Microsoft Edge on Windows 11 to bring Mica effect to title bar and toolbar

Yesterday we’ve reported Microsoft has brought Sidebar to the Edge browser. After a long time, the company is now trying to add another Windows 11 visual change aka the Mica effect to the Edge browser title bar and toolbar background. The feature is experimental and is available in Edge 102 canary to try out.

A year back Microsoft added Windows 11 fluent design effects such as Acrylic and Mica to the Primary menu, context menus, and rounded corners to parts of the Edge browser.

Like other redesigned inbox apps such as Microsoft Paint, Notepad, and Photos, the Redmond giant wants to make Edge look consistent with Windows 11.

Following Edge bar and Overlay Scrollbar. the company is applying the mica effect to the background of the Edge browser toolbar and title bar when users were using the default theme.

Windows 11 Edge title bar and toolbar to get mica effect

The feature is available in Microsoft Edge and here is how you can enable and test it right now.

What is the Mica effect?

According to Microsoft’s support document here is what Mica material means:

“Mica is an opaque, dynamic material that incorporates theme and desktop wallpaper to paint the background of long-lived windows such as app and settings. You can apply Mica to your application backdrop to delight users and create a visual hierarchy, aiding productivity by increasing clarity about which Windows is in focus. Mica is specifically designed for app performance as it only samples the desktop wallpaper once to create its visualization”.

Enable Mica effect for the Microsoft Edge title bar & toolbar on Windows 11

Launch Edge browser
Visit edge://flags
Search for appearance, for “Show experimental appearance settings“, in the dropdown select Enabled
Restart browser
Click on Menu, select Settings
Go to Appearance, enable “Show Windows 11 visual effects in title bar and toolbar (Preview)”
Click on the Restart button to apply the changes.

Note: Ensure the Edge theme is selected as Default and also check Windows 11 personalization settings to match for the same.

To disable the mica effect in the toolbar and title bar of Micorsoft Edge on Windows 11, you need to toggle the switch mentioned in the 6th step.

Microsoft has warned the preview feature is being still worked on and may cause performance issues when turned on.

Are you happy with Microsoft Edge look on Windows 11? Let us know in the comments below.