It’s widely known at this point that Windows 11’s dark mode is woefully incomplete. In fact, dark mode on Windows has been unfinished for the better part of a decade, with various areas of the system still without consistent dark mode support in commonly viewed UI surfaces such as copy dialogs and file popups to this day.
Luckily, it seems that won’t be the case much longer. Microsoft has now confirmed that it’s working on adding dark mode to more areas of the Windows 11 interface, starting with prominent areas of the File Explorer and other legacy popup windows like the Run dialog.
The new dark mode improvements are now already in testing with the latest Windows 11 preview builds, and here’s what Microsoft is adding dark mode to so far:
- The default and expanded state for copy, move, and delete dialogs
- Progress bars and chart views
- Dialogs for confirming states like skip, override, and file selection
- Multiple confirmation and error dialogs
- Run prompt window
These are the updated interfaces so far, but I understand that Microsoft is working to bring dark mode to even more legacy UI surfaces, including file property dialogs, in the coming weeks. Ultimately, it seems Microsoft is finally taking dark mode on Windows 11 seriously and is working to complete it (or at the very least, make it more consistent across the OS.)
Until now, dark mode on Windows 11 has been somewhat of a minefield, primarily because of how inconsistently it was applied across the system. You never know when you’re going to be flash banged by an interface that isn’t themed correctly in dark mode, resulting in commonly viewed UI surfaces like file copy and confirmation popups hurting your eyes when working late at night.
Hopefully, with Microsoft refocusing its efforts on finishing dark mode on Windows 11, the company has found renewed interest in ensuring design and experiences on Windows 11 feel complete. Recently, Microsoft finally added animations to app preview thumbnails on the Taskbar, and redesigned the BSOD screen to be more in-line with Windows 11’s design language.
The company is also rumored to be bringing video wallpapers to Windows 11, which would go a long way toward making Windows feel more customizable and complete. Ultimately, with these new dark mode improvements on the way, I’m hopeful that Microsoft is once again focused on the small and important details when it comes to OS design on Windows.
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