Dark mode is no longer a niche feature or a user option—it’s becoming the default viewing mode for many. Over 73% of email opens now happen on devices set to dark mode. But creating emails that look stunning and remain readable in dark mode is a complex challenge for marketers and developers alike.

In this blog post, you’ll learn why dark mode is so important and how professional custom coding ensures your emails don’t just survive—but thrive—in this new landscape.

Why Dark Mode Is Critical to Your Email Strategy

• The majority of users prefer dark mode, especially on mobile devices that dominate email opens.
• Poorly coded emails in dark mode appear with distorted images, unreadable text, and awkward color inversions.
• Email clients vary widely in their support: what works in Gmail often breaks in Apple Mail or Outlook.
• Ignoring dark mode means risking a negative user experience and lost engagement.

Technical Challenges of Dark Mode Design

Dark mode support isn’t just a color swap. It requires:

• Handling inverted colors where white backgrounds become black and text colors must adjust for legibility.
• Dealing with image color inversions that make logos or product images look odd.
• Overcoming inconsistent media query support across email clients.
• Ensuring HTML and CSS compatibility that degrades gracefully where dark mode isn’t supported.

Dark Mode Coding Best Practices

Use CSS Media Queries for Dark Mode

Apply targeted styles using:

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  body { background-color: #121212 !important; color: #fff !important; }
  a { color: #79b8ff !important; }
}

This lets modern clients switch styles automatically.

Specify Background and Text Colors Explicitly

Avoid relying on defaults. Always set:

• Background colors on all wrapper tables or DIVs.
• Text colors for paragraphs, headers, links, and buttons.

Images & Logos

• Provide dark mode–friendly versions of logos.
• Use transparent PNGs so backgrounds show through naturally.
• Avoid images with white backgrounds that will invert awkwardly.

Limit Use of CSS Properties That Dark Mode Overrides

• Avoid box-shadow or other decorative shadows that invert strangely.
• Keep transparent overlays to a minimum.

Test Extensively

Use tools like Litmus or Email on Acid to preview on 40+ client & device combinations, including dark mode variations.

Why Templyft Delivers Dark Mode Excellence

Templyft has deep expertise in crafting dark mode–optimized custom emails incorporating these technical methods. Our templates ensure:

• Pixel-perfect, brand-consistent design no matter the light setting.
• Full client compatibility with graceful fallback.
• Consistent user experience to maximize engagement.