Microsoft is finally giving Windows 11's File Explorer the fresh coat of paint it deserves

Windows 11 is built on ancient code, and some parts of it are more apparent than others. Fortunately, Microsoft is going through Windows 11's code/UI and tweaking it to look more like something that was released in the 21st century. While it's not official yet, someone has spotted a new File Explorer UI tweak that makes it look much better.

Windows 11's File Explorer is getting a UI adjustment

It's looking pretty great

This discovery was made by PhantomOfEarth over on Bluesky. If this is your first time hearing about his name, Phantom enjoys digging through the Beta and Experimental builds for Windows 11.

These builds usually contain WIP features and additions that Microsoft is still in a rough state, so they're disabled until they're ready for public viewing. Phantom loves to dig through the builds and sniff out these WIP features to see what the Redmond giant is up to.

This time around, Phantom has dug through Experimental build 26300.8935 and found a new WinUI and dark mode adjustment in Windows 11's File Explorer properties window. It's in a really early state right now, as it only appears when you view the properties of a deleted file, but it's already looking really nice.

Windows 11's File Properties sheets are finally getting some WinUI + dark mode love! A modern version of the Properties UI is hidden in Experimental build 26300.8935, currently only for the deleted files dialog with more to come. So nice to see after all these years! 🥳— phantomofearth 🌳 (@phantomofearth.bsky.social)2026-07-21T20:48:48.763Z

Usually, when we cover an Experimental feature, we note that it'll be a little while until it arrives in the release channel. However, given that this is a very early WIP we shouldn't even be looking at right now, it's safe to say this UI tweak will take quite some time before it's ready to be revealed on the Experimental branch, let alone on the release channel.