With the dark mode feature on computers and mobile devices, people can finally reduce eye strain caused by bright screens. This is especially true when using your device at night in near total darkness. Following this trend, many apps have also incorporated this feature, creating an ecosystem with reduced screen glare.
When it comes to the Zoom app, dark mode has only recently arrived on mobile devices. With native dark mode support on Mac OS X computers only, Windows users had to wait. Luckily, there are ways to enable dark mode on almost any system you use.
How to Enable Dark Mode for Zoom on an iPhone
Until recently, the Zoom mobile app didn't have a feature to enable dark mode. This affected both Android and iOS devices. Thanks to an August 2022 update, you can now enable dark mode using your phone's system settings.
Doing this on your iPhone and iPad devices is easier than ever.
Open the Settings app on your iOS device.
Tap the Display & Brightness option.
At the top of the Display & Brightness menu, you'll see Appearance options.
Press "Dark"
By default, Light mode is enabled. Just tap on Dark and the entire appearance of your iPhone will momentarily become darker.
Now when you open the Zoom app on your device, you will see that it has also gone dark. If you want to switch back to Light mode, simply repeat the steps above and select Light.
If you prefer to switch between light and dark mode frequently, you can do it even easier.
Pull down the Control Center menu by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen.
Press and hold the Brightness control in Control Center.
You will notice the appearance icon which allows you to switch between light appearance and dark appearance. Just tap that icon and you're set.
Of course, these changes will also automatically affect the Zoom iOS app.
How to Enable Dark Mode for Zoom on Android Device
Just like with the Zoom app for iOS, Android devices can now use the app's dark mode. All you need to do is enable dark mode on your device and Zoom will automatically adhere to those settings.
Open the Settings menu on your Android device.
Tap the Display & Brightness option.
At the very top of the View menu, you will see Light and Dark options.
Tap Dark to activate dark mode and that's it.
When you open Zoom on your Android smartphone or tablet, it uses dark mode based on your system preferences.
If you want to further customize your Dark Mode experience, you can tap the Dark Mode Settings option in the View menu. This gives you three options.
- Enable as scheduled lets you set the time when your system should automatically switch between dark and light modes.
- Apply to Wallpaper is pretty self-explanatory, but will only work with system default wallpapers.
- Finally, there is the Adaptive Color Filter option. This automatically activates the blue light filter function for the time between sunset and sunrise. Thanks to this, you can reduce the fatigue of your eyes even more, especially in the evening. To use this option, you will also need to enable the Location option. This way, the blue light filter will sync with your time zone, so it knows when sunset and sunrise are at your location.
How to Enable Dark Mode for Zoom on a Mac
Unlike mobile apps, when using a Mac computer, you can enable dark mode directly from your Zoom app. As this is a built-in feature, it is completely independent of system settings. Of course, there is an option to automatically align the app's dark mode with the active one on your system.
To enable dark mode in Zoom, follow these steps:
Open the Zoom app on your Mac.
Click the Settings icon on the top right corner of the app interface.
In the left menu, click General.
In the Theme section, select Dark and that's it.
When you select the Zoom theme as explained in step 4 above, you will notice that there is an additional option besides light and dark. The Use system settings option lets you do exactly what it says. As mentioned above, this comes in handy when you want to align Zoom's theme with your computer's appearance.
Then, whenever you use dark mode on your computer, Zoom will also go dark. This is especially useful if you've set themes on your computer to automatically alternate based on the time of day. During the day, the computer will use the light theme and go dark after sunset.
If you don't know how to enable automatic theme switching in your Mac settings, just follow the steps below:
- Click on the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the screen.
- Click System Preferences.
- Click on General.
- The first option is appearance. Right next to it, you'll notice three options: Light, Dark, and Auto.
- Select Auto. As soon as you do this, your Mac's entire interface will adapt to the theme it should be using at the moment.
- Close the General menu and you're ready to go.
Now whenever your computer adjusts its appearance based on the time of day, Zoom will follow suit with its dark mode.
How to Enable Dark Mode for Zoom on Windows 10 PC
Unlike the Zoo app for Mac, the Windows 10 app doesn't come with a built-in dark mode option. Although this may seem like bad news, there is a solution to this problem. Kind of.
In addition to using the Zoom desktop app, you can also use the online version through an internet browser. If you're using Google Chrome, you'll be able to enable the browser's dark mode on the online app. The only downside is that you won't be able to use dark mode in Zoom while in a meeting.
To darken the appearance of Online Zoom, follow these steps:
Open Google Chrome on your computer. Go to https://zoom.us.
Click Connect in the upper right corner of the screen.
Log in with your Zoom username and password.
Now open a new tab in Google Chrome and copy this link into the address bar:
chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark. Once you've copied it, press Enter on your keyboard.
“Force dark mode for web content”
This will open the page with experimental options for Google Chrome. Here you will see the Force dark mode for web content option highlighted in yellow.
Click on “Default”
Right next to this option, there is a drop-down menu currently set to Default. Click on it.
From the drop-down options, select Enabled with Invert All Selected.
Now is the time to restart Chrome. You do this by simply closing all active Chrome windows. Before doing so, be sure to save any work you may have in the windows and tabs you have open.
When everything closes, restart Google Chrome.
Go to the Zoom page and log in to your account. You should now see that the Zoom interface has also gone into dark mode.
To return to normal mode for Zoom and other websites, just follow the steps above. The only difference this time will be in step 9. Here you need to change the value Enabled with inversion selected from all to Default value.
How to Enable Dark Mode for Zoom on a Chromebook
Unfortunately, the Zoom app for Chrome OS does not support dark mode. On the plus side, the app's interface is mostly dark gray, so it won't overwhelm your eyes with bright colors. The only shiny thing about its interface is the Settings menu.
Of course, if you want, you can use Zoom directly in Google Chrome and apply dark mode. To do this, just follow the steps explained in the previous section to enable it in Windows 10.
Zoom in the dark
Hopefully, now you know how to enable dark mode on your Zoom app. Depending on the device you use, you will have more or less success in your intention. Either way, you'll definitely make improvements to Zoom's interface, saving your eyes from unnecessary fatigue. Especially when working in low light conditions.
Did you manage to activate dark mode on Zoom? What device are you using it on? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.
