Edge in Linux not sending the systems Dark Mode (GTK) display setting to the viewport

pompalini 55 Reputation points
2025-11-12T05:51:05.9733333+00:00

Hi everyone,
The system's display setting for Dark Mode is not being passed to the Edge browser viewport.

I will leave some screenshots, hoping that it may help

Edge:
Screenshot from 2025-11-12 05-07-51

Another side effect is that on the tabs part of the browser, it renders the highlighted tab completely unreadable:
User's image

With Chrome all is good and it renders the viewport with Dark Mode:
Screenshot from 2025-11-12 05-07-25

The issue started to occur recently only a couple of builds ago or so, I cannot really say with what specific version, but I am currently running:
Microsoft Edge version 142.0.3595.65 (Official build) (64-bit)
Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) 64-bit
GNOME 43.9
Wayland

TLDR; I am posting this, rather annoying problem with the browser, here because I would like to have some tracking of it if possible, furthermore I could not make such a detail explanation for it in the recommended Send Feedback feature, which I did report it there too a while ago. If it's not the right channel for it I do apologize for it in advance. This is a rather unpleasant one, and it will make me stop using Edge if it persists, I'm afraid. There are plenty of other options out there, I know, but I have become very fond of my Edge here on Linux and all configurations and apps, extensions that I have with it so I am hoping that this can be fixed.

Thank you in advance for any help with this matter,
best regards

Microsoft Edge | Other | MacOS
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Answer accepted by question author

TaskManagerUser 80 Reputation points
2025-11-15T04:45:23.0666667+00:00

I had the same issue on Fedora. Wanted to keep my GTK theme so used the rpm installer to get an old version of edge (edge 141) and have blocked updates. Hopefully only a temporary workaround until an actual fix comes.

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Answer accepted by question author

Lychee-Ng 25,605 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2025-11-12T10:48:08.89+00:00

Hi pompalini,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Thanks for sharing the screenshots on your issue with dark mode in Edge. To better help you, I'd like to ask if you only encounter light interfaces with Bing search, or on all websites (e.g. this Learn page you're seeing). Because if it's only one or a few sites, there's a chance that a display setting for it was accidentally turned off. For example, with Bing:

  • On the search page, click the menu icon (three-line)
  • Expand Appearance > choose Dark or System default

User's image

In addition, if you want to force all pages (regardless of their own settings) to dark mode, there's also a toggle for that. However, this is an advanced option for Edge, meaning Windows setting won't apply on it later on:

  • Enter this to your address bar: edge://flags/#enable-force-dark
  • Set the flag to Enabled (or specific option suitable for you)
  • If you dislike it, go back to the link and Disable the flag

For the highlight issue, it's worth noting that there have been some user reports of a browser display mismatch recently introduced in Linux (not a confirmed issue). And for now, I still haven't successfully reproduced it on our Windows machine.

Can you try creating a new profile on Edge and let me know if it persists? In addition, let's test by changing some Windows settings to see if it helps (open Settings > Personalization > Colors > toggle Transparency and/or Accent colors).

I totally understand that this is an annoying thing to deal with. I hope the workaround above makes Edge usable for you again while we wait for any official news.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Answer recommended by moderator

pompalini 55 Reputation points
2025-11-13T19:44:48.74+00:00

To answer my own question and since the GTK option is broken the workaround is to set the Appearance mode manually:
User's image

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