How to activate dark mode in the Google Play Store app

Despite arriving system-wide on Android 10 back in September 2019, dark mode has been slow to find its way to Google’s family of first-party apps. Even the Play Store, one of Google’s most essential Android applications, only started its dark theme rollout in March, six whole months after Android 10 dropped. Now that everyone should be on the latest version, here’s how to tune the Play Store to your visual liking.

Enable dark mode in the Google Play Store app on Android 10 and later

Get started by opening the Google Play Store app on your favorite Android handset. Click the hamburger menu in the top left corner of your screen. Tap the “Settings” gear, followed by “Theme” under “General.” From here, you’ll see a popup menu with three different options: “Light,” “Dark,” and “System default.”

By selecting dark mode, the Play Store theme will override whatever settings you have on your device, forcing the app to appear dark, as seen in the screenshots. On the flip side, selecting light mode will force the Play Store to present in its original light version, even if your device has dark mode enabled system-wide. Finally, the “System default” option will tell the Play Store app to mimic your device’s theme settings.

Enable dark mode in the Google Play Store app on Android 9 and earlier

Google Play Store on Android 8

Although system-wide dark mode is only available on Android 10 and newer, users running older OS builds can still activate dark mode in the Google Play Store app. Simply follow the same steps above to reach the theme menu, and select your preferred theme from the popup. Note that the “System default” option won’t be available since system-wide dark mode isn’t supported in Android 9 and earlier.