Dark7zip

Dark7zip is project to experiment with dark mode via darkmodelib library for 7-Zip.
It is mainly for Windows 10 builds 19044+ and Windows 11. Some controls might, might not use dark/custom colors on older OS.

Important

7-Zip-zstd has already merged dark mode. There is no need to use binaries for 7-Zip-zstd version from this repo.

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Gallery

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Installation

Use installer (zip file with installer in name), which will replace all 7z original files or replace only relevant 7z original files (e.g. C:\Program Files\7-Zip\) with files from downloaded zip file without installer in name.

• 7zFM.exe - file manager, "main exe"
• 7zG.exe - mainly extraction, compression dialogs
• 7z.sfx- optional, file needed for creating self-extracting archives
• 7zDark.ini - optional, more information below

Note

Currently files are released only for x64 and arm64 platforms. You can get files for x86 platform for original 7-Zip and testing artifacts from Github Actions. Ensure that you get correct version - main for original 7-Zip.

Note

Installer is released only with fluent toolbar icons, to use original icons use manual non-installer installation.
It is intended as replacement to original 7-Zip so it will overwrite relevant 7-Zip files.

Config

7zDark.ini is configuration file to allow to set custom colors and other visual features. It should be in same folder as 7zFM.exe and 7zG.exe.

Without 7zDark.ini 7-Zip still offers limited configuration via GUI interface. In Tools->Options...->Settings->Color Mode (dark, light, system). 7zDark.ini has higher priority and will disable GUI setting.

• [main]

  • mode - determine which sections color "key=value" pairs will be used and theming of title bar, buttons, scrollbars, and tooltips
    • 0 - use light mode
    • 1 - use dark mode, default value in system with dark mode enabled
    • 2 - follow system settings, use light mode in system with light mode enabled
    • 3 - use classic style, default value in system with light mode enabled, disable almost every custom GUI styles and colors
    • 4 - follow system settings, use classic style in system with light mode enabled

• [dark]

  • tone - set default colors for [dark.colors] sections, there are no tones for light mode
    • 0 - black, default value
    • 1 - red
    • 2 - green
    • 3 - blue
    • 4 - purple
    • 5 - cyan
    • 6 - olive
  • micaExtend - apply Mica material on all window/dialog, experimental, only for "dark" mode
    • 0 - apply Mica material only on title bar, default value
    • 1 - extend Mica material on all window/dialog

Important

micaExtend=1 is only used with [main] mode=1 and with mica with other valid values than 0. micaExtend=1 should also be used with HDR and ACM (Auto Color Management) off. Due to Windows bug using micaExtend=1 can cause visual glitches, with HDR/ACM visual glitches are more severe (e.g. invisible controls).
It is also recommended when using with mica=1 to turn off Settings -> Personalization > Colors -> "Show accent color on title bars and window borders" setting.

• [dark]/[light]
  • roundCorner - on Windows 11 specifies rounded corners preference
    • 0 - let the system decide when to round window corners, default value
    • 1 - never round window corners
    • 2 - round the corners, if appropriate
    • 3 - round the corners if appropriate, with a small radius
  • borderColor - on Windows 11 specifies the color of the window border, color is in RGB hex format - RRGGBB
    • FFFFFF - use default system color, special value, default value
  • mica - apply Mica material on title bar, requires Windows 11 22H2 build 22621
    • 0 - let OS automatically decide the use of Mica material, default value
    • 1 - do not use Mica material
    • 2 - apply Mica material
    • 3 - apply "acrylic" effect
    • 4 - apply Mica Alt material
  • colorizeTitleBar - on Windows 11 applies same colors as dialog background and static text on title bar, with micaExtend=1 this option will be ignored
    • 0 - Use system colors (default)
    • 1 - Use custom colors (backgroundDlg and text)

Values for custom colors are in RGB hex format - RRGGBB.

• [dark.colors]/[light.colors]

  • background - for some controls (status bar, ...)
  • backgroundCtrl - mainly for controls with some input
  • backgroundHot - for hot item
  • backgroundDlg - for dialog and some controls
  • text - for most text
  • textItem - for some controls
  • textDisabled - for disabled controls
  • edge - for border
  • edgeHot - for hot border
  • edgeDisabled - for disabled border
  • highlight - for some WIndows 11 UI elements (edit control, tab control)

• [dark.colors.view]/[light.colors.view] - for listview and treeview

  • backgroundView
  • textView
  • gridlines - color for listview grid lines, when View -> Details is used and Tools -> Options... -> Settings tab -> Show grid lines is checked
  • backgroundHeader
  • backgroundHotHeader
  • textHeader
  • edgeHeader

All options are optional. You can define only "[section]" and "key=value" you want to be applied.

Tip

Renaming section will disable all "key=value" pairs of that section and default values will be used.

Examples:

• full config

[main]
mode = 1

[dark]
tone = 0
roundCorner = 0
borderColor = "FFFFFF"
mica = 0
micaExtend = 0
colorizeTitleBar = 0

[dark.colors]
background =            "202020"
backgroundCtrl =        "383838"
backgroundHot =         "454545"
backgroundDlg =         "202020"
text =                  "E0E0E0"
textItem =              "C0C0C0"
textDisabled =          "808080"
edge =                  "646464"
edgeHot =               "9B9B9B"
edgeDisabled =          "484848"
highlight =             "60CDFF"

[dark.colors.view]
backgroundView =        "3F3F3F"
textView =              "DCDCDC"
gridlines =             "646464"
backgroundHeader =      "202020"
backgroundHotHeader =   "454545"
textHeader =            "C0C0C0"
edgeHeader =            "646464"

[light]
roundCorner = 0
borderColor = "FFFFFF"
mica = 0
colorizeTitleBar = 0

[light.colors]
background =            "F0F0F0"
backgroundCtrl =        "FFFFFF"
backgroundHot =         "C0DCF3"
backgroundDlg =         "F0F0F0"
text =                  "000000"
textItem =              "000000"
textDisabled =          "6D6D6D"
edge =                  "8D8D8D"
edgeHot =               "0078D4"
edgeDisabled =          "6D6D6D"
highlight =             "005FB8"

[light.colors.view]
backgroundView =        "FFFFFF"
textView =              "000000"
gridlines =             "F0F0F0"
backgroundHeader =      "FFFFFF"
backgroundHotHeader =   "D9EBF9"
textHeader =            "000000"
edgeHeader =            "E5E5E5"

• only views, with defaults: [main] mode=1, and [dark] tone=0

[dark.colors.view]
backgroundView =        "112435"
textView =              "C3BE98"
gridlines =             "4F5F5F"

7-Zip-zstd

7-Zip-zstd is popular 7-Zip fork which contains additional compression algorithms such as Zstandard and Brotli. Latest version of 7-Zip-zstd has dark mode support.

For download and more information about 7-Zip-zstd fork check 7-Zip-zstd.

License

The license for use and distribution is the same as that of the original 7-Zip.
Additionally, code related to dark mode in DarkMode folder is licensed under the MIT License or the Mozilla Public License, version 2.0.
MPL-2.0
MIT

For details on the 7-Zip license, see the DOC folder.
License.txt
readme.txt

7-Zip on GitHub

7-Zip website: 7-zip.org