Many Windows 11 PCs will ship in Dark Mode by default

A Leaked Screenshot Of Windows 11 Dark Mode
(Image credit: ALumia_Italia)

Commercial SKUs of Windows 11 will have Dark Mode enabled by default, a major shift that cements the eye-saving theme as the preferred option for users the world over.

Microsoft announced the shift during its Inspire event last week. "Since we're spending so much more time staring at bright screens, not just for endless email, but also countless meetings plus keeping up with our personal lives, to give your eyes a rest, we're going to ship all of the Windows 11 commercial SKUs in that IT favorite, beautiful dark mode, by default."

Users who prefer the current default Light Mode can turn that on in the Personalization Menu for Windows 11 much the same way Dark Mode is activated now. 

What is Windows 11 Dark Mode?

Windows 11 Dark Mode is a UI Theme that uses dark backgrounds and bright text and other UI elements rather than bright backgrounds and dark text. 

This greatly reduces eye strain from staring at screens for extended periods of time and so is becoming more popular with a lot of different apps and sites like Facebook, Twitter, and others. As Windows Central points out, Microsoft itself has rolled out Dark Mode to several of its major apps in addition to its Windows 10 operating system.

Originally, back in the old CRT computer monitor days, "Dark Mode" was the default for computer terminals and other displays that utilized a command line interface, but with the widespread introduction of the graphical user interface in Apple Macintosh computers in the 1980s, the bright white "desktop" became the default theme, something that carries on to today's PCs and mobile devices.

John Loeffler
Components Editor

John (He/Him) is the Components Editor here at TechRadar and he is also a programmer, gamer, activist, and Brooklyn College alum currently living in Brooklyn, NY. 


Named by the CTA as a CES 2020 Media Trailblazer for his science and technology reporting, John specializes in all areas of computer science, including industry news, hardware reviews, PC gaming, as well as general science writing and the social impact of the tech industry.


You can find him online on Threads @johnloeffler.


Currently playing: Baldur's Gate 3 (just like everyone else).