Forum Discussion
Make Microsoft Edge your own with themes
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
This is great, but I'd like to see a small platform in Addons store where users can make themes and share them on the store, without knowing how to code.
other people can download user-created themes, rate them etc.this will be great for Edge browser and people will love it.
- cheeseleaderSteel ContributorThese theme have been made with some effort and are not from chrome. After several days of trying I am not using theme because they did not change address bar and menu.
The idea of user creating themes easily without coding requirement appeals to me.
Can you please make it so that the custom image on new tab page that we upload ( not to be confused with custom theme ) is not darkened a bit like it currently is?
Can you provide light theme for inprivate mode like original edge did?
What appeals to me is the idea of using edge out of box with no customisation. It is not a looker anymore ever since chromium was adopted. I sometimes saved images when I came across edgeHtml version. Not here. That needs to be changed.
I digress but this is also a reason a native adblocker is needed that is switched on by default. Most chrome users probably don't use adblocker, so when they try edge they'll get a clutter free feel they don't get in chrome.
Finally, menus must be made shorter, more visual and approachable. Opera does it best among all browsers.- DeletedHello,
Those are very great suggestions; it would be great if you can send some feedback about those suggestions!!
Shawn
- Deletedhttps://www.themebeta.com/chrome-theme-creator-online.html
This is a great example, it would be great for starters, the person can pick a image they want and have a eye picker to pick the color. - dgnuffCopper ContributorThis is something I consider very important. You talk of "personalizing" Edge with themes, but when the rubber actually hits the road, it's not really personalization, it's just using a design that someone else somewhere thought was a good idea. Not even a little bit personal, because I didn't design it, someone else did.
What you need to do is talk to the team that develop Microsoft Visual Studio, and take a look at the customization of that program. They got it right, you can modify every imaginable aspect of the UI, and they even developed an addon that allows the creation of fully customized themes.
One area that really needs user selection is in title bar colorization. Since I run with a deep blue title bar, the black text that Edge insists on using is completely unreadable. I need some way to set it to white, or better yet, use the solution that Samsung use on their smartphones for the status line at the top. They actually analyze the current background image, and automatically switch between white and black text to ensure the best possible contrast.
This problem, and the solution to it, were codified over four hundred years ago, simply read "The rule of Tincture" on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_tincture for details. Yet modern designers seem to miss this outstandingly simple rule with absolutely amazing regularity. Samsung understand this. Microsoft apparently don't.
- express_lukeCopper Contributor
Would be nice to see themes that modify more than window frame/new tab page.(e.g. like settings page, context menus etc.
- DeletedThat would be nice, but it would have to be a less coloured level since it would be hard to read if everything is the same color, I guess. Like how it does dark and light themes?
- ShashankDahatIron Contributor
It Would Be Very Nice If We Can See The Themes On Edge Pages /Edge Urls Like The Settings Page Also!!
- Absolutely! the grey color isn't consistent with the rest of the UI when we install a theme.
- ikjadoonBronze Contributor
When you wrote "Soon, you’ll even be able to select a theme color directly from the Edge Settings as well", can I suggest a small, but IMO super-neat integration?The color picker would be improved with a "use Windows 10 accent color" option.
I personally have my Windows 10 accent matched to my current desktop background; having Edge use that same color would be super-neat.
That way, any time I change my desktop background (or it rotates Spotlight pictures, haha), both Windows 10 and Edge would match!
- Dennis5mileSilver Contributor
- William DevereuxMicrosoftWe have a fix for this that should be rolling out soon. Thanks to everyone who reported it!
- DeletedHi William,
Just one thing, have you noticed that some of the thems are making some UI in the browser invisible or hard to read?
- DeletedIt woudl be nice if you can have more than one background in each theem like the wonderwoman
- knkblr2020Copper Contributor
William Devereux Cool Feature & Liked
- DeletedHi,
This is just a opinion, I love the new themes but it is kinda borring seeing the same thing over and over. I love the theme colors but the themes needs to be have more background with more slideshow like the WonderWoman Theme. I rather have a color picker that may or not be rolled out instead of just one backgruond. The new images of Bing each day is way better.
Thank You,
Anyone prefering this, please upvote by sharing this feedabck usnig Edge!!
THANKYOU
SHawnNNNWWN- I want Themes to have textures and patterns, and not just simple colors, also the new tab page image isn't really useful for me as I always use my own image for NTP
- DeletedYes, I agree. The themes are currently just to make the header of edge look nice and a nice picture in new tab. That isnt' good since first of all it gets borring. The bing image or my own image is much better. Second, it dosent' change everyday 😞
Just like the colors and some patterns would look awesome!! Maybe a surf theme ;0
- binaryhelixCopper Contributor
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 🌞🌏🦘
- ramrammsCopper Contributor
That is great news.
Love the flight sim ones but ... I think I'm not the only one that want:
Fluent design ! Fluent design ! Fluent design !
This could be now possible with an approriate theme ?
Keep up the good work guys !
Thanks a lot.