Microsoft is rolling out a redesigned Run dialog based on WinUI 3 in its Release Preview channel.
New Run Utility Improves Speed and Adds Dark Mode
The updated system utility opens in a median of 94ms, beating the 103ms speed of the Windows 95-era legacy Run interface, according to Windows Latest. The new component adds native dark mode support along with a home folder shortcut that jumps users directly to their user directory when typing the ~ command.
Under the hood, the modern Run box is written in C# with WinUI 3 and compiled with .NET Ahead-of-Time, which allows it to ship as native code that requires no compilation upon pressing Win+R. Users can activate the new interface by going to Settings, System, and Advanced, then turning on the Run dialog toggle under taskbar settings to use the modern Run dialog when pressing Win+R.
Even though Windows 11 has been around for more than half a decade, it still features plenty of system tools and pop-up windows that stretch back to the days of Windows 95 and prior.
Microsoft has now reaffirmed its plans to modernize these aging interfaces, while its newly released November update is already introducing several noticeable UI improvements. Task Scheduler, System Properties, Event Viewer, Disk Management, Device Manager, and a variety of older Control Panel applets maintain aesthetics that will feel quite familiar to long-time Windows users.
In May, Microsoft design executive March Rogers verified that the firm was gradually updating legacy dialogs with WinUI 3. “working through our list of all older dialogs and rewriting them in WinUI 3,” March Rogers, Partner Director of Design at Microsoft, said. Back in July, Windows lead Pavan Davuluri announced that Microsoft had already integrated WinUI 3 into additional areas of the operating system—such as the revamped Run prompt—with further upgrades on the horizon.
Microsoft is actively swapping out more legacy Windows 11 pop-ups for WinUI 3 alternatives, pointing out that Run is one of several traditional dialogs slated for replacement alongside Print Management, AutoPlay, and the File Explorer Properties menu, all of which are receiving WinUI 3 editions.
Certain updates aimed at modernization have already appeared via KB5132061, which is Microsoft’s most recent cumulative update launched on November 10. The patch updates Windows 11 version 26H2 to Build 26300.9974 and version 25H2 to Build 26200.9974, carrying over enhancements previously rolled out in October’s optional preview release. Among the most visible modifications is an overhauled File Explorer context menu that responds faster and provides more personalization options.
The Disappearance of the Browse Button
During preparations for rewriting the utility, the development team analyzed telemetry to see how people interacted with the legacy box. Before rewriting Run, Microsoft’s Command Line team briefly measured how people used the old dialog. As Clint Rutkas, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, noted regarding the old interface:
“0.0038% of users have clicked that button with a sample of 35 million,” Clint Rutkas, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, noted.
That low interaction rate meant roughly 1,330 individuals out of the sampled population ever used the Browse function to open a file picker. Because the Run dialog is designed for users who already know what paths to type, Microsoft decided to drop the rarely used button entirely from the modernized WinUI interface.
Deployment Timeline
The updated Run dialog is currently available in Windows 11 builds 26200.10066 for version 25H2 and 26300.10066 for version 26H2. In the release notes for the November 13 builds, Microsoft states that “The Run dialog has been updated with a more modern design and improved usability,” though it is listed as a gradual rollout.
Microsoft is not launching Windows 12, instead focusing on modernizing aging interfaces and delivering UI improvements to Windows 11. Five new Windows 11 Preview builds have been released for Insiders on the Experimental, Beta, and Release Preview Channels, with the most interesting updates arriving via an optional Windows 11 update later this month and to all Windows 11 users next month.
The same KB5132057 update is available for Release Preview Insiders running versions 26H2 and 25H2 of the operating system.