Make Microsoft Edge your own with themes

Microsoft

Browsers are very personal. Much of what we do on a computer happens in a web browser, and like anything you use frequently it’s important to be able to make it your own. We’ve heard your requests to make Edge more personal with themes, and today we’re excited to announce that we’ve added over two dozen themes to the Microsoft Edge Add-ons site.

 

 

Themes change the look and feel of your browser to create a beautiful and immersive visual experience. They can also be helpful for distinguishing your different profiles to help you separate home, school or work accounts. When you apply a theme, you’ll notice a new background on your new tab page. Your tabs, address bar, and other parts of the browser will also take on the look of the theme for a more immersive experience. We’ve even added support for vertical tabs, a new feature you Insiders have been helping us test.

 

You’ll find a wide variety of launch themes in the Add-ons site to help you show off your current mood or interest. We’ve also partnered with Xbox to offer themes from your favorite franchises, including Halo, Gears, Forza, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and more. All of these themes are available exclusively in Microsoft Edge. And if you don’t find one you want, you can also install themes from other stores, including the Chrome Web Store.

 

Of course, this is just the beginning. We’ll continue growing our collection of themes, and in the coming months we’ll be adding support for anyone to submit their own themes. Soon, you’ll even be able to select a theme color directly from the Edge Settings as well.

 

Themes make Microsoft Edge more personal and fun, and we’re so excited to hear what you think. Let us know which theme is your favorite in the comments! And keep an eye on the Microsoft Edge Add-ons site for more themes in the future.

 

William Devereux, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Edge

61 Replies
Yeah the fact that it gets boring is important, the Bing daily images spoiled us
Yup, WonderWoman was better with the themes but just having the same picture is just borring. I just use it for the color of Edge. Bing and Windows Spolight are awesome and we are being spoiled lol
Yeah I change the NTP picture manually
Yeah, but Bing images are superior
Sometimes, my own handpicked images are better for me lol
Hey Kevin! Just to confirm--do you have the same theme installed on both machines? And are they both running the same version and channel of Edge?

Thanks for all of the great feedback on themes! I love both the themes and the Bing Image of the Day, so I often alternate between the theme's image and the Image of the Day on the NTP. Pro tip: You can install a theme and switch just the NTP back to the Image of the Day, that way you can still see the theme color alongside Bing's beautiful imagery. We specifically designed the themes with different colors and styles so you can use them alongside the Image of the Day if you want.

Sometimes I find one of the Bing daily pictures to be my favorite and want to keep it for more than just a day, wish there was a button to do that.
I mean I know I can manually download the Bing image from the Internet and set it as a custom image on NTP but a simple pause/resume button on daily images would be easy for the average user :)
I like that idea "pause/resume" That would great to added in.

Dennis5mile
It would be nice if you can set it as a rotation of Bing image and the theme.

@William Devereux there doesn't seem to be an easy way to switch between 2 custom themes that I have installed without 'reinstalling' one of them. I have scoured the UI to find such an option and have been unable to find it.

 

Edge Installation Information

Version 88.0.705.50 (Official build) (64-bit) running on Windows 10 1909 18363.1256

 

If I go to Settings > Appearance > Custom Theme I see the following microcopy:

Get themes from the Microsoft Edge Add-On Store or other stores. Currently using: Grounded – Ground War.

I cannot find any option within the Appearance UI to change the currently selected custom theme to the other one that I have installed (Halo - Haven)

 

The only way I am able to change the custom theme is by clicking on the hyperlinked microcopy Grounded - Ground War and 'installing' the Halo - Haven custom theme again - even though I had previously 'installed' it.

 

Proposed Solution

 

(1) Insert a drop-down box into the Appearance Settings UI that enables users to switch between installed custom themes.

 

(2) List all installed custom themes when a user visits the Extensions UI, with a heading of Installed Custom Themes and 3 sub-headings:

a. Custom themes installed from the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store

b. Custom themes installed from the Google Chrome Webstore

c. Custom themes installed from other webstores

 

More Context Relating to Confusing UX for Edge Add-ons Theme Page

 

What makes this experience all the more confusing is the microcopy on the Edge Add-ons theme page. The microcopy displayed after I click the Get Theme button is as follows:

Add-on already installed on your browser

 

This implies to the user that the theme has been installed and can be recalled or viewed within the browser UI. This implication is true in a limited sense: The user can only view the currently installed custom theme in the browser UI.

 

If a user 'installs' another custom theme from the Edge Add-ons theme page and returns to the Appearance Settings UI, any themes that were previously 'installed' is no longer visible.

 

This UX is confusing because the implication behind 'installing' something means it is retained or stored within the software.

 

Not being able to view previously 'installed' custom themes results in confusion and user friction.

 

Warmly,

 

Jay from :sun_with_face::globe_showing_asia_australia:🦘

 

Hmm, i guess so, but given how theme installation requires user interaction and there is no single place like extensions (edge://extensions/), to manage installed themes, don't think it's possible atm.
what is this, the early 2000s? Just plain ugly

focus on simple color scheme selection,, not gaudy background images
Well, it isn't that bad. They did have a simple color, what is wrong with the background iamges? Edge team didnt make them, it was xbox
It is jsut a start and more is coming.
I want the opposite, to not have simple colors, but have textures and patterns too.
Yeah, well to have patterns and colors would be great like the office themes!!! I can't wait, I want some awesome animal ones or just import some from the Windows Themes in the MS Store. That would be very nice, imo
Yeah, alright
Reply on Thursday