![Thomas Steiner](https://web.dev/images/authors/thomassteiner.jpg) Thomas Steiner [GitHub](https://github.com/tomayac) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomassteinerlinkedin) [Mastodon](https://toot.cafe/@tomayac) [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/tomayac.com) [Homepage](https://blog.tomayac.com/)

<br />

The `color-scheme` CSS property and the corresponding meta tag
allow developers to opt their pages in to the theme-specific defaults of the user agent stylesheet.

## Background

The
[`prefers-color-scheme`](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/@media/prefers-color-scheme)
user preference media feature gives developers full control over their pages' appearances.
If you are unfamiliar with it, read
[`prefers-color-scheme`: Hello darkness, my old friend](https://web.dev/articles/prefers-color-scheme),
where I documented everything I know about creating amazing dark mode experiences.

One puzzle piece that was only mentioned briefly in the article is
the `color-scheme` CSS property and the corresponding meta tag of the same name.
They both make your life as a developer easier
by allowing you to opt your page in to theme-specific defaults of the user agent stylesheet,
such as, for example, form controls, scroll bars, as well as CSS system colors.
At the same time, this feature prevents browsers from applying any transformations on their own.

### Browser support

#### `prefers-color-scheme`


Browser Support

- ![Chrome: 76.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='24' height='24' viewBox='-10 -10 276 276'%3E%3ClinearGradient id='a' x1='145' x2='34' y1='253' y2='61' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%231e8e3e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%2334a853'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='b' x1='111' x2='222' y1='254' y2='62' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23fcc934'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fbbc04'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='c' x1='17' x2='239' y1='80' y2='80' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23d93025'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23ea4335'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3Ccircle cx='128' cy='128' r='64' fill='%23fff'/%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23a)' d='M96 183a64 64 0 0 1-23-23L17 64a128 128 0 0 0 111 192l55-96a64 64 0 0 1-87 23Z'/%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23b)' d='M192 128a64 64 0 0 1-9 32l-55 96A128 128 0 0 0 239 64H128a64 64 0 0 1 64 64Z'/%3E%3Ccircle cx='128' cy='128' r='52' fill='%231a73e8'/%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23c)' d='M96 73a64 64 0 0 1 32-9h111a128 128 0 0 0-222 0l56 96a64 64 0 0 1 23-87Z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- ![Edge: 79.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink' width='24' height='24' viewBox='0 0 27600 27600'%3E%3ClinearGradient id='A' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'/%3E%3ClinearGradient id='B' x1='6870' x2='24704' y1='18705' y2='18705' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%230c59a4'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23114a8b'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='C' x1='16272' x2='5133' y1='10968' y2='23102' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%231b9de2'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.16' stop-color='%231595df'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.67' stop-color='%230680d7'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%230078d4'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='D' cx='16720' cy='18747' r='9538' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='.72' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.95' stop-opacity='.53'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='E' cx='7130' cy='19866' r='14324' gradientTransform='matrix(.14843 -.98892 .79688 .1196 -8759 25542)' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='.76' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.95' stop-opacity='.5'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='F' cx='2523' cy='4680' r='20243' gradientTransform='matrix(-.03715 .99931 -2.12836 -.07913 13579 3530)' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%2335c1f1'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.11' stop-color='%2334c1ed'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.23' stop-color='%232fc2df'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.31' stop-color='%232bc3d2'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.67' stop-color='%2336c752'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='G' cx='24247' cy='7758' r='9734' gradientTransform='matrix(.28109 .95968 -.78353 .22949 24510 -16292)' xlink:href='%23A'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%2366eb6e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%2366eb6e' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3Cpath id='H' d='M24105 20053a9345 9345 0 01-1053 472 10202 10202 0 01-3590 646c-4732 0-8855-3255-8855-7432 0-1175 680-2193 1643-2729-4280 180-5380 4640-5380 7253 0 7387 6810 8137 8276 8137 791 0 1984-230 2704-456l130-44a12834 12834 0 006660-5282c220-350-168-757-535-565z'/%3E%3Cpath id='I' d='M11571 25141a7913 7913 0 01-2273-2137 8145 8145 0 01-1514-4740 8093 8093 0 013093-6395 8082 8082 0 011373-859c312-148 846-414 1554-404a3236 3236 0 012569 1297 3184 3184 0 01636 1866c0-21 2446-7960-8005-7960-4390 0-8004 4166-8004 7820 0 2319 538 4170 1212 5604a12833 12833 0 007684 6757 12795 12795 0 003908 610c1414 0 2774-233 4045-656a7575 7575 0 01-6278-803z'/%3E%3Cpath id='J' d='M16231 15886c-80 105-330 250-330 566 0 260 170 512 472 723 1438 1003 4149 868 4156 868a5954 5954 0 003027-839 6147 6147 0 001133-850 6180 6180 0 001910-4437c26-2242-796-3732-1133-4392-2120-4141-6694-6525-11668-6525-7011 0-12703 5635-12798 12620 47-3654 3679-6605 7996-6605 350 0 2346 34 4200 1007 1634 858 2490 1894 3086 2921 618 1067 728 2415 728 2952s-271 1333-780 1990z'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23B)' xlink:href='%23H'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23D)' opacity='.35' xlink:href='%23H'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23C)' xlink:href='%23I'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23E)' opacity='.4' xlink:href='%23I'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23F)' xlink:href='%23J'/%3E%3Cuse fill='url(%23G)' xlink:href='%23J'/%3E%3C/svg%3E)
