Microsoft May ‘Fix’ Windows 11 Dark Mode
For some, dark mode is a convenient way to use devices with bright screens at night. For others, dark mode is an aesthetic choice and they use it throughout the day.
An OS-level dark mode that lets you customize the look of every app and window on your device is a dream, but only for Windows 11 users. Even with a system-wide dark theme, Windows 11 has a lot of elements that are only available in light mode. Your eyes may be perfectly accustomed to gray and black windows, but suddenly you’re blinded by a bright white window. Insanity.
Microsoft Experiments With Dark Mode
That could change, however. As phantomofearth (via The Verge ) discovered , Microsoft is working on adding dark mode to some previously light-only elements. Specifically, dialog boxes for file operations like copy, deny access, and delete multiple items.
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Phantomofearth notes that these dark mode dialogs are present in Windows 11 preview build 26100.5061 (the current public build is 26100.4946), and notes that this version is still a work in progress, as some elements are still presented in light mode. (Note the Continue and Skip buttons in the Folder Access Denied dialog.)
Still, it’s a significant improvement. Users of the latest public build in Dark Mode will see bright white file operation dialogs when they try to delete multiple items or run a task they don’t have permission to do. All Windows Insiders running version 26100.5061 will be fine.
The Verge’s Tom Warren notes that Microsoft hasn’t made any announcements about expanding dark mode, so it’s up to each user to interpret the test results. It’s possible that Microsoft is making some incremental changes, or laying the groundwork for a full-blown dark mode update in a future update. Warren points out that three key parts of Windows 11 — the Control Panel, the Run command prompt, and the file properties interface — still only support light mode, so there’s definitely room for Microsoft to improve dark mode.