Microsoft is planning to eliminate the File Explorer "Properties" dialog box inherited from the Windows 95 era in Windows 11, and completely replace this decades-old component with a modern interface based on WinUI 3 to coordinate with its ongoing performance and reliability improvement projects. On the surface, the current Windows 11 has achieved a fairly unified and modern visual effect through new frameworks such as WebView2, but as long as you dig a little deeper into the system, you will find that various legacy interfaces are still everywhere, and the properties window of File Explorer is one of the most typical examples.
In Windows 11, the File Explorer itself has received updates such as multi-tab pages, a new address bar, and a modern gallery view with a smooth scrolling experience. However, when the user right-clicks on a file and selects "Properties", what pops up is still an old dialog box whose style is stuck in the last century. Especially when the system turns on dark mode, this traditional Win32 properties window that still maintains a pure white background is almost like a "flash bomb" in a dim environment, causing a clear sense of fragmentation and discomfort to users who are accustomed to dark interfaces.
New findings from Windows 11 beta builds reveal that Microsoft is actively developing a fully modernized WinUI 3-based file properties dialog box. While digging through the code in the latest Insider Preview build, well-known Windows watcher "phantomofearth" noticed multiple new "DeletedFileProperties" related strings in the MicrosoftWindows.Client.FileExp (i.e. Modern File Explorer Framework) resource file resources.pri. These strings are identical to the text in the existing legacy "Deleted File Properties" dialog box, and this migration provides a strong signal that Microsoft is ready to replace the old properties window with a modern component.
In further communication with Windows Latest, phantomofearth said that combined with the current file explorer, the address bar, search box, command bar, details pane, home page and gallery have all adopted WinUI 3. In fact, he is "almost certain" that what Microsoft is building is a set of properties dialog boxes for WinUI 3. In his view, it would be surprising if the new property window that Microsoft finally launched was not based on WinUI 3, because it would be unreasonable to choose other solutions when the technology stack has been used on a large scale. He also pointed out that if Microsoft had no plans to modernize the properties dialog box, there would be no need to specifically migrate its related strings to the modern File Explorer resource pack.
The problem that the properties dialog box has not supported dark mode for a long time has a more logical explanation. In Windows 11, there are still some legacy components that have been updated with simple Dark Mode switches or visual tweaks, but the file properties menu has always remained the same, leaving many power users asking for years why. According to phantomofearth, if this component itself has been included in the replacement plan, Microsoft will have no incentive to invest in dark mode adaptation on the old Win32 dialog box, but will directly solve it in the new WinUI 3 native version. Windows Latest has previously confirmed that Microsoft is gradually replacing the remaining Windows 8 era interface elements in Windows 11. Now that the strings related to the properties dialog box have been migrated to the modern framework, it further indicates that the company is systematically cleaning up the historical legacy UI of the operating system.
From an architectural perspective, rewriting the properties dialog box with WinUI 3 can help alleviate the performance issues caused by the current mess of File Explorer code. The current resource manager still superimposes modern components such as XAML and WinUI on the old Win32 basis. This mixed rendering mode is considered to be one of the reasons for the occasional lag, white screen flickering and other experience problems in the application. Previous reports have shown that Microsoft is fulfilling its promise of "fixing Windows 11" through a series of updates in 2026. One of the important tasks is to carry out deep architectural optimization of the Resource Manager and introduce more WinUI 3 elements in a progressive manner to bring continuous perceptible performance improvements. Replacing the legacy properties dialog with a native WinUI 3 version coincides with the promise of "real-world improvements in performance, reliability, and polish" that Windows Insider lead Marcus Ash recently mentioned.
On the visual level, users may also be able to get a glimpse of the general style of the new properties dialog box from other recent updates. For example, the modern version of the "Run" dialog box (Win+R) hidden in Windows 11 has appeared in Insider, and its overall design is lighter and slimmer, closer to the smooth look and feel of the rest of the system's WinUI 3 interface. If Microsoft continues this design language, then the new properties dialog box is also expected to get rid of the sense of "old-school tool window" and instead present a more unified, soft and modern appearance, while natively supporting dark mode.
Currently, this modern properties dialog box is still hidden in the resource file of the Insider preview version and has not yet been officially opened to test users, but its existence means that it is not far from entering the extensive testing stage. The report speculates that this component is expected to be pushed to some users in the Experimental Channel together with other upcoming interface improvements, and the time window may fall later this year. For users who have been troubled by the glaring white properties window for a long time, the day to say goodbye to this "Windows 95 legacy" is approaching step by step.