After months of testing with Windows Insiders, Microsoft has finally brought dark theme support to the Paint app for all Windows 11 users. However, as Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc pointed out, this is a phased rollout, meaning not everyone running Windows 11 will immediately see it on the Paint app.
It’s worth pointing out, though, no matter which theme you apply in Paint, the canvas color won’t change. Except for the canvas area, the dark theme will be applied everywhere in the app once you switch to it. Also, it respects your Windows 11 theme settings, meaning the app will automatically switch to dark mode if your PC has the dark theme set as default. You can change the app theme from the app settings (gear icon at the top left side of the app).
Another change rolling out to the Paint app is enhanced zoom controls. Part of the enhancements include fine-tuning your zoom level with custom values. For example, you can zoom your canvas to 101.15 percentage points. Previously, the zoom levels were available only in whole numbers. In addition, you’ll also see the “Fit to window” option on the left side of the zoom control drop-down menu.
Apart from the dark support and enhancements to zoom control, the Paint app will continue to offer classic zoom presets, the slider, or the pinch-to-zoom gesture on touchscreen-enabled computers. On top of all these, you also get accessibility and usability improvements to dialogue boxes in the app. You’ll also see improved access key and keyboard shortcut support for easier navigation.
If you use the Paint app and do care about everything Microsoft has started rolling out, look for an update to the Paint app that takes the version number to 11.2304.30.0. Again, while the rollout has begun, you may not see it right now, as it’s being made available in a phased manner. So, hold your horses until Microsoft pushes an update to your Paint app.