Ok so if you’re like me, staring at a bright screen all day long can seriously hurt your eyes. Dark mode is honestly a lifesaver — it makes your screen darker, which is way easier on your eyeballs, especially at night or when you’re in a dark room. Plus, if you have one of those fancy OLED phones, it even saves battery, which is always nice, right?
The good thing is almost every device or app these days has some version of dark mode. If you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out. So here’s a quick-ish guide on how to turn it on on basically any device you got lying around.
How to Turn On Dark Mode on Smartphones
iPhone (iOS 13 and newer)
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Open the Settings app (you know, the gear icon).
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Tap Display & Brightness.
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You’ll see two options: Light and Dark. Just tap Dark.
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If you want, you can turn on “Automatic” so it switches from light to dark depending on the time. That’s pretty handy, but sometimes it switches at weird times lol.
Android Phones (Android 10 and up)
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Open Settings.
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Go to Display.
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Find Dark theme or sometimes it’s called Night mode, and toggle that on.
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Heads up — some phones like Samsung or OnePlus might have this in a different spot, but it’s almost always under Display somewhere. You might have to dig a bit.
How to Turn On Dark Mode on Computers
Windows 10 and 11
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Click the Start button and open Settings.
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Go to Personalization then click Colors.
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Scroll down to Choose your color and pick Dark.
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That should switch most things to dark mode, like menus and apps that support it.
Mac (macOS Mojave and later)
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Open System Preferences (the little gear icon).
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Click General.
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At the top, under Appearance, select Dark.
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You can also choose Auto so it changes from light to dark depending on the time of day. Pretty neat if you ask me.
Dark Mode on Web Browsers
Google Chrome
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Usually Chrome will follow whatever your system setting is.
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Or you can type
chrome://settings/appearanceinto the address bar and choose Dark theme there. -
If you want more options, there are extensions that force dark mode on websites, but that can get kinda buggy sometimes.
Firefox
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Click the menu button (three lines, top right).
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Go to Settings > General > Language and Appearance.
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Choose Dark for website appearance.
Microsoft Edge
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Open Settings from the menu.
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Go to Appearance.
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Under Overall Appearance, select Dark.
Dark Mode in Popular Apps
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YouTube: Tap your profile pic > Settings > General > Dark Theme.
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Twitter: Settings and privacy > Display and sound > Dark mode.
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Instagram: Follows your phone’s theme, so just turn on dark mode in your phone settings and Instagram will follow.
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Facebook: It’s kinda hidden, but check app settings for dark mode toggle (sometimes it’s hard to find).
Why Should You Use Dark Mode?
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It’s way easier on your eyes, especially if you’re scrolling in the dark or at night.
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Can help reduce headaches and screen glare (some people, not everyone tho).
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Saves battery on OLED phones (which is a nice bonus).
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And honestly, it just looks slick and modern.
If Dark Mode Doesn’t Work…
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Make sure your phone or computer AND your apps are up to date, otherwise dark mode might not be available.
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Some apps just don’t have dark mode yet (which sucks, I know).
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Sometimes you gotta restart your device for the changes to take effect.
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And if it still doesn’t work, try googling “[device/app name] dark mode not working” because sometimes it’s a weird bug.
Final thoughts
Dark mode is everywhere now and it’s super easy to turn on. Try it out for a day or two, especially if you use your devices a lot at night — your eyes will thank you, seriously. And if it doesn’t work perfectly at first, don’t stress, just keep messing with it or update your stuff.