Easily switch dark mode on macOS

I like to change my color theme based on the environment I’m working in, this guide outlines how to setup single-click dark mode switching on macOS, which changes the theme of the OS, VS Code and other apps I use.

Operation System Setup

In System Settings:

• Appearance tab
  • Appearance: Auto
• Wallpaper tab
  • Select a wallpaper under the “Light & Dark Wallpapers” section

Nightfall

Nightfall is a menu bar utility to easily switch between light and dark mode.

brew install --cask nightfall

Once install, open the Applications folder in finder, right click on Nightfall and click Open. In the popup, click Open.

Right click on Nightfall icon, click Preferences, and select “Start Nightfall at Login”.

iStats

Open the iStats preferences, under the Global tab select “Style light and dark menu bar modes separately”

VS Code Setup

Add the following to your settings.json, substituting your preferred theme.

{
  "window.autoDetectColorScheme": true,
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Solarized Light",
  "workbench.preferredLightColorTheme": "Solarized Light",
  "workbench.preferredDarkColorTheme": "Solarized Dark"
}