Windows 11’s dark mode remains a work in progress for Microsoft

Microsoft’s approach to Windows 11 means that the operating system is never complete. This is evident in many areas, including dark mode.

Like so many companies, Microsoft jumped on the dark mode bandwagon quite some time ago – almost a decade ago, in fact. Work started on the eye-saving option back in Windows 10 but it is still not complete. However there are signs that Microsoft has not given up, and there are still more changes to come.

You would like that simply introducing darker hues across Windows would be a relatively simple task, but this would appear not to be the case. Even after all these years there remain numerous elements of the Windows 11 interface. It is as though Microsoft is taking much the same attitude towards dark mode as it is to the death of the Control Panel.

The transition from the Control Panel to the Settings app has been painfully slow. This is again a process that started many years ago but remains incomplete. While Microsoft occasionally says something about an old Control panel option making its way into Settings, the company has not said anything about the work that still needs to be done to dark mode for quite some time.

But it has been noticed that the company has not forgotten the work it started. PhantomOfEarth – yet again – has uncovered yet-to-be-released work by Microsoft developers that show that there is still work being done and progress being made on Windows 11’s dark mode.

Writing on X, they note that dialogs that had seemingly been forgotten have finally received some attention:

Windows 11's file operation (copy, access denied, etc.) dialogs are FINALLY getting support for dark mode! Here's how the dialogs look in dark mode at this point, hidden in build 26100.5061.

Work continues on Windows 11 dark mode

While far from being a groundbreaking change, anyone who has been frustrated by mismatched elements of the Windows interface will be pleased to see the latest developments.

So why is it taking Microsoft quite so long?

While it would be easy – very easy, in fact – to criticize Microsoft for working slowly, the truth of the matter is that any system-wide change is a massive undertaking. It is far from just being as simple as adding a filter to make everything dark; there are many, many things to consider.

In the case of the copy dialog, for instance, there is the visibility of icons and animations to consider, the risk of making things less accessible in an age when accessibility is highly valued, and the danger of a seemingly minor color change just looking weird.

It is fair to say that Microsoft could – probably should – have done this faster, but it is understandably not a priority. Getting dark mode just right takes a lot of work hours, and there are plenty of other things in Windows that are in more desperate need of attention.

But even though we can see that Microsoft is still working away on dark mode, the fact that these latest changes remain hidden away, inaccessible to most people, in a preview build of the operating system is evidence that the company does not feel, even after all these years, that the most recent work is ready for public consumption.

Could we see a big update to dark mode when Windows 25H2 sees the light of day later this year? It is possible of course, but it seems more likely that we’ll continue to see tiny, incremental changes here and there over yet more years.

Are there areas of Windows 11 that you have noticed are still in need of updating with dark mode? Which glaring oversights stand out the most to you?