Summary
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Windows 11 File Explorer has a modernized Features UI hidden in the Experimental build.
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New UI shows WinUI and dark mode changes, but only visible for deleted files.
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This is an early WIP on the 26300.8935 Experimental build, so the public release will take time.
Windows 11 is built on some ancient code, and some parts of it are more obvious than others. Fortunately, Microsoft is reviewing the code and user interface of Windows 11 and making it look more like something released in the 21st century. Although not official yet, someone has spotted a new File Explorer UI tweak that makes it look better.
Windows 11’s File Explorer is getting a UI overhaul
It looks very nice
This discovery was made by PhantomOfEarth on Bluesky. If you’re hearing his name for the first time, Phantom is a pleasure to explore in Beta and Experimental builds for Windows 11.
These builds usually contain WIP features and add-ons that Microsoft is still struggling with, so they’re disabled until they’re ready for public preview. Phantom loves digging into builds and sniffing those WIP features to see what the Redmond giant is up to.
This time, Phantom discovered Experimental build 26300.8935 and found a new WinUI and dark mode tweak in Windows 11’s File Explorer properties window. It’s really early right now because it’s only visible when you view the properties of the deleted file, but it already looks really nice.
Usually, when we cover an Experimental feature, we note that it will be a while before it reaches the release channel. However, given how this is a very early WIP that we shouldn’t even look at right now, it’s safe to say that it’s going to take a long time for this UI tweak to be ready to show up in the Experimental section, let alone a release channel.
