After all this time, Outlook still manages to surprise us with its splendid features and new add-ons. Microsoft recently released Dark mode option for the Microsoft Office suite, along with dark grey and colorful themes. FYI, this only works on Office 365, Office 2016, and Office 2013. The Dark mode option is not limited to the desktop client as it is also available for Outlook Web app and Outlook.com.

Mar 28, 2013 How to change the outlook theme back to hotmail. The new outlook theme is very sharp on the eyes, no contrast and difficult to read, i really dont like it. Even with the brightness on my laptop on the lowest setting its still very harsh on the eyes. I much prefer the pale yellow background the hotmail theme has, much easier to read and doesnt. To change the default theme for all messages you send, go to File Options Mail (or File Options Ease of Access) and click the “Stationery and Fonts” button. This will open the “Signatures and Stationery” window, where you can choose a default theme for new emails, as well as make changes to the theme for replies and forwards.

Enable Dark Mode in MS Outlook

1. Jun 19, 2020 If you use Outlook on Mac, there is no way to change your theme but you can put it into Dark Mode. Microsoft Outlook has many different features that benefit its users and their workplaces.
2. Apply Outlook stationery and themes to a single message Click the Home tab. In the New group, click New Items, point to Email Message Using, and then click More Stationery. Under Choose a Theme, click the theme or stationery that you want, and then click OK.

By default, the Office theme is set to Colorful, but one can also select a White theme. Other than that, we have options like Black and Dark Grey, and the Black theme is also referred as Dark mode. The steps to switch to the Black theme/Dark mode are described below:

• • For Outlook 365 Desktop Client
    1. 1. From the toolbar, select the File > Office Account.
       2. Next, from Office Themes, choose Black.
       3. Press Enter key to exit.

    Note: The new theme will be applied to all of the MS Office apps.

    1. How to Toggle Between Dark Mode ON and Dark Mode OFF?
       It is quite convenient to toggle between Dark Mode ON or OFF while reading messages. This is possible by clicking on Sun/Moon icons located at the top of the message window, as shown below:
       1. 1. Select the Sun icon to change to a white background.
       1. 1. Select the Moon icon to change to a black background.
       1. 1. While composing a message, one can also toggle between Dark mode icons, as shown below:
  • For Outlook.com and Outlook on the Web

It is also possible to toggle between dark mode and bright mode in Outlook on the web. To do so, login to your account. From the setting cog (top right corner) switch the Dark mode on and off as shown below:

That’s all there is to it. It depends on people to people, but Dark mode looks more elegant and unique. More importantly, studies suggest that Dark themes can reduce eye strain in low light conditions as there is a good contrast between the text and the background.

If you want the reading pane to be white, then one can do that by clicking on the Turn on the lights mode.

Note: Also, you can toggle between Dark Mode ON and OFF by going to File > Office Account and selecting Black under Office Theme.

Too Many Features spoils the Tool?

After the addition of the Dark mode feature in Outlook, we can speculate that Outlook is keen on adding more features in the coming future. Due to so many added features, Outlook desktop client sometimes suffers freezing and hanging issues, making it sluggish. In scenarios like these, when users would like to access their emails urgently, they need a quick and easy solution. Kernel Outlook PST Viewer is just the tool that is needed in situations like these. It can easily open healthy as well as corrupted PST files. On top of that, it is available for free. If you are unable to open Outlook attachemnts then also the tool can be helpful

Conclusion

We have learned how to toggle between Dark mode ON and OFF for Outlook desktop client and Outlook on the web. The addition of so many features in Outlook might make Outlook sluggish, causing it to crash. Hence, to access your Outlook PST files urgently, it is recommended to use a third-party PST viewer. Kernel for Outlook PST Viewer is an excellent utility when you need to access your Outlook PST files urgently.

As the admin of your organization, you can create multiple themes for the people in your organization, and select which themes apply to different members of your organization. The organization theme is what appears in the top navigation bar for people in your organization.

You can add or update a default theme that applies to everyone within your org. You can also create up to four additional group themes that can be assigned to multiple Microsoft 365 groups.

Add or update your organization's theme

1. Nfs the run english language files download. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Org Settings page, and then choose the Organization profile tab.

2. On the Organization profile tab, select Custom themes. Initio inic 950 driver.

All organization themes can be customized using the following tabs.

