Edited by Piyush Kashyap, Reviewed by Gulshan
We all can agree to the fact that today each of us spends a considerable amount of time in front of the screen, be it smartphones or laptops.
Everywhere we go or whatever we do; screens follow us, be it our smartphones, laptops, PC, or Television.
We keep juggling between these screens and, without realizing, spend more than half of our day staring at a screen.
We all are also aware of how exhausting it can be for our eyes at times, and it is not at all healthy for us in the long run.
Now because of how dependent we have become on these mediums for our work, learning, and leisure, it is almost impractical to cut any of it down, but what can be done to make it less strenuous and uncomfortable for our eyes would be to enable the Dark Mode or Theme.
Windows 10 has given its users an option to switch between the Dark and Light Modes and Themes wherein they have the choice to choose colors for different accents and choose where the user would prefer to see that change
The Dark Mode by Windows 10 is a great option to help reduce the eye strain without compromising screen time. We will further see how one can enable the Dark Theme on Windows 10 and go all Dark.
What is the Dark Theme on Windows 10?
The Dark Theme on Windows 10 is one of the features that every other browser is now trying to incorporate in their user experience. It is essentially a color optimization feature wherein a user can change and customize the backgrounds to darker shades, and in most cases, black.
In such a mode, whenever it is enabled on a pc or laptop, the background darkens to the shade black, and the text appears white. The overall display with this theme is much more efficient and less strenuous on the eyes. It is also said to be more power-efficient for the device.
Although, it is to be noted that while most windows bought applications abide by this feature, not every application and files would go dark-themed by enabling the Dark Theme.
How can one Apply the Windows 10 Dark Theme?
You can enable and enjoy your Windows 10 theme as Dark by following the instructions stated below:
- 1Select the Start Menu - Open the start menu by going on the bottom left corner of the screen and clicking on the windows icon.
- 2Select and open Settings - Once the start menu pops up, you will find the settings icon which appears like a gear right above the power icon. You can also open Settings by typing in “i” and pressing Windows simultaneously on the keyboard.
- 3Select Personalization - This button will lead you to the page with various options to personalize colors, backgrounds, and screen lock.
- 4Tap on the Colors Tab - You will find the colors tab on the left side.
- 5Select the Color Theme Dark - You will find that you can choose a color and customize it as per your taste, choose Dark.
- 6Optimize the Accent Color - After choosing the color theme, the next step is to select an accent color that will show up on the various screen elements like icons and tiles.
Once these steps are followed, the Settings app will change to Dark theme with the rest of the Windows apps. Although, as mentioned earlier, this Dark Theme will work on a limited number of apps and system files, especially the built-in apps. Only a few third-party applications support the Dark Theme mode of Windows 10. If you want to experience an entire Dark Theme all over, we listed down the various steps you can take to make sure of how you can apply Dark Theme everywhere.
Applying Dark Mode on Microsoft Edge
For Microsoft Edge, the Dark Mode needs to be enabled separately. The following steps will guide you through enabling the Dark Theme on Microsoft Edge:
- 1Initialize Microsoft Edge.
- 2Once Microsoft Edge opens, select and open Settings and more from the top right corner with the address bar.
- 3Select Settings.
- 4Choose the Dark option under the “Choose the theme” bar.
Once this is applied, the menu bars and tools will go dark, although the surfed websites and webpages may or may not go all dark. It depends on the webpage.
Applying Dark Mode on Microsoft Office
For Microsoft Office, the Dark Mode is not enabled by the default Windows theme change but has to be selected and changed separately. The following steps will help you to activate the Dark Mode in Microsoft Office:
- 1Select the Start Menu - Open the start menu by going on the bottom left corner of the screen and clicking on the windows icon.
- 2Open Microsoft Office application - Open any of the Microsoft applications Excel, Word, or Powerpoint.
- 3Select File - A dropdown bar will appear.
- 4Select Options - Choose the General tab and scroll down for “Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office,” under which you will find the “Office theme” selection.
- 5Select Dark mode from the Office Theme selection - Once the Dark Office theme is selected, it gets applied to all the Microsoft Office applications. For example, if you followed these steps with Microsoft Excel, once the Dark theme is enabled, you will see the changes on each Microsoft Application like Excel, Powerpoint, et cetera.
Windows 10 Dark Theme Mode : Officially!
Applying Dark Mode on Individual Windows apps
To change the setting for individual Windows Apps to Dark, one can simply follow the steps below for each of the apps they wish to switch to Dark Mode.
- 1Windows must be updated to the latest version.
- 2Once updated, Open the Windows app you wish to change to Dark.
- 3Find and select the Settings option present in the bottom left corner.
- 4Select Personalization present on the right.
- 5Select the app mode as Dark.
These steps can be followed for each windows application as per your needs and working.
Applying Dark Mode on File Explorer and Control Panel
When the default mode of windows is changed, it does not change File Explorer and the Control Panel setting. To change the setting for File Explorer and Control Panel too, one can do so by changing the default app mode to the Dark Theme.
The following steps are supposed to be followed to change the default app mode to Dark:
- 1Select the Start Menu - Open the start menu by going on the bottom left corner of the screen and clicking on the windows icon.
- 2Select and open Settings - Once the start menu pops up, you will find the settings icon which appears like a gear right above the power icon. Or, you can also open Settings by typing in “i” and pressing Windows simultaneously on the keyboard
- 3Select Personalization - This button will lead you to the page with various options to personalize colors, backgrounds, and screen lock.
- 4Tap on the Colors tab - You will find the colors tab on the left side.
- 5Select Dark Mode under the choose your default app mode - The File Explorer and the Control Panel will turn Dark once these steps are followed.
Dark Mode and Night Light
In addition to the Dark Mode, which helps users not to overstrain their eyes while working long hours in front of the screen, Windows also provides its users with a tool named Night Light, which can be either used alternatively to the Dark Mode or paired with it as well.
Essentially what Night Light does is, it changes the color spectrum of the screen display on the warmer tone side. It helps in reducing the uncomfortable eye strain during nightly working hours.
Dark Mode for Other Applications, Browsers, and Websites
Different Applications of Windows have distinct or separate theming choices. For using Dark themes on, say, for example, Google Chrome, you will have to install the Dark theme, and for Firefox, you may enable the dark theme from the browser settings.
For some websites, to get a dark theme, one will have to install a browser extension, while on the other hand, for some websites, a dark theme can be enabled for that particular site exclusively.
The Dark Theme is an excellent solution to combating continuous long screen time, at least by minimizing the eye strain. Plus, after knowing all these different ways of enabling the Dark theme throughout Windows 10 and your devices, you can make your screen time not so harsh and strenuous on the eyes.
Apply the Dark Theme on your Windows 10 and applications with the guided help of the steps provided above to experience the difference.
