[Review] Enable Dark Mode in Windows 10 File Explorer

Some readers asked me to review File Explorer’s Dark Mode UI in Windows 10, so I decided to write this article. Today in this article, I’ll tell you how to activate and enable new Dark Mode theme or UI in Windows 10’s File Explorer and will also discuss Dark Mode UI in details.

File Explorer is also known by various other names such as Windows Explorer, This PC, My Computer, Computer or Shell. We use File Explorer to browse through hard disk drives, directories, external drives, etc. Whenever we need to perform any operation (cut, copy, delete, rename) on files/folders, we just launch File Explorer.

We can launch File Explorer by double-clicking on This PC icon on Desktop or by pressing WIN+E hotkey. Most people prefer to use the WIN+E keyboard shortcut to open File Explorer.

When Windows 10 was launched, it came with Dark Mode or dark theme feature but dark mode was available only for UWP apps (also known as Store apps or modern apps). Dark mode was not available for Win32 or desktop programs which are also known as traditional software programs.

Windows 10 users can activate and enable the built-in Dark Mode using Settings app. Open Settings app using WIN+I hotkey, go to Personalization -> Colors page and select Dark app mode.

Detailed instructions are given in following tutorial:

[Tip] Enable Dark or Light Theme Modes in Windows 10

Now the good news is that newer versions of Windows 10 comes with support of Dark Mode for File Explorer as well. So if you enable Dark app mode in Settings app, dark mode will also apply on File Explorer.

When you apply Dark app mode, File Explorer looks awesome as shown in following screenshot:

All areas containing White color are replaced by dark Grey or Black color in Dark Mode. If you are interested in the exact dark color hex code which is used by File Explorer’s Dark Mode, here are the details:

The titlebar and ribbon use absolute Black color #000000. The Navigation Pane uses #191919 color and Preview Pane/Details Pane use #202020 color in Dark Mode. The main area containing drives, files/folders icons also uses #202020 color. The Status Bar is shown using #333333 color in Dark Mode.

The context menu (right-click menu) is also shown in dark color #2B2B2B as shown in following screenshot:

Same #2B2B2B color is applied on Ribbon menu. When you click on File menu in Ribbon, it shows the menu in dark color as shown in following screenshot:

If you expand the Ribbon toolbar, the toolbar also displays in dark color #202020 similar to Preview Pane and Details Pane.

I found one disappointing thing. If you open Properties window of a drive/file/folder, it is not shown in dark colors which means Dark Mode is not applied on Properties window. Following screenshot shows White Properties window in Dark File Explorer:

I hope Microsoft will fix this glitch in upcoming versions of Windows 10. Overall the Dark Mode in File Explorer looks perfect and will definitely please Dark or Black UI lovers.

Also Check:

[Review] New “Light Theme” or “Light Mode” in Windows 10

[Windows 10 Tip] Enjoy Dark Theme in All Websites and Software Programs