How to turn on Dark Mode on Android 10

Android 10 dark mode
Android 10 dark mode (Image credit: Android Central)

Dark theme is here, at long last! The Android Developer team has spent almost five years teasing us with dark themes in the Developer Previews only to yank it away when fall rolled around, but with Android 10, Dark theme is officially here to stay, and turning it on and off is an absolute breeze.

How to turn on Dark theme from Settings

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap Display.
  3. Tap the Dark theme toggle to turn it on.

How to add Dark theme to Quick Settings

You don't have to go to dig into Settings every time you want to toggle it on or off — there's a Quick Setting for that. It's not added to Quick Settings by default, but it's easy to add.

  1. Pull down the top of the screen twice to open Quick Settings.
  2. Tap the pencil in the bottom left corner of the Quick Settings shade.
  3. Drag and drop the Dark theme toggle from the bottom menu up into the Quick Settings button order.

You'll now be able to swipe down into the Quick Settings menu to toggle Dark theme on and off when desired.

How to set your system accent color

The system accent color is one of those things that you just had to live with in previous Android versions, but in the Developer Preview for Android 10 we were finally able to choose from one of several accent colors once we did a little digging. There are eight accent colors to choose at this moment, and here's how to find them:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Scroll to the bottom to tap About phone.
  3. Scroll down to tap Android version.

  1. Tap the build number 7 times.
  2. Once you'd tapped it enough times, a toast message will appear saying that you are now a Developer. Tap the back arrow in the top left corner twice to return to the main Settings menu.
  3. Tap System.
  4. Tap Advanced.

  1. Tap Developer options.
  2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Accent color.
  3. Tap the color you desire.

Accent color options in Light and Dark themes

I rather like Ocean, but there are is a nice variety of theme colors available at this time, at least on the cooler end of the color spectrum. Most colors are more bold and bright on a light theme while lightening to a more pastel shade in dark theme, with the exception of Ocean — which is deeper and darker on light theme — and Black, which turns to white when dark theme is enabled.

Device default (Blue)

Cinnamon

Black

Green

Ocean

Space

Orchid

Purple

Ara Wagoner

Ara Wagoner was a staff writer at Android Central. She themes phones and pokes YouTube Music with a stick. When she's not writing about cases, Chromebooks, or customization, she's wandering around Walt Disney World. If you see her without headphones, RUN. You can follow her on Twitter at @arawagco.