How to turn on dark mode on a Chromebook

Chromebooks have a built-in dark mode as of ChromeOS 104. Konstantin Savusia/Shutterstock

• You can turn on dark mode on your Chromebook by clicking on the dark mode toggle in your taskbar.
• You can schedule dark mode to start every evening by tapping the Auto option in the Wallpaper settings. 
• If you don't see an option for dark theme in the taskbar, make sure you're running the latest version of ChromeOS. 

You might already be used to dark mode in all your other devices, including Windows, your smartphone, and tablet. If you want the low-contrast display of dark mode on your Chromebook as well, the good news is that you can easily enable it, as long as you are running ChromeOS 104 or later. 

How to turn on dark mode on a Chromebook

You can switch dark mode on and off with just a tap, turning it on or off manually anytime you like. 

1. Tap the clock in the taskbar at the lower-right corner of the screen.

2. In the pop-up menu, you should see the Dark theme icon to the right of the Cast icon. To toggle Dark mode on or off, tap the icon. 

3. To switch it from on or off (or vice versa) tap the icon again.

Open the taskbar to find the Dark theme controls for your Chromebook. Dave Johnson/Insider

If you don't see the Dark theme icon, you might need to update your Chromebook to ChromeOS 104 or higher. To check, tap the taskbar and then the Settings icon. On the Settings page, tap About ChromeOS and check for updates.

Check About ChrtomeOS in Settings to see which version your Chromebook is running. Dave Johnson/Insider

How to make your Chromebook turn on dark mode automatically

If you'd rather let your Chromebook automatically toggle dark mode on and off for you based on the time of day, you can set it to automatic. When you enable this control, the dark theme will run at night and in the early morning, and the light theme will take effect during daylight hours. That said, ChromeOS doesn't let you customize the schedule. 

1. Tap-and-hold or right-click on your home screen. 

2. Select Set Wallpaper & Style.

3. In the pop-up window, in the Wallpaper section, tap Auto. 

To schedule the dark theme to start automatically, set it to automatic in the wallpaper settings. Dave Johnson/Insider