How to turn Notion dark mode on and off

Notion ships with a dark theme on every platform it runs on. Switching to it takes one keystroke, and switching back takes the same one.

What is Notion's dark mode?

Dark mode repaints the whole interface: page background, sidebar, menus, and blocks go dark, and body text flips to a light off-white.

It is an interface theme, not a per-page style, so you cannot keep one page light and another dark. Notion stores the choice on your account rather than the device, so Dark applies to every workspace you sign into.

How to enable Notion dark mode on desktop (Mac/Windows/Web)

1. Open settings

Select the down arrow beside your workspace name at the top of the left sidebar, then choose Settings. The panel is the same on macOS, Windows, and web.

2. Select dark mode

In Preferences, open the Appearance dropdown and choose Dark. The others are Light and Use system setting, which hands the decision to your OS.

The interface switches immediately, with nothing to save.

How to enable Notion dark mode on mobile (iOS/Android)

1. Open settings

Tap the three dots icon at the top right, then tap Settings.

2. Select dark mode

Scroll to Appearance, tap the current value, and choose Dark.

Flipping the theme on your phone flips it on your laptop too.

How to turn off Notion dark mode

Switching back uses the same two controls:

• Keyboard: press Ctrl + Shift + L on Windows or Cmd + Shift + L on Mac. It toggles, so it returns you to whichever theme you were not in.
• Settings: open Settings → Preferences → Appearance and choose Light. On mobile, use Settings → Appearance.

To follow the time of day instead, choose Use system setting. Notion has no schedule of its own, so the OS switch is the only way to get one.

If Notion keeps opening in light mode after you set it to dark, you are on Use system setting with your OS in light. Moving it to Dark pins the theme, and because Notion stores the preference on your account it survives restarts and follows you everywhere.

How to turn on dark mode in Notion Calendar

Notion Calendar is a separate app with its own theme, so darkening Notion does not darken your calendar.

• Open Notion Calendar and click your profile picture, then choose Settings. On mobile, tap ≡ and then ⚙️.
• Go to the General tab.
• Set Theme to Dark mode.

The other options are Auto, which follows your OS, and Light mode.

Notion Calendar displays Google, Outlook, and iCloud events beside your Notion pages, but display is all it does; those events never become database rows you can filter, roll up, or relate to a project. Turning them into real Notion records, and pushing your edits back out, is what 2sync does with two-way sync between Notion and Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Todoist, and Gmail. The 2sync and Notion Calendar comparison covers where each fits.

What are Notion's dark mode color codes?

These come from the theme variables in Notion's own dark-mode stylesheet, read from the web app in August 2026. The widely quoted #2F3438 and #373C3F belong to the previous theme.

Two neutrals carry the interface: #191919 for the page canvas, #202020 for anything layered over it. One detail catches people out: the dark body text is an off-white (#F0EFED), not pure #FFFFFF, so white text pasted into an image reads brighter than the interface around it. Matching a cover or widget? #191919 is the background to hit.

What are the benefits of using Notion's dark mode?

1. Comfort in low light

In a dim room, a white page is the brightest thing in your field of view. A dark interface emits less light, which most people find easier on a long session.

2. What the research actually says about eye strain

The claim that dark mode is objectively better for your eyes is shakier than it sounds. Nielsen Norman Group's review of the contrast-polarity research concluded that in users with normal vision, light mode leads to better performance most of the time, and the gap widens as text gets smaller.

A 2025 study of tablet users found no significant difference in visual fatigue, concluding only that dark mode may help reduce the risk of eye fatigue. The same review points the other way too, citing research that links prolonged light-mode reading to eye changes associated with myopia. Treat it as a preference, not a fix for tired eyes.

3. Fewer distractions

A darker canvas holds lower contrast against the room, and some find a long page calmer to work through. Personal taste, no measurement behind it.

4. Battery savings on OLED screens

On OLED and AMOLED panels each pixel makes its own light, and a black pixel is switched off. Android's guidance says dark theme "reduces power usage by a significant amount, depending on the device's screen technology". On an LCD the backlight stays on regardless, so the saving is negligible.

5. It looks the way you want your workspace to look

Plenty of people switch on preference alone, which is reason enough. If you are building a dark workspace deliberately, the aesthetic Notion templates roundup collects dashboards and journals designed for it, and Notion covers and headers handles artwork that survives the theme flip.

Conclusion

Notion's dark mode is one keystroke away and one keystroke back: Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + L. Make it permanent by setting Appearance to Dark, or pick Use system setting and let your OS switch it. Notion Calendar keeps its own theme, so change that separately.

Once the workspace looks right, fix what goes in it:

• Notion widgets that add clocks, timers, and weather to pages
• Notion browser extensions for extra theme and UI controls
• Syncing Notion with Google Calendar, so meetings arrive as database rows
• Syncing Notion with Todoist, for tasks current in both apps

Frequently asked questions