The internet never sleeps. But you need to. Rather than trying to abstain from staring at a screen all day (which, for most people, is practically impossible), try dimming the lights.
Whether you set up a home office, take your laptop to the local cafe, or spend the day between cubicle walls, give your eyes a break by enabling dark mode in your web browser.
Dark mode won't change the color of the pages you visit (that's set by the site's developer); it will make the toolbar and Settings page much easier to look at, especially during the shorter winter days. How you enable the feature depends on which browser you use and your device's operating system. Read on to learn how to enable dark mode in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
Enable OS Dark Mode
These days, most major browsers follow your operating system's lead. So if you want to surf the web in dark mode, setting it up OS-wide should take care of the rest.
Windows 10:
- Open Settings > Personalization > Colors
- Choose Dark from the drop-down menu
Windows 11:
(Credit: PCMag/Windows)- Open Settings > System > Personalization (or right-click on the desktop > Personalize)
- Pick a pre-existing theme or change the system colors
MacOS
(Credit: Apple/PCMag)- Open System Preferences > General
- Select Dark (or Auto, if you want the theme to change based on time of day)
iOS
(Credit: PCMag/Apple)Option 1:
- Open Settings > Display & Brightness
- Select Dark (or Auto, if you want the theme to change based on time of day)
Option 2:
- Open Control Center
- Long-press brightness shader
- Select Dark Mode icon
Android
(Credit: PCMag/Google)- This will vary by phone maker, but your best best is to open Display settings
- Select Dark
Set Up Dark Mode in Chrome
(Credit: Google)While the Chrome desktop app doesn't offer an official dark mode, users can turn to the Chrome Web Store to create the dusky theme they're after.
- Open Settings > Appearance > Theme
- Scroll down to Dark & Black Themes
- Select View All
- Select a theme to see more information
- Tap Add to Chrome to replace your current browser theme
- To return to normal, navigate to Settings > Appearance > Reset to default.
(Credit: Google)Like what you see and want to match your phone to your desktop? Apple iOS owners must set a default system theme, but Android users can enable official dark mode in just a few steps:
- Open Chrome
- Tap the three-dot menu
- Open Settings > Theme
- Select Dark or System default (the latter if dark mode is enabled at the system level)
Set Up Dark Mode in Firefox
(Credit: Mozilla)Like Chrome, Firefox makes it easy to add themes to your browser. So you can turn your toolbar into a neon fever dream, cosmic cloud, or whatever your current system theme is.
- Open Settings
- Scroll down to Language and Appearance
- Select Dark
- Tap Extensions & Themes to see more options
There's also an option to tell supported web pages to change their color scheme based on your settings.
- Open Settings > General
- Set Website Appearance to Dark
- Start browsing to see which pages tap into that dark theme
- Or, click Manage Colors to change the background
To set the theme in Firefox on Android, open the three-dot menu and navigate to Settings > Customize > Theme > Dark or Follow device theme. For iPhone or iPad, select the hamburger menu and tap Turn on Night Mode.
Set Dark Mode in Safari
(Credit: PCMag/Safari)Safari—whether on desktop or mobile—does not offer its own dark mode. You'll have to rely on the default system theme in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS to turn the browser black.
(Credit: PCMag/Safari)One solution for individual pages is through Safari's Reader View feature, which offers a stripped-down version of articles.
- Open a page you want to read
- Select the aA symbol in the address bar
- Select the darkest shade in the drop-down menu
Set Dark Mode in Edge
(Credit: PCMag/Microsoft)Microsoft's Edge is based on Google's Chromium browser. But unlike Chrome, it actually has a built-in dark mode. Edge uses the system theme by default, but you can also change it manually.
- Open the three-dot menu
- Select Settings > Appearance > Overall appearance
- Select Dark
- Pick a color theme to further customize the browser's top menu bar
On an Android device, tap the three-dot menu, select Settings > Appearance > Dark/Device (Default). For iOS, tap the same three-dot menu and open Settings, scroll down to the Theme section, and select Device/Dark.
Set Dark Mode in Opera
Opera has several different browsers on offer—including the standard Opera browser; gaming-focused Opera GX; and mobile-first Opera mini. Each handles the switch to dark mode slightly differently.
(Credit: PCMag/Opera)Standard Opera
Web:
- Open Easy Setup hamburger menu
- Select Dark or System
- Enable Force dark theme on pages
Mobile:
- Tap the account icon
- Select the gear icon
- Choose Appearance > Dark or Follow system
- Pick a color theme and enable Dark web pages to force dark mode on all websites
Opera GX
Web:
- Open Easy Setup hamburger menu
- Select Dark or Auto
- Click Configuration link to set custom theme colors
Mobile:
- Tap O icon at bottom of screen
- Choose Settings
- Select Auto or Dark
- Tap Dark web pages > Auto or Always dark to change websites to match
Opera Mini
Mobile:
- Tap O icon at bottom of screen
- Select Gear icon
- Tap Personalization
- Choose Dark or Auto