Use the diagram editor in dark mode

draw.io 27 Jul 2022

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The Dark mode for the default, Minimal and Sketch editor themes, and the new simple mode, lets you switch draw.io to match your operating system’s dark mode or night mode.
Use draw.io in dark mode when using the default editor theme, as well as with the Minimal and Sketch editor themes

Go to our online diagram editor with the dark URL parameter at app.diagrams.net/?splash=0&ui=dark to open the editor in Dark mode.

Switch to dark mode

  1. Click on the sun/moon icon in the top right of the editor.
    Click on the sun/moon in the top right and switch between the four different classic editor themes and the simple mode, as well as between dark and light modes
  2. Click on Dark to switch to dark mode in whatever editor theme you are using. Click on it again to return to light mode.

Tip: Automatic should reflect your operating system or browser settings automatically (when they are set to dark mode).

If you are using the simplified Sketch editor theme, switch between dark and light mode via the menu: Settings > Appearance > Dark

Diagramming in dark mode

With the new updates to dark mode, you don’t have to worry about how your diagrams look when sharing them with others using light mode.

Colours are automatically changed to reflect light and dark mode now, only by their intensity. They don’t change hue. This means that whatever colour you set on a shape, connector, text or as the diagram background will change depending on the mode you or those who are collaborating with you are working in.

The Style palettes will also automatically change to reflect the mode.

  • The Style palettes will also automatically change to reflect dark mode. Step through the different palettes with the left/right arrows.
    Change to a style palette to format shapes more visibly against a dark background when using the Dark editor theme in draw.io

  • Many (but not all) of the diagrams in the template library will switch to a colour palette that is better for dark backgrounds.

  • To export your diagram as an image (PNG, JPG or SVG) from the Dark theme and retain a dark background, make sure Dark is selected in the Appearance list.
    Make sure to leave the Dark checkbox enabled when exporting a diagram as an image from the Dark editor theme

  • The unofficial draw.io extension for Visual Studio Code, developed by Henning Dieterichs, may automatically use dark mode in the diagram editor if your operating system/VSCode is set to dark mode.

  • Our draw.io Chrome extension for Notion works in dark mode to match Notion’s dark mode.
    Make sure to leave the Dark checkbox enabled when exporting a diagram as an image from the Dark editor theme

Further resources

If you find a shape that has an unreadable label when switched to dark mode (with no default style set), please raise an issue in our JGraph/drawio GitHub repository after searching to see if there is an existing issue for that problem.

Dark mode works all of the four diagram editor themes:

  • The default diagram editor.
  • Atlas - matches the draw.io app inside Atlassian’s Confluence and Jira.
  • Minimal - floating dialogs for all tools.
  • Sketch - a simple online whiteboard (advanced features are available via menus and toolbars).

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