Dark Mode Missing in TurboTax Desktop version for Windows

[Colin_posts_here]

It appears that TurboTax for Windows Desktop still lacks a Dark Mode in 2024. That means that there is one glaring bright white window burning my eyes: TurboTax. Inconceivable as this is now a core function of the operating system, all of MS Office supports Dark Mode, etc. All web pages can be forced into a dark mode by the browser, but no way apparent way to do this for the Desktop app.

Not all users prefer dark mode, but for those of us who use it, white windows are literally painful to look it. It's like the torture scene in old movies with the bright light in the prisoner's eyes. Impossible to work with this for an extended period. It wasn't so bad when all windows were white, because our eyes would adjust or we'd change the brightness and contrast accordingly, but when all other windows are dark, pupils dilate, and TurboTax is just a knife in the eyeball.

Is there a way to fix this or request it of the Intuit developers at least for next year if not immediately? I'd happily pay for a plugin that fixes this defect.

[SteamTrain]

@Colin_posts_here 

Hmmm....under my Windows 11

<Settings

<<Accessibility

<<<Contrast Themes

_____

I have the choice of:

None, Aquatic, Desert, Dusk, or Night Sky.

All except None, or Desert result in a mostly dark main screen for Desktop TTX.....but you may not like it for everything.

[Colin_posts_here]

@SteamTrain, thanks for the quick reply. Nothing would make me happier than if you were right and that applied to TurboTax 2024, but I believe you're referring to the Windows setting (but not certain, because it's not under Accessibility, it's under Personalization -> Colors), which does work perfectly for almost EVERYTHING ELSE in Windows EXCEPT TURBOTAX:

Unlike most apps that are allowed to say they are for "Windows," TurboTax ignores that Setting. Further, I don't see any way to put it in this mode in TurboTax. If I'm mistaken about your meaning, and you were referring to something inside TurboTax, my menu headings are File, Edit, View, Tools, Online, and Help (see painfully white screen capture below) and none of those seem to include anything to fix TurboTax's display problem:

Is there a way to fix this?

Thanks,

Colin

[SteamTrain]

No, further down in the left-side selections:

" Accessibility"

then

"Contrast themes"

[SteamTrain]

True, it doesn't change the headers for the program...just most of it:

[Colin_posts_here]

That's not Dark Mode. Dark Mode is where I showed under Colors (circled in red in the screen shot). I now realize what you're talking about. That's not Dark Mode. That's part of the High-Contrast themes options, generally combined with large fonts for the vision impaired (hence why it's under Accessibility).

If you change those settings in Accessibility, it tends to break the display of various windows. 

I take it this means that TurboTax does not support or offer a Dark Mode. That's bad, especially in 2025. I understand that early following the release of Windows 10, many apps wouldn't offer it, but with Windows 11, this became a vital part of the UI. Inexcusable not to support Dark Mode now that Windows 11 has been out for years. TurboTax is like a bright flashlight shining in my eyes while I work. It's literally painful to use. 

[SteamTrain]

Yep...just a kluge.

[Colin_posts_here]

Thanks. And, to your point, I suppose in an emergency, I could turn that on just for while I'm working in TurboTax, then turn it off afterwards. Or, maybe I turn off Dark Mode so that everything is also white -- the white TurboTax window wouldn't be nearly so bad if everything around it were bright too.

Meanwhile, is there an official feedback form or something where users can request and vote on improvements? Or, does Intuit monitor these forums to see this thread and know about this problem?

Thanks again,

Colin

[SteamTrain]

You can manually/interactively lower the brightness of what is displayed...

If you click on the speaker icon in lower rt corner of the "windows" display....a popup lets you lower brightness of screen with a slider.

______________________

I think they have a Feedback request after you actually e-file....that might be one way to complain.

Not sure what would happen if you made the "suggestion" thru Customer Support...might be lost in the noise anyhow.

[Colin_posts_here]

I take it you don't use Dark Mode. The problem with Turbo Tax isn't that Windows is too bright, it's that TurboTax is brighter than all the other windows I have open, so it wouldn't help to adjust just the brightness or contrast. Your prior suggestion of using the high-contrast mode to override TurboTax's display (if I did it just while running TurboTax) would work better than that, because you're right that it would make at least parts of the TurboTax dark (but it really screws up other windows and the Desktop to do that).

Or maybe you run TurboTax full screen so you're not thinking about different windows relative to each other? On a laptop, that makes sense, but on my desktop PC, I don't run any window full screen, because my desktop is large (two 4K monitors plus a touchscreen). Having at least 1 4K monitor is a fairly common use case and precisely why it's unacceptable that TurboTax doesn't support Dark Mode. Here's a screen capture showing my full desktop across all 3 monitors with some of the various apps I use open. Note the only glaring white window here is TurboTax, with even this chat on Intuit's web page is in Dark Mode on my screen:

[Colin_posts_here]

Intuit's site didn't seem to display the screen shot. Here's a smaller version of it: