Change themes in Figma – Figma Learn - Help Center

Before you Start

Who can use this feature

Available on any plan

Use the theme settings you change the appearance of the Figma interface. Choose between light or dark themes, or let your system settings determine the theme.

Side-by-side comparison of light and dark themes in a Figma Design file

Change the theme

You can change your theme from the main menu or from the Actions menu.

Theme settings are device-specific. If you're using a Figma account across multiple devices, theme settings from one device won't carry over to another. Changing your theme also won’t affect appearance settings for others, even if you’re viewing the same file.

When you create new files, Figma sets the background color to light or dark color depending on your current theme. While in light mode, newly created files default to a light-gray background color #F5F5F5. While in dark mode, they’ll default to an off-black color #1E1E1E.

Note: New pages determine their canvas color based on the current page’s canvas color, and don’t rely on your current theme. Learn more about changing the background color of the canvas.

Main menu

To change your theme from the Main menu:

Open any file you have access to.
Click Main menu.
Go to Preferences > Theme.
Select an option from the list of themes.

Actions menu

To change your theme from the Actions menu:

Open any file you have access to.
Select the Actions menu in the toolbar or use the keyboard shortcut:
- Mac: ⌘ Command /
- Windows: Control /
Type in search terms and select the theme you want to use
- Use dark mode
- Use light mode
- Use system theme

Tip: Plugin developers can match their plugin UI to Figma’s light and dark modes. Learn more from Figma’s plugin developer docs.

Enable enhanced contrast mode

To improve visibility across all Figma products, you can enable enhanced contrast mode. This makes the Figma UI easier to read with higher contrast text, buttons, outlines, and selections, aligned with WCAG AA standards.

Enhanced contrast mode is available for both light and dark themes.

Note: If increased contrast is enabled in your system settings, Figma will automatically enable enhanced contrast mode. You can modify this setting in your preferences at any time.

Main menu

To enable enhanced contrast mode from the Main menu:

Open any file you have access to.
Click Main menu.
Go to Preferences > Accessibility settings.
Enable the Enhanced contrast mode toggle.

Actions menu

To enable enhanced contrast mode from the Actions menu:

Open any file you have access to.
Select the Actions menu in the toolbar or use the keyboard shortcut:
- Mac: ⌘ Command /
- Windows: Control /
Type Enhanced contrast mode and select the result.

Enable enhanced contrast mode from the actions menu