File Explorer
Image Courtesy: Microsoft.com

Microsoft recently started work on a dark theme for File Explorer in Windows 10 and an early implementation was discovered in April. Microsoft is today rolling out Windows 10 Build 17666 to the Windows Insiders in Fast Ring, and the update finally launches the new File Explorer.

In the past few months, Microsoft has been expanding the dark theme across the key elements of Windows 10. Starting with Redstone 5 update, Microsoft is bringing Dark Theme to the File Explorer, and today the company has announced the upcoming changes for File Explorer in a blog post.

Windows 10 Build 17666, released to users enrolled in the Fast and Skip Ahead rings, comes with an update in this regard. The new File Explorer is available in Build 17666 and it can be enabled from Settings > Personalization > Colors. Microsoft has also added dark theme support to the File Explorer context menu and Common File Dialog.

“Since releasing this feature, our top feedback request from you has been to update File Explorer to support the dark theme, and with today’s build it’s happening,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

What’s important to know is that this dark visual style is in early development and you will see some unexpected light colours in File Explorer. The company is, however, working on a fix. The dark theme for File Explorer is expected to evolve before the public.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the body, right pane and the address bar are black. Again, it’s worth noting that this is an early implementation with some glitches and the UI will be improved to look a lot better by the time Microsoft finalizes the next update for Windows 10.

It appears that the software giant appears is more interested in improving the desktop File Explorer, and there’s no word on UWP sibling just yet. The UWP version of File Explorer could be launched with Windows Core OS in the fall.

Microsoft is finally accelerating the development of next Windows 10 update, and similar changes are expected in the upcoming builds. The File Explorer could be updated in next preview builds with improved Dark Theme and similar changes ahead of the public launch for everyone in the fall. Windows 10 Redstone 5 update is projected to finalize by September and it could be released in October.

About The Author

Mayank Parmar

Mayank Parmar is an entrepreneur who founded Windows Latest. He is the Editor-in-Chief and has written on various topics in his seven years of career, but he is mostly known for his well-researched work on Microsoft's Windows. His articles and research works have been referred to by CNN, Business Insiders, Forbes, Fortune, CBS Interactive, Microsoft and many others over the years.