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

Recently someone asked me to review new Light Theme present in Windows 10 operating system. So here is my detailed review with screenshots.

Microsoft has introduced a new “Light Theme” or “Light Mode” in newer versions of Windows 10 operating system. The new “Light Theme” was first introduced or implemented in build 18282 when Windows 10 19H1 i.e. May 2019 Update was under development and testing phase. Later it was made available to all with the release of Windows 10 May 2019 feature update version 1903 on May 21, 2019.

Light theme can be activated and enabled using Settings app in Windows 10. Just open Settings app using WIN+I keyboard shortcut or selecting Settings from Start Menu. Now go to Personalization -> Colors section and there you can select Light, Dark or Custom options from the “Choose your color” drop-down box as shown in following screenshot:

NOTE: If you clean/fresh install Windows 10 newer versions in your computer, Light theme is applied by default.

PS: If you select “Custom” option, you can select Light or Dark themes separately for apps and Windows UI elements.

In previous versions of Windows 10, no matter what option did you select (Dark or Light), the Start Menu, Taskbar, Action Center and other fly-outs (pop-ups) in notification area (system tray) were always dark. Even the context menus (right-click menus) in Taskbar and Start Menu were dark. The Light theme was not applied system-wide.

That’s why to overcome this issue, Microsoft introduced the new “Light Theme” or “Light Mode” in newer versions of Windows 10. Now when Light theme is applied, everything including Start Menu, Taskbar, Action Center, fly-outs and context menus start using new light theme UI with acrylic design effects.

Following screenshots show all UI elements in new “Light Theme” or “Light Mode” in Windows 10:

Complete Desktop in Light Theme Mode:

Grey Taskbar in Light Theme Mode:

Start Menu in Light Theme Mode:

Start Menu Expanded Left-side Pane in Light Theme Mode:

Action Center in Light Theme Mode:

Fly-outs in Light Theme Mode:

Context Menus in Light Theme Mode:

And the new default Windows Light Wallpaper for Light Theme Mode:

You can see in above screenshots, everything is converted in Light mode to match the new Light theme in Windows 10. Even the taskbar notification area icons are also changed to match the new theme.

Light theme or UI lovers will definitely love the new Light Theme in Windows 10.

PS: If you don’t like the new Light Theme in Windows 10 and want to get back dark colorized Taskbar, Start Menu, Action Center and other UI elements, following tutorial will help you:

[Tip] Get Dark Colorized Taskbar and Start Menu Back in Windows 10

Also Check:

[Fix] Show Accent Color on Start, Taskbar and Action Center Option Grayed Out in Windows 10 Settings

[Review] Enable Dark Mode in Windows 10 File Explorer