Facebook Messenger's dark mode was originally a bit of a secret when it first came about in 2019, with users having to send a crescent moon in order to activate it.

That's no longer the case though. Here's how to turn dark mode on in Facebook Messenger.

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Facebook

What is a dark mode?

People who use their phones or computers late at night or in the dark often suffer from eye strain. This is because many popular websites, apps, and even device user interfaces (UI) use light colour schemes.

There's been research to suggest that dark modes, which re-skin the look of a site, app, or UI so that they appear darker, are more beneficial to not only your health but also your device's battery.

As a result, Android and iOS devices both offer a system-wide dark mode and you'll find services like Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, among plenty of others including Facebook Messenger, all offering a dark mode you can enable.

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Facebook

How to enable Facebook Messenger's dark mode

When Facebook Messenger's dark mode feature first debuted in 2019, it was an easter egg. As mentioned previously, you had to send a crescent moon emoji in a chat to a friend to enable it. But, on 15 April 2019, Facebook rolled out dark mode for all users.

So, here's how to enable it:

  1. Open the Facebook Messenger app
  2. Tap on your profile photo in the top left of the Messenger app to access settings
  3. Toggle on dark mode to switch the chat theme from white to black.

Who can try Facebook Messenger's dark mode?

Facebook Messenger's dark mode is available globally.