By now, you must have noticed that the new Apple macOS update, the Mojave, brought the much-awaited ‘Dark Mode’ to Apple’s desktop operating system, and it’s quite gorgeous.
Although not everyone is a fan of dark mode, many users will prefer the limited dark theme, which darkens only the Menu bar and the Dock while leaving everything else in light mode.
However, if you have upgraded to macOS Mojave, you know by now that there is no native toggle to turn that feature on.
If you are eager to have that functionality back, this article is for you.
In this article, we are going to show you the steps to take to start using the light theme on macOS with a dark menu bar and Dock:
Get Dark Menu Bar and Dock with Light Mode on macOS Mojave
Let’s get started! To get the dark menu bar and dock back, we will use Terminal’s help on your Mac.
But don’t worry if you have never encountered or used the Terminal before; you will find this walkthrough difficult. If you are ready, let’s get the show on the road:
First and foremost, click on the Apple Menu and the Select System Preferences.
Here, under the General Settings, select the ‘Light Mode’.
Next, you open the Terminal by going to your Applications folder or searching for it in Spotlight.
Go ahead to copy and paste the following command and hit enter/return:
defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool Yes
You can now quit the Terminal and log out of your computer by clicking on the Apple Menu and logging back into your computer.
Once you have logged back into your computer, like in the second step, open the General Settings in the System Preferences panel.
But this time instead of selecting ‘Light’ select ‘Dark’.
That is all you need to do. So whenever you choose Dark Mode on your macOS Mojave, the settings will only apply to your Menu bar and Dock, just like before.
But if you ever want to return to macOS Mojave’s original dark theme setting, you just need to go over the process again.
The only thing that needs to change is the code used in the Terminal. You will have to replace ‘Yes’ with ‘No’ or copy and paste the command below:
defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool NoEnjoy the Old Dark Mode on macOS Mojave
As you can see, with just a few simple steps, you can get the old dark mode working again on your Mac running macOS Mojave. I hope you will find the steps easy to follow.
But if you still have doubts or confusion, please post your questions in the comments section, and we will answer them.
