Facebook Dark Mode
Step-by-step for every device, what to do when the option is missing, and how to go beyond grey.
Facebook dark mode in 2026: where the switch is
Dark mode has been part of Facebook since 2020 on desktop and 2021 on the apps, but Meta keeps moving the switch. Today it lives in Display & accessibility on the website and under Settings & privacy in the apps, with three states: On, Off and a system-following mode called Automatic, System or “Use system settings” depending on the platform. The apps store the choice on the device and the website keeps it with your web preferences, which is why your laptop can be dark while your phone stays white, and why Messenger has its own switch.
Desktop (facebook.com)
Open facebook.com and click your profile picture
It is the round photo in the top-right corner of the blue bar. A menu drops down with your name at the top.
Click “Display & accessibility”
The row has a moon icon. On narrower windows it sits behind “Settings & privacy”; on most screens it is directly in the first menu.
Under Dark mode, choose On
Three options: Off, On and Automatic. On applies immediately, no reload. Automatic follows the light or dark setting of your operating system and switches with it.
What you should see: the #F0F2F5 background turns #18191A, cards turn #242526 and text becomes light grey. Blue buttons stay blue.
Android app
Open the Facebook app and tap the Menu (☰) button
It is in the top-right on Android, next to the search icon.
Scroll down and tap “Settings & privacy”
The section expands. Look for “Dark mode”. If it is not listed there, tap Settings, then Preferences, then Dark mode.
Pick On, Off or “Use system settings”
The last option follows the Android theme, including any schedule you set under Android Settings → Display → Dark theme.
iPhone and iPad
Tap the Menu (☰) button
Bottom-right on iPhone. Your profile card appears at the top of the screen.
Tap “Settings & privacy”, then “Dark mode”
If the row is missing, open Settings, scroll to Preferences and tap Dark mode there.
Choose On, or “System” to follow iOS
With System selected, Facebook flips together with Appearance in iOS Settings → Display & Brightness, including the sunset-to-sunrise schedule.
Mobile browser and Messenger
Facebook in Safari or Chrome on a phone uses the same menu as the app: tap ☰, open Settings & privacy, then Dark mode. If the row is absent, the mobile site is simply following your browser, which follows the phone: switch the phone to dark and reload.
Messenger has its own switch. Open Messenger, tap your profile picture in the top-left, and choose Dark mode (On, Off or System). On desktop, the Messenger site inherits the Facebook setting, and the Messenger desktop app has the toggle under Preferences → Appearance.
Troubleshooting: dark mode missing or misbehaving
The option is not there. Nine times out of ten the app is out of date; update it in the Play Store or App Store and force-close it once. Meta also ships settings in stages, so a fresh install can lag behind a friend's by a week. Clearing the app cache (Android: Settings → Apps → Facebook → Storage → Clear cache) and logging out and back in refreshes the feature list. If nothing helps, use dark mode through the browser at m.facebook.com, or through the Facebook Lite app where the switch is under Settings & privacy → Dark mode.
Dark mode keeps turning off. You are on Automatic or System and the operating system is flipping to light in the morning. Either set Facebook to On instead of Automatic, or change the schedule in Windows (Settings → Personalization → Colors), macOS (System Settings → Appearance), Android (Display → Dark theme → Schedule) or iOS (Display & Brightness → Automatic).
Only some pages are dark. Marketplace, some Pages tools and the ads manager still render light in places, and a browser extension that injects its own CSS can override Facebook's. Disable extensions one by one; if the problem is Facebook's, there is nothing to fix on your side.
Dark mode is on but the site is white after login. A private window, a strict tracking blocker or a browser that wipes site data on exit can discard the preference before Facebook reads it. Turn it on again in a normal window, or set Automatic and let the operating system decide.
Beyond Facebook's grey: true black, colours and backgrounds
Facebook's dark mode is one fixed palette: #18191A behind #242526 cards. If you want a pure black theme for an OLED screen, a dark theme in your own colours, or a photo or video behind the feed, the site itself has no option. Our free Chrome extension, Themes for Facebook, does it by overriding the CSS variables Facebook uses for its colours. Because it only swaps colours and adds a background layer, everything on the page keeps working; it does not read your posts or messages.
- Dark and black themes for AMOLED screens and late-night scrolling.
- Photo and video backgrounds from collections such as space, nature, anime and minimalism.
- Fonts and accent colours, applied on top of Facebook's own dark mode if you keep it on.
