darkzilla

FileZilla Client for Windows 11, with native dark mode.

Unofficial build of FileZilla Client that adds one feature: real Windows dark mode. It follows the Windows light/dark setting automatically — no configuration needed.

Why?

FileZilla draws its UI with wxWidgets, which only gained Windows dark-mode support in wxWidgets 3.3 (wxApp::MSWEnableDarkMode()). Upstream FileZilla still builds against wxWidgets 3.2.x, so the official binaries can't go dark. This project rebuilds FileZilla against wxWidgets 3.3 with a small patch series that enables dark mode and fixes the rendering bugs it exposes.

Installing

One-liner (paste into PowerShell — downloads and installs the latest release, no zip needed):

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex (irm 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raab-ing/darkzilla/main/install.ps1')"

Or from the zip:

1. Download darkzilla-<ver>-win64.zip from the Releases page.
2. Extract it anywhere.
3. Double-click install.cmd. It copies the app to %LOCALAPPDATA%\darkzilla and creates Start Menu/Desktop shortcuts — no admin required.

Running install.ps1 directly fails on stock Windows ("not digitally signed") — that's the PowerShell execution policy, not a bug. Use install.cmd, or if you prefer the script: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1.

Or skip the installer entirely and just run filezilla.exe from the extracted folder; it's portable (settings live in %APPDATA%\FileZilla, shared with any stock FileZilla install).

Updating — dark mode survives every release

A scheduled GitHub Actions workflow checks weekly for new upstream FileZilla releases. When one appears, it applies the patch series, builds, and publishes a new darkzilla release automatically.

To update your install, double-click update.cmd in %LOCALAPPDATA%\darkzilla (or in a freshly extracted zip), or run:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\darkzilla\install.cmd -Update

The built-in FileZilla update checker is disabled in these builds (--disable-manualupdatecheck) — updating through the official updater would replace the dark build with a stock (light-only) one. Always update via darkzilla releases instead.

What's patched

See CHANGES.darkzilla.md for the per-file list. Summary:

Patch	Purpose
patches/filezilla/0001-port-to-wxwidgets-3.3.patch	Compile/runtime fixes so FileZilla builds and behaves correctly on wxWidgets 3.3
patches/filezilla/0002-enable-dark-mode.patch	MSWEnableDarkMode() (follow-system) + readable group-box labels in dark mode
patches/filezilla/0003-dark-mode-filelist-flicker.patch	Fix file-list hover flicker in dark mode
patches/wxwidgets/wx333-darkmode-ownerdrawn-fixes.patch	wxWidgets fix: route WM_DRAWITEM by HWND — without it, checkboxes/radio buttons render blank in dark dialogs

Patch set derived from the excellent reference implementation at Pharaoh2k/FileZilla-Themed-For-Windows, repackaged here as a patch series + automated build pipeline.

Building yourself

Everything runs in CI, but you can build locally with MSYS2:

# in an MSYS2 MINGW64 shell
pacman -S --needed patch zip tar curl make
pacboy -S toolchain:p pkgconf:p nettle:p gnutls:p sqlite3:p gettext:p \
         libidn2:p boost:p gmp:p argon2:p meson:p ninja:p
scripts/build-msys2.sh 3.71.0
# produces work/dist/darkzilla-3.71.0-win64.zip

Dependency versions are pinned at the top of scripts/build-msys2.sh (WXVER, LIBFZVER, FZSSHVER).

Notes & caveats

• Unsigned binary — Windows SmartScreen will warn on first run ("Windows protected your PC" → More info → Run anyway).
• wxWidgets 3.3 is a development branch — production-suitable per upstream, but ABI/API isn't frozen between 3.3.x releases, so the version is pinned.
• wxWidgets patch note — the WM_DRAWITEM-by-HWND patch is applied to the wxWidgets source before building; FileZilla reuses nullID for many owner-drawn controls, which breaks wx's id-based dispatch.
• If a future FileZilla release changes the patched lines, the CI build fails loudly instead of shipping a broken/light build; patches then get rebased.

License & trademark

FileZilla is GPL-3.0-or-later; these modifications are licensed the same. Complete source = upstream filezilla_<ver>.orig.tar.xz + the patches in this repository. "FileZilla" is a trademark of its respective owner; darkzilla is an unofficial, unaffiliated build — the name and branding are distinct to comply with the FileZilla trademark policy.