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Customizations for Dark Mode?

Tapiture

Tapiture

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 1, 2016
1,118
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Is it possible to have some things dark and not other things? I liked having the dock and top bar be dark but I don't necessarily like having Safari and Mail and other apps in dark mode too. Any way to achieve this?
 
Yes it is possible. Lots of posts with instructions. Check the forums.
[doublepost=1538117468][/doublepost]
Tapiture said:
Is it possible to have some things dark and not other things? I liked having the dock and top bar be dark but I don't necessarily like having Safari and Mail and other apps in dark mode too. Any way to achieve this?
Click to expand...


Here are instructions I compiled from various posts in various threads.
I’ve tried them and they all works as advertised.

Also, I’m trying to be as clear as possible for those who have no knowledge of how the terminal works.

The important thing to remember is: They only work when you choose the Dark Appearance in the system preference.

Here follow the terminal commands in Bold. You copy and paste to the terminal window and press return.

———

Note: The following command will change only the menubar and the dock to black.

Choose Appearance Dark (system preference/General), open the terminal, copy paste the following and press return

write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool YES

Now restart your Mac

——————


The following commands apply to individual applications. Make sure you quit the application you want to apply it to before you do it.

Also this time you don’t need to restart your Mac.

defaults write com.apple.mail NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO


defaults write com.apple.Notes NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO


defaults write com.apple.Safari NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.iCal NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.Terminal NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.stocks NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.Photos NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO

——————————

Thanks to all the people whose posts made these configurations possible
 
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Dark mode with all the above modifications applied. Moreover some extra mods through Liteicon and TotalFinder.

Screenshot 2018-09-28 at 10.03.00.png
 
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Any command to get rid of the grey boxes in the message app on dark mode? I found it hard to read white text on grey boxes.
 
Mr Todhunter said:
Yes it is possible. Lots of posts with instructions. Check the forums.
[doublepost=1538117468][/doublepost]


Here are instructions I compiled from various posts in various threads.
I’ve tried them and they all works as advertised.

Also, I’m trying to be as clear as possible for those who have no knowledge of how the terminal works.

The important thing to remember is: They only work when you choose the Dark Appearance in the system preference.

Here follow the terminal commands in Bold. You copy and paste to the terminal window and press return.

———

Note: The following command will change only the menubar and the dock to black.

Choose Appearance Dark (system preference/General), open the terminal, copy paste the following and press return

write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool YES

Now restart your Mac

——————


The following commands apply to individual applications. Make sure you quit the application you want to apply it to before you do it.

Also this time you don’t need to restart your Mac.

defaults write com.apple.mail NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO


defaults write com.apple.Notes NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO


defaults write com.apple.Safari NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.iCal NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.Terminal NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.stocks NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO



defaults write com.apple.Photos NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NO

——————————

Thanks to all the people whose posts made these configurations possible
Click to expand...
I've tried the app-specific commands but when I enter them and then open the app, it doesn't seem to have had any effect
 
Tapiture said:
I've tried the app-specific commands but when I enter them and then open the app, it doesn't seem to have had any effect
Click to expand...

Did you make sure to choose "Dark" in Appearances first? (And reboot?/quit-restart the app?)
 
sosumi99 said:
Did you make sure to choose "Dark" in Appearances first? (And reboot?/quit-restart the app?)
Click to expand...
Yes, I did. In fact when I did the first command mentioned, "write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool YES"
I get this error message on the terminal:
write: illegal option -- g

usage: write user [tty]
Click to expand...
 
If you're just looking for the dark top menu and dock, the terminal command is:

defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool Yes

The inx I have say to put the machine in "light mode", then run this command, then log out and back in or restart, then switch to dark mode. No need to use any other commands. Works great on my machine.

https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/only-dark-menu-bar-dock-mojave/
 
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flur said:
If you're just looking for the dark top menu and dock, the terminal command is:

defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool Yes

The inx I have say to put the machine in "light mode", then run this command, then log out and back in or restart, then switch to dark mode. No need to use any other commands. Works great on my machine.

https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/only-dark-menu-bar-dock-mojave/
Click to expand...
Ah yes, that did it! Thank you!!
 
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Does any body know how to make the (menu bar) and (dock) darker while in light mode? Same as it was on High Sierra.
 
TokMok3 said:
Does any body know how to make the (menu bar) and (dock) darker while in light mode? Same as it was on High Sierra.
Click to expand...
Doing this:
flur said:
If you're just looking for the dark top menu and dock, the terminal command is:

defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool Yes

The inx I have say to put the machine in "light mode", then run this command, then log out and back in or restart, then switch to dark mode. No need to use any other commands. Works great on my machine.

https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/only-dark-menu-bar-dock-mojave/
Click to expand...

Is the equivalent. I was going for the same thing and that's the solution.
 
Mr Todhunter said:
Dark mode with all the above modifications applied. Moreover some extra mods through Liteicon and TotalFinder.
Click to expand...
How did you make your dock so dark? Mine follows the wallpaper color (even if I select "Reduce transparency").
And a little tip: Don't show your computer serial# to everyone.

EDIT: Found it out: Increase Contrast setting in Accessibility.
 
Last edited:
I love the dark mode and stay on that 100% of the time. But my biggest complaint is with the message app and the little grey boxes for the contact answer. I would like to make it black or get rid of it. Is it possible?
 
Mr Todhunter said:
Sorry, I don’t understand. What borders?
Click to expand...

In your screen shot you have 1 or 2 pixel wide black line round the the window and buttons on the finder window. I was just wondering if that was being done by some other application or if it is as a result of the commands being run to have the mixed light/dark mode.
 
taylor354 said:
In your screen shot you have 1 or 2 pixel wide black line round the the window and buttons on the finder window. I was just wondering if that was being done by some other application or if it is as a result of the commands being run to have the mixed light/dark mode.
Click to expand...
That's the "Increase Contrast" option in Accessibility settings.
 
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