Even though the dark mode isn’t truly dark on WhatsApp, it looks beautiful. You get a dark grey background with off-white and green accents. Are you itching to check it out on your phone? Without letting you wait any further, let’s see how to get dark mode on WhatsApp on Android and iPhone.
1. Check Software Compatibility
On Android, the dark mode for WhatsApp runs on all the supported Android versions, i.e., starting from Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich till Android 10. However, the same isn’t true for iOS. On iOS, dark mode is limited to iOS 13 only. The older versions do not support it. To check your software version on iOS, go to Settings > General > About. You will find the version number listed under Software Version.
2. Update WhatsApp
The first thing that you need to do is update WhatsApp on your Android and iPhone to get the dark mode after checking the compatibility. For that, open Play Store on Android and App Store on iPhone. Look for WhatsApp. Tap on the Update button. On Android phones, you should also update Google Play services for better results. Tip: Check our guide on how to know if apps need to be updated on Android and iOS.
3. Close WhatsApp
Once you install the latest WhatsApp build, you should immediately see WhatsApp in dark mode. However, you should be using a dark theme on your phone. If that doesn’t happen, you need to activate dark theme or kill WhatsApp app to relaunch it. To do so on Android, go to phone Settings > Apps & notifications. Under All apps, look for WhatsApp. Tap on Force Stop. Then, launch WhatsApp again. On the iPhone, launch the recently opened apps screen. Then, swipe up or down on WhatsApp to close it. Then, launch it again.
4. Check Settings
In case you don’t use the dark theme on your phone, then you need to enable the dark mode in WhatsApp settings. However, you can only do that in Android. On iOS, the dark mode is tied to your system settings. So, you need to enable dark mode in system settings to show in WhatsApp too. To enable dark mode in iOS (from iOS 13 and above), go to Settings followed by Display & Brightness. Check the box under Dark. Then, close WhatsApp, and hopefully, it will be dark when you launch it again. Tip: If dark mode isn’t showing on your iPhone, check out various ways to fix dark mode not working on iOS 13. On Android, if you are using Android 10 and above, you can enable it from the system and WhatsApp settings. If you want to link it to system settings, then go to Settings of your phone followed by Display. Enable the toggle next to the Dark theme. On Android 9.0 Pie and below, you can enable dark mode from WhatsApp settings only. To do so, launch WhatsApp and tap on the three-dot icon at the top. Select Settings. Go to Chats followed by Theme. Select Dark from the Choose Theme pop-up box. Tip: You can use the same method in Android 10 as well.
5. Disable Automatic Dark Mode
While you are checking the system settings for dark mode, you should take a look at the automatic scheduling of dark mode on iOS. If it’s on, turn it off. And if it’s off, turn it on and then disable again.
6. Restart Phone
After following the above methods, if the dark mode still doesn’t work, restart your phone. It’s a good idea to restart your phone occasionally.
7. Clear Cache (Android Only)
On Android, clearing cache for WhatsApp will also help you in enabling dark mode if it isn’t working. Clearing cache will not delete your WhatsApp chats or media. It will only happen if you use Clear data or storage button. So, avoid that. To clear cache for WhatsApp, follow these steps: Step 1: Open Settings on your phone. Go to Apps & notifications or App. Step 2: Under All apps, tap on WhatsApp. Step 3: Tap on Storage followed by Clear cache.
8. Uninstall WhatsApp
Lastly, if none of the above brings the dark mode to you, try uninstalling WhatsApp. Before that, take a backup of your chats to Google Drive (Android) and iCloud (iOS). Also, read what happens when you uninstall WhatsApp before taking this step. Once uninstalled, restart your phone and install WhatsApp.
Dark Mode Everywhere
Now that dark mode is available on Android and iPhone; we hope Facebook brings it for WhatsApp web too. Fortunately, that might happen soon. Reports suggest that Facebook is working on the dark theme for both the WhatsApp web and the desktop tool. Next up: Thinking of blocking a person on WhatsApp? Find out its repercussions before you take the step. Check out what happens by blocking someone on WhatsApp from the next link.
