Enabling Dark Mode in Outlook on the Web

One of the newest features announced at Ignite was the ability to enable dark mode in Outlook on the Web. It is worth noting that this feature is only available in Office 365. There are no plans to bring it to Exchange 2019 at this time.

I have always been a big fan of dark mode for any application as I spend more hours than I care to admit at my computer, so eye strain is always a concern.

Dark mode lets us protect our eyeballs from the harsh glare of a white screen, and it may just conserve a little more battery life on our mobile devices.

Note: These instructions will also work with Outlook.com

Enabling dark mode

To enable the dark theme, log onto Outlook on the Web and click the toggle next to Try the new Outlook so it moves to the right (on).

Outlook will reload and the toggle will now report as The new Outlook. In this mode, you now have access to new options, including dark mode.

To set dark mode, click the gear (” “) icon in the top right of the screen. From the Settings menu click the toggle next to Dark Mode.

Dark mode is now enabled.

To switch back, click the gear (” “) icon in the top right of the screen. Click the Dark Mode toggle to switch it back to the left (off).

Turning the lights on

While in dark mode it is also possible to switch parts of Outlook on the Web back to a light mode. For example, the reading pane can be switched to a light mode while maintaining the dark theme for other panes. This is referred to as turning on the lights.

To turn on the lights for the reading pane select the More actions (” “) button. From the context menu select Turn on the lights.

The reading pane will now be displayed as if the dark theme was disabled.

To turn on the lights back off, select the More actions (” “) button. From the context menu select Turn off the lights.

What do you think about this feature? Drop a comment below or join the conversation on Twitter @SuperTekBoy.