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How to Enable Microsoft Office Dark Mode for Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook

We show you how to enable Microsoft Office dark mode for your desktop and online apps. The changes will apply across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

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Though Office has a dark mode, you may have noticed that it doesn't apply by default. Even if you have your theme set to dark, will burn your retinas with its bright white coloring.

Activating the dark theme for

Thankfully, it's not particularly difficult to enable dark Office. All you need is A subscription. Even better, you can enable Outlook dark mode, Word dark mode, and Excel dark mode by changing your theme in just one of the apps. Microsoft automatically carries your Office themes across the suite for a unified experience. You can even add additional patterns to suit your preferences.

If you're a web user, you, unfortunately, can't enable dark mode using your regular web app or browser settings. In this guide, however, we're going to show you how to install a handy plugin that will have a similar effect. 

How to Turn on Microsoft Office Dark Mode via Microsoft Word Themes

You can follow the steps below on any Office 365 application, but we'll be using Microsoft Word. To make following the tutorial easier, we recommend you also enable Microsoft Word dark mode first.

  1. Open Microsoft Word and press the “File” button in the ribbon


    Windows 10 - Word - Open Menu - File

  2. Click “Account” and enable Word dark mode


    After clicking “Account” in the search bar, look for the “Office Theme” header. Click the drop-down underneath it and select one of the Microsoft Word themes. We'll be showcasing all of the Office themes below, including the two Word dark mode options.

    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Theme - Colorful

  3. Option 1: Dark Gray


    The “Dark” gray theme really has more light gray in it. Though some elements are dark, most are a pleasant middle-ground.

    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Theme - Dark Gray

  4. Option 2: Black


    Contrary to what you'd expect, the “Black” option doesn't turn everything pure black. Instead, most UI elements are a dark gray that tends to be a bit easier on the eyes.

    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Theme - Black

  5. Option 3: White


    “White” is similar to the default Office theme, but it replaces the off-white background with a pure white and gets rid of any coloring on the Office ribbon.

    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Theme - White

  6. Option 4: Use system setting


    This is the one we'd recommend for most people. With it, your Microsoft Office themes will change to match your system preferences. This means that if you change your Windows 10 theme in the future, you won't have to change your Excel, Word, PowerPoint, or Outlook dark mode separately.

    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Theme - Use System Settings

  7. Check your Excel dark mode


    Open Excel and you'll notice that the dark Office theme has been automatically applied to the ribbon and other UI elements.

    Windows 10 - Excel - File - Account - Office Theme - Dark Mode

  8. Check your PowerPoint dark mode


    If everything is applied correctly, your Office 365 dark mode settings should have carried over to PowerPoint.

    Windows 10 - Power Point - File - Account - Office Theme - Dark Gray Mode

How to Personalize Your Microsoft Office Background

Sadly, the default Office 365 interface can be a bit plain. You can further modify your Office themes to include patterns like clouds, circles, stars, and more. Here's how:

  1. Press “File > Account” and change your Office background


    Open Microsoft Word and press “File”, then click “Account” on the sidebar. Find the “Office Background” heading and click the dropdown to choose from one of the options.

    You can see the calligraphy option below, and we'll show you the rest in the next steps.

    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Calligraphy

  2. Option 2: Circles and Stripes


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Circles and Stripes

  3. Option 3: Circuit


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Circuit

  4. Option 4: Clouds


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Clouds

  5. Option 5: Doodle Circles


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Doodle Circles

  6. Option 6: Doodle Diamonds


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Doodle Diamonds

  7. Option 7: Geometry


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Geometry

  8. Option 8: Lunchbox


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Lunchbox

  9. Option 9: School Supplies


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - School Supplies

  10. Option 10: Spring


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Spring

  11. Option 11: Stars


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Stars

  12. Option 12: Stars


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Straws

  13. Option 13: Tree Rings


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Tree Rings

  14. Option 14: Underwater


    Windows 10 - Word - File - Account - Office Background - Underwater

How to Enable Microsoft Office Dark Mode in Office Online

If you use Office Online, you won't have the same Office 365 dark mode menu. Instead, you'll want to use a third-party plugin. There are a few that can provide dark Office themes, but our preference is Night Eye as it works in all of the major browsers.

Here's how you can install and use it:

  1. Find the correct extension for your browser on the Night Eye site


    Go to the Night Eye website and press the “Install” heading in its navigation bar, selecting your browser. We'll be using .

    Windows - Nighteye.app - Install

  2. Click “Get” to install the extension


    You may need to accept an additional security prompt before it can install.

    Windows - Microsoft Store - Nighteye.app - Install

  3. Visit Office online and change your Night Eye theme to “Dark”


    Go to Office Online's Excel page and click the Night Eye icon next to your address bar. Press “Dark” to enable Excel dark mode. The theme should automatically apply to your other Office apps.

    Excel Online -Nighteye - Dark Mode

Now you should know how to turn on Microsoft Office dark mode in any version of its apps. However, you may still want to know how to change background color in Word or change your taskbar color to match your new themes.

Ryan Maskell
Ryan Maskellhttps://ryanmaskell.co.uk
Ryan has had a passion for gaming and technology since early childhood. Fusing the skills from his Creative Writing and Publishing degree with profound technical knowledge, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. As an avid writer, he is also working on his debut novel.