How to Enable Dark Mode in Reedsy Studio

Last Updated on May 7, 2025 by Michael Brockbank

Dark mode can help with eye strain, and there are a couple of ways you can enable it for Reedsy Studio while you write. You can either install a free extension or plugin for your browser or upgrade to the premium version of the writing app.

While I believe Reedsy Studio should have dark mode as a free feature, that is not the case. However, I did find a decent plugin for Chrome for those who want to continue using the free version of Reedsy.

In fact, the extension has a lot of features beyond just light and dark settings.

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Table of Contents

Method 1: Dark Reader Extension for Chrome

For this tutorial, I’m going to use the Dark Reader extension for Chrome. It’s a tool that comes with several settings beyond dark mode, such as brightness and contrast. You can also enable the extension for specific websites.

If you’re using another browser, I’m sure you can find an extension that is similar.

Step 1: Install Dark Reader

Go to the Dark Reader extension page and click the button to add it to Chrome.

Dark Reader will automatically enable itself. It’ll also take you to a page where you can opt to pay the developer a one-time fee of $9.99. However, you do not need to do this to use the extension.

Step 2: Pin Dark Reader to Chrome

Click the “Extensions” icon in Chrome and then click the pin icon to place Dark Reader to the browser toolbar.

This will give you easy access to Dark Reader should you need to make adjustments or enable/disable on certain sites. We’ll go over some of these functions in a moment.

Step 3: Open Reedsy Studio

By default, Dark Reader should be enabled on all sites. Go to your Reedsy Studio account and access the book you wish to write.

As you can see, Reedsy is now using dark mode from the extension. This might work perfectly for you, but there are several things you can do with Dark Reader to customize the experience.

Step 4: Adjust the Settings Accordingly (optional)

Although you may like the default settings for dark mode in the Reedsy Studio, there are several options to fine-tune the appearance. You can make it as dark or as light as you’d like, or even go completely with grayscale.

Click the icon for Dark Reader in the Chrome toolbar. This will open the settings screen for the tool.

From here, you can make a variety of adjustments not just for visual appeal but for how the extension works on various websites. You can turn it on or off for specific URLs or even set it for certain times of the day to activate.

Take time to familiarize yourself with the settings as Dark Reader can do so much more than just change visual modes on Reedsy. It can be quite a helpful tool when browsing other websites.

I was playing around with the Sepia option and came up with a few nice layouts aside from the default mode. One of the nice things about Dark Reader is that you can set these for specific websites by clicking the “Only for…” option near the bottom.

Notes for Grammarly Chrome Extension

If you use the Grammarly Chrome extension, you may want to enable the “Static” function in the More tab of Dark Reader. This will allow the underlines from Grammarly to appear better should you want to edit your writing.

Otherwise, the underlines could appear much darker and more difficult to see.

It can take a bit of tweaking to present a view that includes Grammarly’s underlines. So, again, take a few moments and tinker with the settings. You can always restore them to default should you want to revert back.

Method 2: Upgrade to Premium

Reedsy Studio has its own built-in dark mode should you decide to upgrade your account. To unlock this feature, you’ll need to pay for the “Craft” version, which is only $4.99 per month, or $43.10 if you pay upfront for a year.

To enable dark mode in Reedsy Studio after upgrading, click the “Switch Theme” icon on the bottom left of the editor.

This will immediately change the layout of the Reedsy book editor to reflect dark mode.

What I like about this method is that you don’t need to make adjustments if you’re using an editing extension such as Grammarly. All of the editing options appear as they would if you were running Grammarly without dark mode enabled.

Grammarly Dark Mode Edits — Grammarly’s suggestions highlighted throughout Reedsy

However, if you change the theme back to light mode, you’ll have to reload the Reedsy editor for the Grammarly edits to appear. I’m not sure why that is, but I am guessing it is a slight conflict between how dark mode works and the Grammarly Chrome extension.

I’m leaning more toward it being an issue with how Grammarly works. The same thing happens in WordPress with the Dark Reader extension.

Still, it’s nothing that is overly concerning. It takes but a few seconds to reload, and that’s even if you want to switch back and forth from light to dark while you’re in the middle of writing.

Is it Worth Upgrading Reedsy Studio?

So, $5 per month might be a lot to pay for just dark mode. Luckily, Reedsy Studio comes with a lot of extras should you decide to upgrade. And some of them may even contribute to your productivity.

For example, you can already set a deadline and specific writing days to help with goals in the free version of Reedsy. However, upgrading lets you set daily, weekly, monthly, and custom goals depending on your writing needs.

The premium version also offers writing statistics, such as the most used words and phrases within a chapter or the entire book. This is exceptionally helpful as you don’t want too many repetitious elements in the manuscript.

For those who want a history of their writing, the premium version of Reedsy Studio provides an unlimited number of entries. This means you can easily go back in time to restore the manuscript should something happen or if the story goes off the rails somewhere.

There is a lot more to the upgraded version of Reedsy Studio outside of the dark mode tool. While the free version will still help you put together a good book, upgrading may be worth the cost if you’re keen on data and managing the history.

How Often Do You Use Dark Mode?

I often don’t use dark mode for certain tasks. While it’s enabled on some sites, I often prefer to keep light mode enabled when writing things like blog posts. But on YouTube and most writing apps, I’ll utilize a dark mode if they have it.

I suppose part of that is because I use a lot of tools, plugins, and extensions that don’t seem to work well with most dark-mode additions. One in particular made the backend of WordPress virtually unusable as I couldn’t see a lot of its functions.

I’m sure there are better options out there. But it’s not something that plays heavily on my mind in many situations.

Though, I do like the dark mode addition to Reedsy. And since Dark Reader works well in the platform, it’s hard to tell which is better even after upgrading the Studio. I guess I just like the customization of Dark Reader.

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Michael Brockbank

Michael has been a freelance writer since January of 2012 and has contributed to a long list of blogs throughout his career. He is also a published author and continues to help other writers find their own paths. Maintaining both the WriterSanctuary blog and YouTube channel, he covers topics that relate to writing in all forms.