How to get Windows 10’s dark theme right now

You can get this cool black-and-gray theme right now with a registry hack.

Some of you have been asking about the dark black-and-gray theme I’ve been sporting in my Windows 10 screenshots.

I’ve actually been using this theme because I’m running the latest version of the Windows 10Insider Preview. In it, Microsoft has added a toggle that lets you switch between the default light theme and my current dark theme in theSettings menu. It’s under Personalization > Colors > Choose your app mode (Light or Dark).

A few tweaks can turn on this darker mode before the update.

This option will be available to all Windows 10 users when the Windows 10 Anniversary Update drops on August 2. But for those of you who can’t wait until then, you can enable this dark theme right now — without becoming a Windows 10 Insider — through the Windows Registry.

The usual registry warnings apply: Tweaking things in the Windows Registry is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing (or if you can’t follow instructions exactly), and you do risk actually bricking your devices. Therefore we do not recommend you attempt any registry hacking unless you are already very comfortable working inside the registry.

Make changes in the registry at your own risk.

1. Right-click the Start menu and choose Run from the menu that pops up. Type regedit in the Run window and click OK to open the Registry Editor. If you see a User Access Control window pop up, clickYes to proceed.

2. In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Themes > Personalize.

You may not see Personalize under Themes. If this is the case, you will need to create the Personalize sub-key yourself. To do this, right-click Themes and go to New > Key. Name this key Personalize.

3. Right-click Personalize (or right-click inside the Personalize folder) and go to New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this DWORD AppsUseLightTheme. The value will automatically be set to 0, which is the value you want.

4. Repeat these steps for HKEY_CURRENT_USER > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Themes > Personalize.

5. Log out and log back in, and you should now see the dark theme. To switch back to the light theme, change both AppsUseLightTheme values to 1 (right-click the value and click Modify), or delete both DWORDs.