Switching light and dark theme

Short answer

Settings > Appearance > Theme. Toggle between Light and Dark. Follows the system theme by default on both Windows and macOS.

Detailed explanation

Abliteration supports both light and dark modes across every screen. The switch is in Settings > Appearance.

Default behaviour. Follows the OS theme.

• Windows: Settings > Personalization > Colors. If Windows is in dark mode, Abliteration opens in dark; if Windows is light, Abliteration is light. Changes apply live to any open Abliteration window.
• macOS: System Settings > Appearance > Light, Dark, or Auto. Auto tracks sunrise and sunset. Abliteration follows whatever macOS is reporting at the time, and updates live if you change it.

Manual override. In Settings > Appearance, pick Light or Dark explicitly to stop following the system. The choice persists across restarts on both platforms.

What changes with theme:

• Background colors (dark grey / near-white)
• Bubble borders and text colors
• Accent blue stays the same across themes (identity color)
• Warning colors (amber/red) adjust for contrast against light vs dark backgrounds
• Custom title bar buttons (min/max/close) recolor to stay visible

Everything designed to be readable at a glance in both modes - no low-contrast text left over from one theme in the other.

Why it matters

Working with dense text (chat replies, long attachments) for hours pushes people toward dark mode to reduce eye strain. Others prefer light for daytime work. Both should feel first-class.

In Abliteration specifically

Theme switch is live - no restart needed. Every open chat re-renders instantly.

Amber and red status colors (in Hardware card’s “You can run” line, fit-check dialog, attachment traffic light) use different specific hex values per theme to maintain the same visual weight against different backgrounds. So an amber warning looks amber in both modes, not “washed out” in one and “screaming” in the other.

Related

• Settings overview - where Theme lives among other settings