Despite an announcement to the contrary, Windows 11 will ship with the more traditional light mode activated by default.
At a recent event, a Microsoft employee had announced the company would ship Windows 11 with dark mode on by default. Dark mode is a popular choice across platforms, supported by macOS, Windows, iOS, Android and Linux.
Users who were excited about such a visibly obvious refresh are in for a disappointment, as Microsoft has backtracked in a statement to BetaNews.
We are aware that inaccurate information about Windows 11 shipping in dark mode on by default to all commercial SKUs was recently shared and apologize for the confusion. To clarify, Microsoft will ship Windows 11 SKUs in light mode on by default. However, OEMs can choose to ship their devices in dark mode and customers will have the choice to easily customize their experience in Settings to dark mode or light mode. As with all of our products, we will continue listening to customer feedback to ensure Windows 11 meets customers’ needs, wherever they are in their computing journey.
At least dark mode will still be available on Microsoft 11, but it will require manual activation, unless a specific OEM choose to ship their computers with it on by default.