> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mailkick.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Dark mode

> Give every color a dark version, and decide what Gmail is allowed to do

## Overview

In dark mode, email apps do not leave your design alone. Some look for instructions, and the ones that find none invent their own colors. Mailkick lets you give those instructions: a **Dark** version for each color in your Style Library, previewed in the editor before you send.

Everything lives in **Style Library > Dark mode**, behind two switches.

<Note>
  Both settings apply to all emails at their next export or sync. Emails you exported before turning them on are unchanged.
</Note>

## Turn it on

Open **Style Library > Dark mode** and switch on **Custom dark theme**.

Until you do, the **Dark** color fields are ignored and your emails export exactly as they do today.

## Give your colors a dark version

Go to **Style Library > Styles** and open a color. Each color token now has two fields, **Light** and **Dark**.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Linked by default">
    **Dark** starts on the same value as **Light**. A color you never touch keeps the same appearance in both themes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Type to unlink">
    Entering a different value in **Dark** unlinks it. Entering the **Light** value again relinks the two.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Tip>
  Only **tokens** carry a dark version. A hex code typed directly on an element has nothing to switch to, so it stays identical in both themes. One more reason to reference tokens rather than paste color codes.
</Tip>

## Preview before you send

When **Custom dark theme** is on, a moon button appears in the editor next to the desktop and mobile toggle. Click it to render the canvas with your dark colors, click again to come back.

This is the same resolution path as the export, so what the canvas shows is what the email will contain.

## Dark mode images

A logo drawn in near black disappears on a dark background. Select an image, then use **Dark mode image** in the image panel to upload a second version.

The element header shows a moon badge once an image has a dark version, so you can see at a glance which ones are covered.

## What each email app actually does

This is the part worth knowing before you spend an afternoon picking dark colors.

| Email app | What happens |
| - | - |
| Apple Mail, macOS and iOS | Uses your **Dark** colors as written |
| Gmail, iPhone and Android | Ignores them and recolors the email on its own |
| Outlook classic desktop | Ignores them and applies its own inversion |
| Other apps | Varies, see [email app support](https://www.caniemail.com/features/css-at-media-prefers-color-scheme/) |

So a dark theme is a real improvement for part of your audience, not a guarantee for all of it. Treat it as a refinement, never as the only way your email is readable.

## Force light mode in Gmail

Gmail on phones is the awkward case: it ignores your dark colors and applies its own inversion, which can turn a carefully built email into something you would not recognize.

**Style Library > Dark mode > Force light mode in Gmail** declares the email as light only, which is the signal Gmail reads to leave it alone and keep your **Light** colors.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Turn it on when">
    Brand colors matter more than dark comfort, or Gmail's automatic recoloring makes your email hard to read.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Leave it off when">
    You would rather let each recipient's app do what it wants, including a dark version you did not choose.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

The two settings are independent. You can run a custom dark theme for Apple Mail and still force light colors in Gmail.

## When nothing is set

If no color in your palette carries a dark value, the exported HTML is light only, byte for byte: no dark media query, no color scheme declaration. Turning the feature on costs nothing until you actually use it.

## Signatures

Dark mode does not apply to email signatures. They always export with your **Light** colors.


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