Is there a way to force dark mode as the default theme

[Ryan James]

We are creating a end user KB in Confluence. Our entire system is dark mode based, I am trying to find a way to set Confluence to default to dark mode so it will match everything else.

Is there a way to do that?

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

@Robert DaSilva pointed it correctly out: Confluence doesn't offer a built-in option to set dark mode as the default theme for all users. However, you can use dark mode in Confluence with Aura/Karma as I wrote in the following article. 

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@Ryan James Welcome to the Atlassian Community.

As @Robert DaSilva mentioned, this is a personal preference. You could set a banner announcement on the Site to let users know that you recommend using the Dark Theme and where to access it. See https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/configuring-an-admin-announcement-banner/ for details.

[Robert DaSilva]

Hi @Ryan James 

Unfortunately, dark mode settings are on a per-user basis. I don't believe there is a way, outside of using third-party apps, to enforce dark mode for all users.

Please review Atlassian's documentation on Dark Mode here: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/App-Central-articles/How-to-use-Confluence-s-dark-mode-and-create-dark-mode-friendly/ba-p/2529756

[Robert DaSilva]

To expand, there are many add-ons available for Confluence Cloud which allow you to theme the instance. Here are a few, in no particular order:

• Spacecraft Theme for Confluence by Seibert Media 
• Refined Sites for Confluence by Refined 
• Mantra Social Intranet by Seibert Media / Appnival
• Aura / Karma by Seibert Media / Appnival 

All of these apps let you do some level of full-instance theming, which takes over from the default Confluence design. This likely will take a little bit of effort to make it congruent with your company's branding and visual style, but they should allow you to force a more dark themed background instead of the default.

I encourage you to look through the Marketplace as well, as there are likely many more Theme add-ons which I have not listed. Maybe there's another that fits your needs better.

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?query=theme&product=confluence&hosting=cloud