For some, dark mode is a helpful way to use devices with bright screens at night. For others, dark mode is an aesthetic choice, and they use the theme throughout the day.
OS-level dark mode, the ability to match the theme of all apps and windows on your device, is the dream, but it’s just that for Windows 11 users. Even with its system dark theme, Windows 11 has plenty of elements that are still light mode only. Your eyes might be perfectly adjusted to gray and black windows, when all of a sudden, you’re blinded by a bright white window. Madness.
Microsoft’s dark mode experiments
That might be changing, however. As discovered by phantomofearth (via The Verge), Microsoft is working on adding dark mode to some previously light mode-exclusive elements. Specifically, that includes file operation dialogs like copying, access denied, and delete multiple items.
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Phantomofearth notes that these dark mode dialogs are present in the preview build for Windows 11 version 26100.5061 (26100.4946 is the current public build at this time) and notes that this is still clearly a work in progress, as some elements here are still in light mode. (Take note of the “Continue” and “Skip” buttons on the Folder Access Denied window.)
Still, it’s a big improvement. Users running the latest public build in dark mode will be met with bright white file operation dialogs any time they try to delete multiple items or try to run a task they don’t have permission for. Any Windows Insiders running 26100.5061 will have their eyes spared.
The Verge’s Tom Warren notes that Microsoft has not made any announcements regarding this dark mode expansion, so it’s really up to each user how to interpret these tests. Microsoft could be making some incremental changes, or they could be laying the groundwork for a true dark mode upgrade in a future update. Warren stresses that three key Windows 11 elements—The Control Panel, Run prompt, and file properties UI—still only have light mode windows, so there are definitely opportunities for Microsoft to improve dark mode here.
