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Thanks to the dark mode feature on computers and mobile devices, people can finally reduce eye strain caused by bright screens. This is especially true when you use your device at night in near total darkness. Following this trend, many apps also integrated this feature, creating an ecosystem with reduced screen reflections.
As far as the Zoom app is concerned, dark mode recently arrived on mobile devices. With native support for dark mode only on Mac OS X computers, Windows users were left waiting. Fortunately, there are ways to enable dark mode on almost any system you may use.
How to enable dark mode for Zoom on an iPhone
Until recently, the Zoom mobile app did not have a feature to enable dark mode. This affected both Android and iOS devices. Thanks to an August 2020 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 on the “Screen and brightness” option.
- At the top of the Display & Brightness menu, you will see the message “Appearance”options.
- Tap “Dark.”
By default, Light mode is on. Simply tap Dark and the entire appearance of your iPhone will momentarily darken.
Now, when you open the Zoom app on your device, you will see that it has also gone dark. If you want to return to Light mode, simply repeat the steps above and select Light.
If you prefer to switch between Light and Dark modes frequently, you can do so even more conveniently.
Using Control Panel to access dark mode
- Display the Control Center menu by swiping from the top right corner of the screen.
- Press and hold the Brightness slider from the control center.
You will notice the appearance icon that allows you to change from light to dark appearance and vice versa. Just tap this icon and you’re good to go.
Of course, these changes will automatically affect the Zoom app for iOS as well.
How to enable dark mode for Zoom on an Android device
As with the Zoom app for iOS, Android devices can now use the app’s dark mode. All you have to do is enable dark mode on your device and Zoom will automatically adjust to these settings.
- Open the “Settings” menu on your Android device.
- Tap on the “Screen and brightness” option.
- Right at the top of the Display menu, you will see the “Light and darkness” options. Tap dark mode to enable it.
When you open Zoom on your Android smartphone or tablet, it will use dark mode depending on your system preferences.
If you want to further customize your dark mode experience, you can tap the Dark Mode Settings option in the Display menu. This gives you three options.
- Wake on Schedule allows you to set the time when your system should automatically switch between Dark and Light modes.
- Apply to wallpaper is 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 feature during the time between dusk and dawn. Thanks to this, you will be able to further reduce eye strain, especially at night. To use this option, you will also need to activate the Location option. This way, the blue light filter will sync with your time zone, so you’ll know when sunset and sunrise occur at your location.
How to enable dark mode for Zoom on a Mac
Unlike mobile apps, when you use a Mac computer, you can turn on dark mode directly from your Zoom app. Since 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 activate dark mode in Zoom, follow these steps:
- Open the Zoom app and click “Settings” icon in the upper right corner of the application interface.
- In the left menu, click “General.”
- Under themes, select “Dark.”
When selecting the Zoom theme as explained in Step 3 above, you will notice that there is one more option besides Light and Dark. The Use system settings option allows you to do exactly what it says. As mentioned above, this comes in handy when you want to align the Zoom theme with the look and feel of your computer.
Switch to General Dark Mode on Mac
Every time you use dark mode on your computer, Zoom will also go dark. This is especially useful if you have set your computer themes to automatically cycle based on the time of day. During the day, the computer will use the light theme and switch to dark mode after sunset.
If you are not sure how to activate automatic theme switching in your Mac settings, simply follow the steps below:
- Click on the “Apple logo” in the upper left corner of the screen.
- Click “System preferences.”
- Click “General.”
- The first option is Appearance. Right next to it you will see three options: Light, Dark and Automatic.
- Select “Car.” As soon as you do that, your Mac’s entire interface will adjust to whatever theme you need to use at that moment.
- Close the General menu and finish.
Now, whenever your computer adjusts its appearance based on the time of day, Zoom will follow with its Dark mode.
How to Enable Dark Mode for Zoom on Windows 10 PC
Unlike the Zoom app for Mac, the Windows 10 app does not come with a built-in Dark Mode option. Although it may seem like bad news, there is a solution to this problem. Something like.
In addition to using the Zoom desktop app, you can also use the online version through an internet browser. If you use Google Chrome, you can enable the browser’s dark mode in the online app. The only downside to this is that you won’t be able to have dark mode on Zoom while you’re in a meeting.
To change the appearance of Zoom Online to a darker color, do the following:
- Open Google Chrome on your computer and go to https://zoom.us
- Click on “Log in” in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Sign in with your Zoom username and password.
- Now open a new tab in Google Chrome, copy this link into the address bar and press Enter: chrome://flags/#enable-force-dark. This will open the page with experimental options for Google Chrome. Here you will see that the Automatic dark mode for web content The option is highlighted in yellow.
- Select “Default.”
- From the drop-down menu, select “Enabled with selective investment “all.”
- Now it’s time to restart Chrome. You do it simply by clicking on the Relaunch button in the bottom right corner of the page. Before you do this, be sure to save any work you may have in any windows and tabs you have open.
- Go to the Zoom page and sign in to your account. You should now see that the Zoom interface has also changed to Dark Mode.
To return to normal mode for Zoom and other websites, simply follow the steps above. The only difference this time will be in Step 9. Here you need to change the Enabled with Inversion Selected value from All to Default.
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 brilliant 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 so, simply follow the steps explained in the previous section to enable this in Windows 10.
Zoom in the dark
Hopefully, now you know how to enable dark mode in your Zoom app. Changing the Zoom interface to be darker to prevent your eyes from getting unnecessarily tired can be important when working long hours. Especially when working in low light conditions.
Have you managed to activate dark mode in Zoom? What device are you using it on? Share your experiences in the comments section below.
