Turn Off Dark Mode on Windows, Mac, Android, & More

If you're experiencing eye strain while using your computer or phone, it might be due to dark mode. Most modern computers, programs, and apps offer a "dark" and "light" mode, where dark mode has a darker background and lower contrast, while light mode has a brighter background and higher contrast. In this article, we'll teach you how to turn off dark mode on Windows or Mac computers, and on iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. We'll also show you how to disable dark mode in browsers like Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox, and programs like Microsoft Word and Outlook.

Turning Off Dark Mode

For the most part, you can turn off dark mode in most programs and apps by opening the settings menu and going to an "Appearance" section. In some programs, the "Appearance" menu might be called "Themes," "Colors," or "Display."

Section 1 of 15:

Windows

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This will pull up the personalization menu, which allows you to change various visual settings (like your background, colors, themes, and more).
2
Click Colors. If you're on Windows 11, this option will be in the main pane. Regardless, Colors is the second option. If you're on Windows 10, this option will be in the sidebar.

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3
Change your computer to light mode. How you do this depends on your operating system:
- Windows 11: Click the "Choose your mode" dropdown and change it to Light.^{[1]
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- Windows 10: Change the "Choose your color," "Choose your default Windows mode," and "Choose your default app mode" to Light.^{[2]
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Section 2 of 15:

Mac

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1
Open System Settings. To do this, click the Apple menu icon in the top-left corner of your screen, then click System Settings in the drop-down menu that appears.
2
Click Appearance in the sidebar. You may need to scroll to find this option.
3
Click Light. It's next to the "Appearance" label at the top of the menu.^{[3]
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- You can also quickly change from Dark Mode to Light Mode in the Control Center. In the menu bar, click the icon that has a light-colored toggle and a dark-colored toggle, then click the arrow next to "Display." You can then select Light Mode.

Section 3 of 15:

Android

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This app is usually on your home screen by default, and has an app icon of a gear.
2
Tap Display. Depending on your device, you may have to scroll a little bit to find this option. It may also be called Display & Brightness, or something similar.
3
Enable light mode. How you do this varies based on your device. On Samsung, simply tap Light at the top of the screen.^{[4]
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Research source} On a Pixel, toggle off "Dark theme" to enable light mode.^{[5]
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- On Samsung, you can also disable dark mode from Quick Settings. Swipe down to open the Quick Settings menu, then swipe left until you see the "Dark mode" setting. If it's highlighted, tap on it to turn it off.^{[6]
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Section 4 of 15:

iOS/iPadOS

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1
Open the Settings app. This app is usually on your home screen by default. It has a gray icon of a gear.
2
Tap Display & Brightness. You'll have to scroll down a little bit to find this option. It has a blue icon with a white sun on it.
3
Tap Light at the top of the screen. This will switch your iPhone or iPad to light mode.^{[7]
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- You can also change your device's theme from the Control Center. Swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen, then press and hold the brightness slider (it has an icon of a sun). Then tap Dark Mode On to turn dark mode off. If you see "Dark Mode Off," light mode is already enabled.

Section 5 of 15:

Google Chrome

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This will open your Google Chrome settings. The Settings option is towards the bottom of the menu.
2
Click Appearance in the sidebar. It has an icon of a paint palette. It's in the first section of options.
3
Click the dropdown next to Mode. By default, it will say "Device."
4
Choose Light. This will switch Chrome to light mode.^{[8]
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- If your computer is set to light mode, you can leave this dropdown set to Device. The "Device" option means that Chrome will use the same color theme as your computer.

Section 6 of 15:

Safari (Mac)

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1
Download and install NightOwl. By default, if you change macOS to light mode, all of the system apps on your computer will follow suit. However, if you want your Mac to have a dark theme but Safari to have a light theme, you must use a third-party program to do this.
- You can download NightOwl from their website at nightowlapp.co.
- To install NightOwl, open the file you downloaded and drag NightOwl into your Applications folder. It will get added to your menu bar for easy toggling.
2
Click the NightOwl icon in your menu bar. The icon looks like an owl's face.
3
Configure your dark mode settings. Click Dark to enable dark mode. You can also adjust some time-based settings to have your computer automatically switch between dark and light modes based on the time of day.
4
Toggle Safari to always stay light. Under the "Always stay light" label, locate Safari and click the checkbox next to it. This will force Safari to stay in light mode while the rest of the computer stays in dark mode.^{[9]
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Section 7 of 15:

Safari (iOS/iPadOS)

