Dark Mode for Quicken for Windows (6 Merged Votes)
Comments
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The Magifier inverse color workaround for Windows is clumsy and inadequate.
Why doesn't Quicken development give us an update on the dark mode request? Instead, we keep getting product enhancements that have limited (or no) use, such as the recent "online backup". Keeping my financial data out of the "cloud" is the main reason I still use the product. Why would I want to send a copy of my financial data to some hackable cloud storage? My point is that "Dark mode" for Windows would be appreciated by most if not all Quicken for Windows users, yet we cannot even get a comment from Quicken on it let alone any action.
I started using Quicken back in the 1980s. I say that only to say that it is discouraging that those managing Quicken's product support and enhancement have refused to comment on the "dark mode" capability. There's a "Colors" option under Preferences, but none of the options even approach a dark mode. Seems like the "Colors" code could be easily modified to accommodate dark mode.
How about an update, Quicken Mods or any official Quicken person…? Will Dark Mode ever happen?
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This is brilliant! I got the link to this thread from the subreddit, I'd never seen it before. It works, and it's easy to toggle on and off. Thank you!
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@Thomas Hyzy there is an even better method which doesn't need the Magnifier hack.
Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, as of 2025 using QWin Premier (US) on Win10 Pro & Win11 Pro on 2 PCs.
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@Rocket J Squirrel Thanks for (re)posting that workaround - it is better than having to start the magnifier first.
Looking at the inverted colors is a good workaround, but I'd like to hear from Quicken if they ever plan to address this from within Quicken for Windows or they consider it addressed by virtue of Color Filters/Magnifier workarounds. The reason for that is twofold - for one, making an enhancement that addresses Dark Mode is a clear indication that Quicken for Windows is here for at least the next few years. Ignoring requests like Dark Mode makes me think the product is nearing EOL. Secondly, (and it's admittedly a small inconvenience), switching from Quicken to any other app that supports Dark Mode requires pressing Win+Ctrl+c to avoid being blinded in that application or webpage. It's nothing to do that, but it's another accommodation that must be made because the product doesn't natively handle Dark Mode.
Thanks again @Isomeme and @Rocket J Squirrel for the Colors Filters workaround.
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If one is comfortable with installing AutoHotkey, I found the below AutoHotkey script to do well with not only Quicken Desktop but also other applications that do not have a native dark theme. Ensure to read the comments in the script on how to properly setup AutoHotkey.
Download the script from URL:
Hope this helps those who have been patiently waiting for Quicken to add a dark theme to Quicken Desktop :-)
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We've asked for this for over 6 years. You said in August 2023 it was added to the Development Team. Here we are 18 months later and nothing. [Removed - Disruptive/Speculation] every other app I use supports Windows System Default in Dark Mode.
See your QWIN-16984
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Hello @brnsdv,
Your idea has been merged into this already active Idea thread regarding the same request.
Thank you!
-Quicken Anja
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I see that Dark Mode for Windows is supposed to be coming at some point. It's taking a long long time, people have been asking for it for years. Clearly not a priority for the Quicken team. But for me, I can no longer tolerate staring at a bright white screen, especially while working at night. I am now actively looking for an alternative to Quicken that can provide me with dark mode. I can't wait any longer.
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Hello friends. We have been asking for a black screen for Quicken for a long time, but it seems to me that this is very, very difficult because until now we have not had the privilege of working with a comfortable dark background...
Quicken could, however, have a greater choice of colors in the themes, the colors that are currently available have been like this for many years and Quicken could be a little more generous by increasing the number of color options... and the same goes for Graph and Chart Colors...
Help us Quicken and give us a chance to see these beautiful screens with many more colors...0 -
Here is an "up vote" for a dark theme, or at least a less-white theme. Even softening to a yellow or gray would be an improvement!
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Here is another "up vote" for a dark theme.
This thread seems to have been started in 2018. That's 7 years ago. Apparently, Quicken has shown little interest in satisfying its customer base.
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Personally, I think this is an indication of how hard the problem is. They even stated that the intended to do this, but clearly something stopped them. And as a person that maintains old software, I know what that something is. Quicken is made up of many different GUI APIs that have been introduced over the years, which means each part has to be handled differently. But on top of that most of them have no way to change the overall appearance. Which means that they would have to hand tweak tons of code to get the dark mode effect.
Note that Quicken Mac which has a much more recent and consistent code base (because of a total rewrite starting in 2007) already has dark mode, and it was request after the request for it in Quicken Windows. It was just plan easier to do in that code/API.
What I find more surprising is that that this website doesn't have the ability since the ability to change the appearance of it has been there almost as long as websites have existed. That goes for Quicken Web and Mobile too.
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Beyond simply offering a dark mode, or as an easier alternative to doing so, could Quicken offer a global setting of larger fonts and better contrast? Gray fonts on a white background might be pretty, but they are harder to read with some eye conditions.
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I agree with Tom. Black fonts beat gray.
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In Quicken for Windows, if the gray font used to display reconciled transactions causes problems for you,
uncheck the setting Gray reconciled transactions in Edit / Preferences / Register.0 -
There is an existing Idea from 2023 to fix that gray font. Vote vote vote!
Quicken user since version 2 for DOS, as of 2025 using QWin Premier (US) on Win10 Pro & Win11 Pro on 2 PCs.
