">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Show additional folder</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="5" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
+      <item row="6" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefColorButton" name="colorButton_3">
         <property name="maximumSize">
          <size>
@@ -88,21 +88,21 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="10" column="0">
+      <item row="11" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_9">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Show examples folder contents</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="0" column="0">
+      <item row="1" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Background color</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="9" column="1">
+      <item row="10" column="1">
        <layout class="QHBoxLayout" name="horizontalLayout">
         <item>
          <widget class="Gui::PrefRadioButton" name="radioButton_2">
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
         </item>
        </layout>
       </item>
-      <item row="1" column="0">
+      <item row="2" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_12">
         <property name="enabled">
          <bool>false</bool>
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="4" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
+      <item row="5" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefColorButton" name="colorButton_2">
         <property name="maximumSize">
          <size>
@@ -177,14 +177,14 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="8" column="0">
+      <item row="9" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_8">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Link color</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="3" column="1">
+      <item row="4" column="1">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefFileChooser" name="fileChooser_2">
         <property name="toolTip">
          <string>an optional image to display as background</string>
@@ -197,21 +197,21 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="13" column="0">
+      <item row="14" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="autoModuleLabel">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Switch workbench after loafing</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="5" column="0">
+      <item row="6" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_4">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Page background color</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="6" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
+      <item row="7" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefColorButton" name="colorButton_4">
         <property name="maximumSize">
          <size>
@@ -237,24 +237,24 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="3" column="0">
+      <item row="4" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_2">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Background image</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="6" column="0">
+      <item row="7" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_5">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Page text color</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="13" column="1">
+      <item row="14" column="1">
        <widget class="QComboBox" name="AutoloadModuleCombo"/>
       </item>
-      <item row="8" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
+      <item row="9" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefColorButton" name="colorButton_6">
         <property name="maximumSize">
          <size>
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="7" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
+      <item row="8" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefColorButton" name="colorButton_5">
         <property name="maximumSize">
          <size>
@@ -306,14 +306,14 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="7" column="0">
+      <item row="8" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_6">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Box background color</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="0" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
+      <item row="1" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefColorButton" name="colorButton_1">
         <property name="maximumSize">
          <size>
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="1" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
+      <item row="2" column="1" alignment="Qt::AlignRight">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefColorButton" name="colorButton_7">
         <property name="enabled">
          <bool>false</bool>
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="9" column="0">
+      <item row="10" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_7">
         <property name="enabled">
          <bool>false</bool>
@@ -378,14 +378,14 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="14" column="0">
+      <item row="15" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_11">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Close start page after loading</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="10" column="1">
+      <item row="11" column="1">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefCheckBox" name="checkBox_1">
         <property name="toolTip">
          <string>if you want the examples to show on the first page</string>
@@ -407,14 +407,14 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="4" column="0">
+      <item row="5" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_3">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Background text color</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="14" column="1">
+      <item row="15" column="1">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefCheckBox" name="checkBox_2">
         <property name="toolTip">
          <string>Should the start page be closed after loading?</string>
@@ -433,14 +433,14 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="15" column="0">
+      <item row="16" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_13">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Close &amp; switch on file open</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="15" column="1">
+      <item row="16" column="1">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefCheckBox" name="checkBox_3">
         <property name="toolTip">
          <string>If FreeCAD is started by opening a file, apply the two settings above</string>
@@ -459,14 +459,14 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="12" column="0">
+      <item row="13" column="0">
        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_14">
         <property name="text">
          <string>Show forum</string>
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
-      <item row="12" column="1">
+      <item row="13" column="1">
        <widget class="Gui::PrefCheckBox" name="checkBox_4">
         <property name="toolTip">
          <string>If this is checked, the latest posts from the FreeCAD forum will be displayed on the Activity tab</string>
@@ -485,6 +485,32 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
+      <item row="0" column="0">
+       <widget class="QLabel" name="label_15">
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Use FreeCAD style sheet</string>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
+      <item row="0" column="1">
+       <widget class="Gui::PrefCheckBox" name="checkBox_5">
+        <property name="toolTip">
+         <string>If this is checked, if a style sheet is specified in General preferences, it will be used and override the colors below</string>
+        </property>
+        <property name="layoutDirection">
+         <enum>Qt::RightToLeft</enum>
+        </property>
+        <property name="text">
+         <string/>
+        </property>
+        <property name="prefEntry" stdset="0">
+         <cstring>UseStyleSheet</cstring>
+        </property>
+        <property name="prefPath" stdset="0">
+         <cstring>Mod/Start</cstring>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
      </layout>
     </widget>
    </item>
diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferencesImp.cpp b/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferencesImp.cpp
index f5b17ee343..ff08ae10f7 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferencesImp.cpp
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/Gui/DlgStartPreferencesImp.cpp
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ void DlgStartPreferencesImp::saveSettings()
     checkBox_2->onSave();
     checkBox_3->onSave();
     checkBox_4->onSave();
+    checkBox_5->onSave();
 }
 
 void DlgStartPreferencesImp::loadSettings()
@@ -120,6 +121,7 @@ void DlgStartPreferencesImp::loadSettings()
     checkBox_2->onRestore();
     checkBox_3->onRestore();
     checkBox_4->onRestore();
+    checkBox_5->onRestore();
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.html b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.html
index 5a082bbe52..0168dc4ce9 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.html
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.html
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
         <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
         <script language="javascript">JS</script>
         <style type="text/css">CSS</style>
+        <!--QSS-->
     </head>
     <body onload="load()">
         <div class="container">
diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py
index 0db98c0470..0f90d2a76d 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ def handle():
     # build the html page skeleton
 
     resources_dir = os.path.join(FreeCAD.getResourceDir(), "Mod", "Start", "StartPage")
-    p = FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Start")
+    p = FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Start")
     template = p.GetString("Template","")
     if template:
         html_filename = template
@@ -176,16 +176,24 @@ def handle():
     css_filename = os.path.join(resources_dir, "StartPage.css")
     with open(html_filename, 'r') as f:
         HTML = f.read()
-
     with open(js_filename, 'r') as f:
         JS = f.read()
-
     with open(css_filename, 'r') as f:
         CSS = f.read()
     HTML = HTML.replace("JS",JS)
     HTML = HTML.replace("CSS",CSS)
 
 
+    # get the stylesheet if we are using one
+
+    if FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Start").GetBool("UseStyleSheet",False):
+        qssfile = FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/MainWindow").GetString("StyleSheet","")
+        if qssfile:
+            with open(qssfile, 'r') as f:
+                ALTCSS = f.read().decode("utf8")
+            HTML = HTML.replace("<!--QSS-->","<style type=\"text/css\">"+ALTCSS+"</style>")
+
+
     # get FreeCAD version
 
     v = FreeCAD.Version()