Outlook on desktop: Make Dark mode the default for viewing and composing messages?

Copper Contributor

I've enabled Outlook's Dark Mode by setting the theme to Black. I now have the button in the mail viewer and compose windows to switch the background to dark (the sun icon, which changes to a crescent moon when you click it to make the background dark).

 

What I need to know is if I can set it so that the default viewing mode is dark. Right now I have to click the Switch Background button each time I select a new message or start composing a new message/reply/etc. There doesn't appear to be a keyboard shortcut for the button.

 

I'm visually impaired with a light sensitivity condition so I absolutely depend on dark mode to be able to use my computer at all. Not having the ability to run in a dark mode literally is a make-or-break dealbreaker for whether I'll use an app or not. In Outlook, the sudden white background appearing makes it hard for me to visually locate the button to click (and the bright background can even be painful for me). When the viewer is in dark mode, it's perfect, but the need to switch it manually each time I open a message or a compose window is getting quite frustrating.

1 Reply

@fdmillion 

File-> Options-> General

Next to the "Office Theme" dropdown list, disable the option; Never change the message background color