How to Turn On Dark Mode in macOS

Saving Your Eyes and Your Battery

Modern screens are incredibly bright, and staring at blinding white windows for eight hours a day can cause significant eye strain, especially if you work in a dimly lit office or use your Mac late at night. To combat this, Apple introduced a system-wide Dark Mode in macOS.

When Dark Mode is enabled, the fundamental aesthetic of your Mac changes. The menu bar at the top of the screen turns dark grey, window backgrounds shift from white to charcoal, and standard black text flips to white. This high-contrast dark aesthetic is not just easier on the eyes in low-light environments; if you are using a newer MacBook model with an OLED or Mini-LED display, displaying darker pixels actually consumes less power, subtly extending your battery life.

Unlike early implementations of this feature which required complicated terminal commands, macOS now allows you to enable Dark Mode globally with just a few clicks, or set it to activate automatically based on the time of day.

Method 1: Using System Settings (macOS Ventura and Sonoma)

If you are using a modern version of macOS, Apple has relocated the appearance controls to the main System Settings panel.

1. Click the Apple Logo in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Select System Settings… from the drop-down menu.
3. In the left-hand sidebar, scroll down slightly and click on Appearance (it has an icon of a sun and a moon).
4. At the very top of the Appearance menu, you will see three visual options side-by-side: Light, Dark, and Auto.
5. Click on Dark to instantly apply the dark aesthetic across the entire operating system.

If you select Auto, your Mac will automatically switch between Light Mode and Dark Mode based on your local sunrise and sunset times. This is the recommended setting for most users, as it keeps your screen bright during the day when you are fighting glare, but automatically dims it when the sun goes down.

Method 2: The Control Centre Shortcut (Fastest Method)

If you frequently switch between Light and Dark mode depending on the specific application you are using or the lighting in your current room, opening System Settings every time is inefficient. You can toggle the feature much faster using the Control Centre.

1. Look at the top right corner of your screen (the menu bar).
2. Click the Control Centre icon (it looks like two small toggle switches, located just to the left of the date and time).
3. In the panel that drops down, click anywhere on the Display section (do not click the brightness slider itself, click the empty space around it).
4. A new sub-menu will appear with a dedicated button labelled Dark Mode. Click this button to toggle the feature on or off instantly.

Method 3: Using System Preferences (macOS Monterey and Older)

If you are using an older Mac that cannot be upgraded to Ventura or Sonoma, the interface looks slightly different, though the process is very similar.

1. Click the Apple Logo > System Preferences.
2. Click the General icon (usually located in the top row).
3. At the very top of the window, next to “Appearance,” select the Dark option.

How Dark Mode Affects Third-Party Apps

When you enable Dark Mode at the system level, all built-in Apple applications (Safari, Mail, Calendar, Notes, Finder) will immediately adopt the dark theme. However, third-party applications will only change if their developers have explicitly programmed them to respect the macOS system setting.

Almost all modern, actively maintained applications (such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Word, Slack, and Spotify) support this feature natively. If you have an older application that remains stubbornly bright white despite Dark Mode being enabled, you will need to check that specific app’s internal settings to see if they offer a manual dark theme option, or consider updating to a newer version of the software.

Finally, it is worth noting that while Safari itself will turn dark, the actual websites you visit will only turn dark if the web developer designed a dark version of their site. You cannot force a bright white website to become dark purely using the macOS system setting.