How to get Dark Mode on Microsoft Office

Dark modes seem to be all the rage at the moment. Whether it’s Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Android or pretty much any modern software, your eyes can now be spared the glare of white or bright screens at night, or simply whenever you want a grey interface.

Microsoft Office is no exception, so if you prefer to embrace the dark side, here’s how to change the theme to Dark Grey on Word, Excel and other Office apps.

How to enable dark mode on MS Office apps

The method for turning on dark mode is simple. It only a takes a moment or two, and once you set up your preference it will be the default until you change it back.

For this tutorial we’ll be using Word, because we are writers, but the process is the same for all the Office apps. On the Home page, select the Account option near the bottom of the left-hand column.

On the next page you’ll see a drop-down menu option with the title Office Theme. Click this to reveal your choices.

Office will now present you with four colour themes – Colourful, Dark Grey (or Gray), Black, and White. For Dark Mode you’ll want to select either Dark Grey or Black.

Try one and if you’re not sure then select the other. You should see the surrounding area change to the theme immediately, so you can judge whether it’s the right one for you.

When you’re happy, create or open an existing document and you should see the new Dark Mode in all its splendour.

If you want the noire experience on your other apps, take a look at how to use dark mode in Windows 10, how to turn on dark mode in Slack, how to enable dark mode in YouTube, and how to enable dark mode in Google Chrome.