General: Modify a theme

Your experience on the General tab depends on whether you're adding or modifying the default theme or a group theme.

Update the default theme

The default theme is the first theme displayed.

1. If you previously customized a theme for your organization, select Default Theme and use one of your saved customizations, or, select Add theme.
2. On the General page, you can prevent users from overriding their theme and show the user’s display name.
3. Select Save to save your changes.

Important

The default theme is unique, it can't be renamed and applies to everyone within your organization. To delete the default theme, you have to delete all other themes first.

Create a group theme

You can create up to four additional group themes.

1. On the General page, enter a name for your new theme.

2. Under Groups, you can select up to 5 Microsoft 365 Groups that can see your group theme, instead of using the default theme. You can also prevent users from overriding their theme and show the user's display name.

3. Select Save.

Logos: Specify your theme logos

On the Logos page, you can you can add your logos, and specify the URL where users will navigate to, when they select the logo.

• Default logo: Add a URL location that points to your logo. Make sure that the URL uses HTTPS. Add a HTTPS image url that allows anonymous access and doesn't require authentication. For default theme, you also have an option to upload a logo image that is less than 10kb. Your default logo can be in the JPG, PNG, GIF, or SVG format. For SVG images, they will be resized to fit 24 pixels vertically. JPG, PNG, GIF images will be scaled to fit 200 x 48 pixels. Logo aspect ratio will always be preserved.
• Alternate logo: Add a URL location that points to your logo. Your alternate logo should be optimized for use in Office dark themes. Same requirements as the default logo.
• On-click link: Add a URL location that points to your logo. You can use your logo as a link to any company resource, for example, your company's website. If you don’t select a URL location for your logo, it’ll default to the Office home page.

Select Save to save your changes.

You can remove your logos at any time. Just return to the Logos page and select Remove.

Colors: Choose theme colors

On the Colors page, you can set the default colors and choose which logo should be used.

• Navigation bar color: Select a color to use for the background of the navigation bar. The navigation bar appears at the top on every page.
• Text and icon color: Select a color to use for the text and icons on the top navigation bar.
• Accent color: Pick one that shows up well on a white or light background. The accent color is used to color some links and buttons that show up on a white or light background. For example, the accent color is used to color elements in a user's inbox and on their Office.com portal page.
• Reset color: Select this link to reset colors to the default colors.

Frequently asked questions

My organization already has a theme for all employees. How will this change?

The default theme will continue to be shown to all employees. Adding a new group theme will only be made available to the Microsoft 365 groups associated with that theme.

Why don’t I see group themes in the Admin Center?

Only global admins can customize company themes. Global readers have read-only access.

Change Microsoft Outlook Theme Color

How many different themes can I set up for my organization?

Up to five themes can be created. A default theme and four group themes.

Can I use security groups or distribution groups instead of Microsoft 365 Groups?

No, new group themes must be mapped to one or more Microsoft 365 groups and not security groups or distribution groups.

Note

You can convert distribution groups to Microsoft 365 groups in Outlook.

Can I manually assign a theme independent of Microsoft 365 Groups? 

No, new group themes must be mapped to one or more Microsoft 365 groups. Users who are members of the Microsoft 365 group will get the theme applied to their group. You can create and add new members to a Microsoft 365 Group by going to the Settings > Groups in the admin center.

What happens if a user is assigned to multiple group themes?

Users who are assigned to multiple group themes will be shown the default theme.

Why can’t I delete the default theme? 

The default theme can only be deleted once all group themes are deleted. Make sure you delete all group themes before you try to delete the group theme.

Why am I receiving an error message every time I upload a logo URL. 

Make sure the logo you’re using is specified as a publicly addressable URL. Follow these steps for uploading logos to Azure Blob Storage or the Office 365 Content Delivery Network with SharePoint Online.

Why am I receiving the message “Doesn’t meet minimum color contrast ratio of 4.5:1”?

The recommended contrast ratio between text, icon or button color and background color is 4.5:1. You can override this recommendation and still save your theme as this is not a requirement.

If I define a theme, which places in Microsoft 365 will this be used?

Change Microsoft Outlook Theme Windows 10

Any theme appears in the top navigation bar for everyone in the organization as part of the Microsoft 365 suite header.

Related content

How To Change Microsoft Outlook Theme Color

Add custom tiles to the My apps page and app launcher (article)
Overview of Microsoft 365 Groups for administrators (article)