diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index 4f8d508271..e3d5cc69e4 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@
             "program": "${workspaceRoot}/target/debug/gitui",
             "args": [],
             "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
-        }
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "Attach to cargo run of executable 'gitui'",
+            "type": "lldb",
+            "request": "attach",
+            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/target/debug/gitui",
+            "stopOnEntry": false,
+            "sourceLanguages": [
+                "rust"
+            ],
+        },
     ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index eb804e6fdd..096b1c436f 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ use crate::{
 	strings::{self, ellipsis_trim_start, order},
 	tabs::{FilesTab, Revlog, StashList, Stashing, Status},
 	try_or_popup,
-	ui::style::{SharedTheme, Theme},
+	ui::{
+		mask,
+		style::{SharedTheme, Theme},
+	},
 	AsyncAppNotification, AsyncNotification,
 };
 use anyhow::{bail, Result};
@@ -295,6 +298,15 @@ impl App {
 				4 => self.stashlist_tab.draw(f, chunks_main[1])?,
 				_ => bail!("unknown tab"),
 			}
+
+			if self.any_popup_visible() {
+				// "Tints" the background whenever a popup is open.
+				// NB: Order is important. We manipulate the entire layout chunk
+				//     assigned to the tab, without the knowledge of where the
+				//     popup is located. Thus, we must tint before drawing the
+				//     popup.
+				mask::draw_mask(f, chunks_main[1]);
+			}
 		}
 
 		self.draw_popups(f)?;
diff --git a/src/ui/mask.rs b/src/ui/mask.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aa3454c23e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ui/mask.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+use ratatui::style::{Color, Style};
+use ratatui::widgets::Widget;
+use ratatui::Frame;
+use ratatui::{buffer::Buffer, layout::Rect};
+
+struct Mask;
+
+impl Widget for Mask {
+	fn render(self, area: Rect, buf: &mut Buffer) {
+		for y in area.top()..area.bottom() {
+			for x in area.left()..area.right() {
+				if let Some(cell) = buf.cell_mut((x, y)) {
+					// TODO(prprabhu): What do we want here?
+					// Question 1: Set background color vs foreground color
+					// Question 2: What color should we set to? The total number
+					//   of colors available to us across all backends is
+					//   limited, and we can't really tint the theme colors due
+					//   to the limited number of colors available.
+					// Question 3: Should we pick a reasonable color and add it
+					//   to the theme?
+					cell.set_style(
+						Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray),
+					);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+pub fn draw_mask(frame: &mut Frame, rect: Rect) {
+	let mask = Mask;
+	frame.render_widget(mask, rect);
+}
diff --git a/src/ui/mod.rs b/src/ui/mod.rs
index f0ee1539f9..3c670563ab 100644
--- a/src/ui/mod.rs
+++ b/src/ui/mod.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+pub mod mask;
 mod reflow;
 mod scrollbar;
 mod scrolllist;