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By default, if you switch your iPhone or iPad to light mode, all system apps will also switch to light mode. But if you want to keep your iPhone/iPad in dark mode while keeping Safari in light mode, you can create a simple Shortcuts automation.
2
Create a shortcut for setting dark mode and another for light mode. Before you can create your automation, you'll need shortcuts for changing your display settings. Here's how to do it:
- In the Library tab, tap the + icon in the corner.
- Tap Controls.
- Scroll down and tap Set Appearance.
- Tap Set Appearance at the top of the screen and tap Rename.
- Give this shortcut a name like "Set Dark."
- Tap the back arrow.
- Tap the + arrow again.
- Tap Controls > Set Appearance again.
- Tap Dark and change it to Light.
- Tap Set Appearance at the top of the screen and tap Rename.
- Give this shortcut a name like "Set Light."
- Tap the back arrow.
3
Tap Automation at the bottom of the screen. Then, tap New Automation. If you already have some automations, you can tap the + icon in the upper-right corner.
4
Scroll down and tap App. It has a gray icon with a black arrow facing the upper-right corner.
5
Tap Choose next to "App." This will open a list of all of your apps.
6
Scroll down and tap Safari. Your apps are listed alphabetically, so Safari will be near the bottom. Once you have it selected, tap the blue arrow button.
7
Choose whether you want the automation to run automatically or after confirmation. If you choose Run After Confirmation, you can decide whether to run the shortcut. If you choose Run Immediately, the shortcut will run as soon as you activate the automation's trigger.
8
Tap Next. For the first part of this automation, you'll leave "Is Opened" selected.
9
Choose Set Light. If you named your shortcut to set light mode something else, tap that instead. It will be under the "My Shortcuts" header.
10
Make another new automation. Here are the steps:
- Tap the + icon in the upper-right corner of the Automations tab.
- Scroll down and tap App.
- Tap Choose next to "App" and select Safari.
- Tap Is Closed this time. You'll also need to tap "Is Opened" to unselect it.
- Choose whether you want the automation to run immediately or after confirmation.
- Tap Next.
- Tap Set Dark (or whatever you named your dark mode shortcut). It's under the "My Shortcuts" header.
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Open Safari to make sure the automation works. When you open Safari, you'll see the background fade to white, signifying that light mode is enabled. When Safari is closed, you'll see everything on your iPhone or iPad fade back to dark gray as dark mode is enabled.
- If the automation doesn't work, go back through the steps above to make sure everything is correct.

Section 8 of 15:

Microsoft Edge

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It's near the bottom of the menu. Your Microsoft Edge settings will open.
2
Click Appearance in the sidebar. It's got an icon of a paint palette. It's in the first cluster of options.
3
Click Light next to "Overall appearance." By default, "System" will be selected. Click the Light button to switch to light mode.^{[10]
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- If your computer is set to light mode, you can leave this option set to System. The "System" option means that Edge will use the same color theme as your computer.

Section 9 of 15:

Mozilla Firefox

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1
Click ☰ in the upper-right corner, then click Settings. It's near the bottom of the menu. Your Microsoft Edge settings will open.
2
Click Appearance in the sidebar. It's got an icon of an eye. It's in the first cluster of options.
3
Click Light below to "Website appearance." By default, "System" will be selected. Click the Light button to switch to light mode.^{[11]
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- If your computer is set to light mode, you can leave this option set to System. The "System" option means that Firefox will use the same color theme as your computer.

Section 10 of 15:

Microsoft Word (Desktop)

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1
Click File in the upper-left corner of the screen. If you just opened Word and don't have a document open, you can skip this step.
- These steps work for both Windows and Mac.
2
Click Options. It's in the bottom-left corner of the screen, under the Account button.
3
Click the dropdown next to "Office Theme." It's in the General tab, which opens by default when you open your Word settings. It's under the "Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office" heading.
4
Choose White or Colorful. Both options are a light theme, but Colorful has a blue banner at the top of the screen. White's top banner is gray.^{[12]
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- If your computer is set to light mode, you can also change this option to Use system setting. The "Use system setting" option means that Word will use the same color theme as your computer.

Section 11 of 15:

Microsoft Word (Mobile)

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To create a new document, tap Create at the bottom of the screen, then tap the + button under "Recommended." To open an existing document, tap Browse at the bottom of the screen, then tap the folder you want to browse. Tap a document in that folder to open it.
2
Tap the ••• button in the upper-right corner. This will open a settings menu.
3
Scroll down and toggle off "Switch Background." It has an icon of a sun. If the option has a moon icon, you're already using light mode.

Section 12 of 15:

New Outlook

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1
Click File > Settings in the upper-left corner. The Settings option has an icon of a gear, and it's near the bottom of the menu.
2
Click Appearance. It's in the second right-hand sidebar, near the top of the menu. It's a submenu in the "General" tab, which is selected by default when you open your Outlook settings.
3
Click Light. It's the first option under "Choose your mode."
- If your computer is set to light mode, you can also change this option to Use system settings. The "Use system settings" option means that Outlook will use the same color theme as your computer.

Section 13 of 15:

Classic Outlook

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File is in the upper-left corner, and Options is in the bottom left corner of the File menu page.
2
Click the dropdown next to "Office Theme." It's in the General tab, which opens by default when you open your Word settings. It's under the "Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office" heading.
3
Choose White or Colorful. Both options are a light theme, but Colorful has a blue banner at the top of the screen. White's top banner is gray.^{[13]
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- If your computer is set to light mode, you can also change this option to Use system setting. The "Use system setting" option means that Outlook will use the same color theme as your computer.

Section 14 of 15:

Outlook (Mobile)

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1
Tap on your profile picture in the upper-left corner. If you don't have a profile picture, you'll see an icon with your initials instead.
2
Tap the gear icon. It's in the lower-left corner of your screen.
3
Tap Display & Appearance. It's the first option on the list. It has an icon of a paintbrush.
4
Tap Light. It's at the top of the screen when you first open the Appearance menu.
- If your phone is already set to light mode, you can also change this option to System. The "System" option means that Outlook will use the same color theme as your phone.

Section 15 of 15:

Other Programs/Apps

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If the program or app that you're using isn't detailed in this article, you can use these general steps to disable dark mode. Note that the location and wording of the menu items may differ slightly.
2
Open the "Appearance" menu. This menu may be found inside another menu, such as "System" or "General." The name may also differ; you can also look for "Display," "Colors," or "Themes."
- Some programs or apps may not have a dedicated appearance menu. If you don't see one, check the "General" section.
3
Change the program or app's theme to light. Some apps may have a dropdown, while others give you multiple radio buttons to click. Some programs will show you a preview of what each mode looks like, while others won't.
- If you can't find the setting to switch from dark mode to light mode, try using the search bar in your program or app's settings, if it has one.