Do you spend a lot of time using Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides on your Android phone or tablet? We've got good news for you—a new dark mode theme for all three apps is now available. Using dark mode not only helps keep your eyes from getting tired, but it also saves battery life.
Google is rolling out a new dark mode, but it won't be long before it appears on your Android phone or tablet. If you don't see the setting yet, just keep checking. As with most software releases , it can take a few weeks for it to appear. It's also a good idea to double-check that you've installed any pending app updates in the Play Store app .
Manually enable Dark Mode
Once your account has access to the new feature, you'll find a new theme setting in each of the Sheets, Docs, or Slides apps. Here's where to find it and what you need to do:
- Open Sheets, Docs, or Slides, then tap the menu in the top left corner. It's the icon with three lines.
- Tap Settings from the list of options.
- Select Choose Theme.
- Finally, select Dark, Light , or System default.
After adding the feature to your device, it should already be set to the system default, which means that the dark mode in the app follows the dark mode setting of your phone or tablet. If you want apps to be dark or light, regardless of what your Android is doing, you'll need to adjust the theme setting in each app.
Preview a document in light mode
There will definitely be a time when you want to see what a document looks like in the more traditional light mode, so Google added a toggle to do just that.
While viewing a file in Docs or Sheets, tap the More with the three dots, then select View in light theme. The app will quickly change the preview theme, allowing you to verify that everything looks the way you want it without having to change the app settings.
The company did not say whether the iOS of Google apps will get the feature.