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This is way overdue, it was added to road map almost 2 years ago!
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Every Windows program worthy of the name has Dark Mode. Quicken for Windows does not. This is a major drawback, especially for people who want a display that is easy on their eyes. As it is, the display is very bright and hard on the eyes. I urge every Quicken user who wants Dark Mode to contact the CEO, Eric Dunn, and let him know that you badly need this feature.
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Hello @groucho43,
Thank you for reaching out with your request.
Your idea has been merged into this already active Idea thread regarding the same request.Thank you!
-Quicken Anja
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To those of you who are craving Dark Mode for Quicken in Windows. This color change provides some eye relief until they provide Dark Mode. I'm running Quicken Deluxe R62.16 on Windows 11 with my monitor brightness turned all the way down while working in a low lit room. From the Quicken menu choose: Edit, Preferences, Register, Under Register appearance click Colors, Choose the darkest green in the drop down for the top three account categories: Spending, Savings, Credit. Click OK. I also changed the Font to Segoe UI 8 Bold. These changes are pure heaven for my 71 year old eyes!
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For some reason I'd not considered the font. I like Segoe too. I picked Sego UI Semibold. Much better. Thanks for the reminder! Just wish the account list font could change.
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Thanks for the Semibold comment. I like it better than Bold.
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Just another vote for Dark Mode! In the ancient beginnings of the computer age (1950's & '60's), millions of dollars were spent (billions in 2025 dollars?) determining the optimum ergonomic screen displays that would minimize user vision problems. Take a look at any old movie from then that has a computer screen - it's a dark background with light letters, usually green or amber. Apple killed that kind of screen with their "cool" WYSIWYG Mac display in 1984. It's time to recognize that computers are merely tools, and they should not harm the operators. You can always look at a Print Preview if you need to see WYSIWYG for creative purposes.
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I certainly remember this, I also remember it was Europe that did the studies and insisted on it being changed. Once it was changed for them, it the rest of the world benefited from the fact that they could then order the terminals with that had amber (which was found to be the best) or green.
White was the worst for the eyes, and it was only being use for the text (after all it was basically a black and white TV). But the really worst was at one point where I saw some software that had white as a background with black text, which was done to have "menus and buttons". Not only bad on the eyes, but it was also terrible for the terminal. The white/amber/green was the phosphor "excited/turned on". If you left, it on a certain part of the screen for very long it would become etched in. At the company that I worked with that did that you could turn off the terminal and still see the menus.
With that being said, I don't think people understand that Quicken Inc is all for dark mode. They have even marked this feature "Planned". But then why has it been in that state for years?
Because of all the old APIs in Quicken it next to impossible to actual do. They can't just throw a switch, and it changes everywhere. They would have to do it piece by piece. And if they just start with one piece and release it, then people will just complain that piece looks out of place.
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IIRC, it was Xerox PARC in Palo Alto, CA, which came up with the first white-screen "paper screen" GUI in the 1970s.
Eventually Microsoft Windows and others followed suit. You could now create WYSIWYG documents appearing on screen just as they did on paper, when printed. And everybody was happy.A few decades later we're now going back to the stone age, demanding "Dark Mode" black background.
Is it because we like to sit in dark caves, where the bright white screen hurts our eyes?
Oh, come on people! I'm not against Dark Mode. I'm just saying: Turn on some lights in your room and have a properly illuminated work area. Your eyes will thank you for it, Dark Mode or not.-1 -
piece by piece is fine with me - starting with the account list on the left. But think about it, how many pieces could it be? What views exists? We don't really know how bad the code is from a maintenance perspective.
My guess is that even with subscription revenue that they don't have the budget to do any serious development on the product. They just tweak things here and there.
So, tweak some colors. Register colors are already supported for the 7 account types. Just add a darker color selection - and have that also apply on line 2 if 2-line display is active. Since the ancient API already allows for coloring in the register, use that to color the account list as well.
IMO dialogs could be last. Who knows how bad that mess is.
Then, add that to early access and those who would otherwise complain about half-baked can be excluded. For example, they ruined Reports & Graphs but thankfully left me an out to keep a more usable and ironically colorful version.
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@Fletch200 you have reminded me of something, and that is that it has gotten worse not better. As they have been "modernizing" they have changed things for the worse.
Not only in this "color" problem, but in things like columns that are only "automatically sized" (sometimes to the wrong size because of all the scaling problems).
That sort points out there are really two problems. There are the technical challenges, but there is also the challenge of ingraining good GUI standards into everything they produce. Something that Intuit and Quicken Inc have poor performance on.
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I never thought I would need dark mode for Quicken but here I am. I'm reaching the point where I cannot see a @#$% thing in Quicken and I've been using it since the 80s. Before retirement I was a software developer for many years specializing in database and user interface. Quicken probably has a lot of young developerS who have no problem with their eyesight and can't see the need for dark mode - wait until you guys get older. So, do I beg? Alright I'll beg! WE NEED A DARK MODE FOR QUICKEN!
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To Ron Groves:
If you haven't already seen it, look back in this message thread to my June 6 post from: Gene In Florida. This option can provide some eye relief and improve readability until Quicken offers dark mode.
In a nutshell try this:
Change the appearance to the darkest green choice for the account categories Spending, Savings, Credit. Change the font to Segoe UI 8 SemiBold. These features already exist in Quicken Deluxe R62.0
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