Although with Windows 11 many of the Pre-installed system apps got a faceliftOthers keep waiting and receiving small updates as the months go by. One of them is Paint, which although it has a more modern interface and in keeping with the style of the new Windows, it still does not have a dark mode.
If this is something that interests you and you prefer not to wait for Microsoft to deign to add it (in months, years or … never), you can get it right away thanks to the work of the developer Ahmed Walid que ha creado a modified version of the Paint app for Windows 11 with dark mode. The installation is very simple and we explain how to do it.
How to install Paint with dark mode in Windows 11
Thanks to @FireCubeStudios we have an extremely simple way to use the modified packages that Ahmed created. You don’t have to be an Insider of Windows 11, it works with the stable version, you just need to follow these steps and keep a couple of important things in mind: you will have to uninstall your current version of Paint, and you will not be able to switch back to clear mode unless you uninstall this version and reinstall the “normal” version.
We recommend creating a restore point before starting so you can return everything to its original state in one click if you don’t like the results.
Uninstall Paint: Setting > Applications > Applications and Features > Paint (click on the three vertical dots button)> Uninstall:
Open the Windows Terminal as Administrator: Right click on the start button + Windows Terminal (Administrator)
Install the new Paint with dark mode using the command
Add-AppxPackage -Register .AppxManifest.xml
You will need to replace the “.” before ” AppxManifest.xml” in this code with the path where you have downloaded and extracted the above packages. For example, in my case I have extracted the packages in the path C:UsersgabriDownloadsPaint_11.2110.43.0_x64
. There is the AppxManifest.xml file, so the command I have typed in the terminal is: Add-AppxPackage -Register C:UsersgabriDownloadsPaint_11.2110.43.0_x64AppxManifest.xml
Once you press Enter, Paint is ready to use. You just have to look for it in your list of applications and when you start it for the first time you will see that it uses dark mode. However, the canvas remains white even though the rest of the interface is now dark.