- Windows 11 has a new preview update
- It includes improvements to dark mode, but also introduced a bug
- The error causes a white flash every time a folder is opened and when various other actions are performed with File Explorer
Windows 11’s latest preview update has an unfortunate side effect of causing a nasty visual error with File Explorer when using dark mode.
The Verge noted that the optional update for November (KB5070311, which actually arrived in early December, unusually) has a known issue with File Explorer — in other words, the folders on your desktop.
Microsoft informs us that: “After installing KB5070311, you may experience issues when opening File Explorer in dark mode. The window may briefly display a blank white screen before loading files and folders.”
What this means is that when you open a folder, you may be treated to a short white flash on the screen. As Microsoft makes clear, this can also happen not only when File Explorer is launched, but also when you open a new tab in Explorer, or navigate to (or away from) the Home or Gallery panels, turn the details pane on or off, or select ‘More details’ when copying a file.
The latter two are rarer acts, granted. But you’ll still get white flashes with every folder or tab opened, or when you go to or leave Home or Gallery in File Explorer, which can be fairly frequent steps you take on your Windows 11 PC.
Microsoft says it’s “working to fix this issue” and will provide us with more details as they become available.
Analysis: Argh, my eyes…
For now, affected users will just have to put up with this; and remember, this happens when you use dark mode, which people will probably have turned on in low light environments, maybe late evening or at night, and a bright white flash from the screen will be quite jarring in such light conditions.
Okay, so this is a preview and most people don’t download these optional updates for Windows 11, so luckily most won’t experience this problem.
The release of the preview at the end of the month (well, in this case, start of the month) will be the next full update, and then Microsoft better get this fixed quickly or else will be a problem for many people. In fact, the full cumulative update for December in Windows 11 arrives next week (Tuesday, December 9), so that doesn’t give Microsoft much time.
The kicker here is that this preview update brought dark mode to several parts of the File Explorer interface—dialog boxes for moving, copying, or deleting files and other such operations (as already seen in testing)—so that should be an improvement to the overall consistency of using this mode (in addition to a lot of other recent dark mode work). Previously, these dialog boxes were still white, not dark, which was jarring in itself – but not as annoying as white flashes assaulting your eyeballs in a dimly lit room.
As is all too often the case these days, Microsoft gives patches with one hand and takes with the other.
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