Themes in Outlook for Mac

(Originally published on June 22, 2021 by Sabareesh Nikhil Chinta)

 

Hi Insiders! My name is Sabareesh Nikhil Chinta, and I am a Program Manager on the Outlook for Mac team. I am excited to share the availability of a feature in the new Outlook for Mac that allows you to customize your work environment and add a little personality: themes!

 

Themes in Outlook for Mac

 

Themes empower you to enhance your Outlook for Mac experience by changing the color scheme of the app to one of six preset theme colors. They also enable you to increase the visibility, address any accessibility needs you might have, or simply beautify the user interface to suit your needs and interests. You can apply a theme in both Light Mode and Dark Mode, as well as when using high-contrast system settings.

 

Inbox in Light mode

Inbox in Dark mode

 

Oh, and this is just the beginning! We are continuously working on enhancements, such as offering new colors and cause-based themes, so we welcome and appreciate any feedback you may have. We’ll use it to help guide our investments.

 

How it works

To enable and change the theme of your app, follow the steps below.

1. Select Outlook > Preferences > General.
2. In the Appearance section, select Light , Dark , or System (the latter will allow Outlook to reflect the system default setting).
3. In the Theme section, click the theme you want.
4. To enable or disable window transparency, select or clear the Enable window transparency check box.
5. Check out the impact of your changes as you modify the settings, and when you’re happy with the updates, close the General window.

 

General dialog box

Known issues

Themes are not yet supported in the following app components:

• @mentions in the Reading pane
• The Rules dialog box
• The Room Finder in the Full Event Compose window

 

Requirements

This feature is available only in the new Outlook for Mac. Need to get the new Outlook for Mac, check this page!

 

Availability

This feature is available to Beta Channel users running Version 16.51 (Build 21060600) or later.

 

We typically release features over some time to ensure that things are working smoothly. This is true for Insiders as well. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Similarly, sometimes we remove elements to improve them. Though rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product.

 

Feedback

We want to hear from you! Please go to Help > Contact Support in Outlook on Mac to provide your thoughts about this feature.

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