- ![Firefox: 67.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='24' height='24' viewBox='0 0 512 512'%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-b' cx='428.5' cy='55.1' r='501' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffbd4f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffac31'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff9d17'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff563b'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff3750'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23f5156c'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%23eb0878'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.9' stop-color='%23e50080'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-c' cx='245.4' cy='259.9' r='501' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23960e18'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23b11927' stop-opacity='.7'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23db293d' stop-opacity='.3'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23f5334b' stop-opacity='.1'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff3750' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-d' cx='305.8' cy='-58.6' r='363' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ffdc3e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff9d12'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-e' cx='190' cy='390.8' r='238.6' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%233a8ee6'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%235c79f0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%239059ff'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23c139e6'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-f' cx='252.2' cy='201.3' r='126.5' gradientTransform='matrix(1 0 0 1 -48 31)' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%239059ff' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%238c4ff3' stop-opacity='.1'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%237716a8' stop-opacity='.5'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%236e008b' stop-opacity='.6'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-g' cx='239.1' cy='34.6' r='171.6' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23ffe226'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffdb27'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ffc82a'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ffa930'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23ff7e37'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%23ff7139'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-h' cx='374' cy='-74.3' r='732.2' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff5634'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.9' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-i' cx='304.6' cy='7.1' r='536.4' gradientTransform='rotate(84 303 4)' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffe847'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffc830'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff8b16'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff672a'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-j' cx='235' cy='98.1' r='457.1' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff5634'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.9' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-k' cx='355.7' cy='124.9' r='500.3' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffe141'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ffaf1e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='ff-a' x1='446.9' y1='76.8' x2='47.9' y2='461.8' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23fff44f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffe847'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffc830'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff8b16'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff672a'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff3647'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23e31587'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='ff-l' x1='442.1' y1='74.8' x2='102.6' y2='414.3' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='.8'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='.6'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='.2'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%23fff44f' stop-opacity='0'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3C/defs%3E%3Cpath d='M479 166c-11-25-32-52-49-60a249 249 0 0 1 25 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- ![Safari: 12.1.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink' width='24' height='24' viewBox='195 190 135 135'%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-a' x1='132.6' x2='134.4' y1='111.7' y2='-105.3' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23d2d2d2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23f2f2f2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fff' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-b' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse' /%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-c' x1='65.4' x2='67.4' y1='115.7' y2='17.1' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23005ad5' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%230875f0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23218cee' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%2327a5f3' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%2325aaf2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%2321aaef' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-d' x1='158.7' x2='176.3' y1='96.7' y2='79.5' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23c72e24' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fd3b2f' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='s-i' cx='-69.9' cy='69.3' r='54' gradientTransform='matrix(.9 -.01 .04 2.72 -9 -120)' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%2324a5f3' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%231e8ceb' /%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='s-j' cx='109.3' cy='13.8' r='93.1' gradientTransform='matrix(-.02 1.1 -1.04 -.02 137 -115)' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%235488d6' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%235d96eb' /%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3C/defs%3E%3Crect width='220' height='220' x='22' y='-107' fill='url(%23s-a)' ry='49' transform='matrix(.57 0 0 .57 187 256)' /%3E%3Cg transform='translate(194 190)'%3E%3Ccircle cx='67.8' cy='67.7' fill='url(%23s-c)' paint-order='stroke fill markers' r='54' /%3E%3Ccircle cx='-69.9' cy='69.3' fill='url(%23s-i)' transform='translate(138 -2)' r='54' /%3E%3C/g%3E%3Cellipse cx='120' cy='14.2' fill='url(%23s-j)' rx='93.1' ry='93.7' transform='matrix(.58 0 0 .58 192 250)' /%3E%3Cg transform='matrix(.58 0 0 .57 197 182)'%3E%3Cpath fill='%23cac7c8' d='M46 192h1l72-48-7-9-66 57Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='%23fbfffc' d='M46 191v1l66-57-7-9-59 65Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23s-d)' d='m119 144-7-9 66-57-59 66Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='%23fb645c' d='m105 126 7 9 66-57-1-1-72 49Z' /%3E%3C/g%3E%3Cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-miterlimit='1' stroke-width='1.3' d='m287 278 3-2m-12-17 8-2m-8-3h4m-4-13 8 2m-8 3h4m-1-13 7 3m-4-11 7 4m-2-11 6 6m0-12 6 7m1-11 4 6m4-10 3 7m5-9 2 7m15-7-1 7m10-5-3 7m11-4-4 7m11-2-5 6m16 7-7 4m10 4-7 3m10 6-8 1m8 16-8-2m5 10-7-3m4 11-7-4m2 11-6-5m0 11-5-6m-2 11-4-7m-4 11-3-8m-6 10-1-8m-16 8 2-8m-10 5 3-7m-11 4 4-7m-11 2 5-6m-8 3 3-3m4 8 2-3m5 8 2-4m6 7 1-4m8 5v-4m8 4v-4m9 3-1-4m9 1-2-4m9 0-2-4m9-2-3-3m8-4-3-2m8-5-4-2m7-6-4-1m5-8h-4m4-8h-4m3-9-4 1m1-9-4 2m-1-9-3 2m-2-9-3 3m-4-8-2 3m-5-8-2 4m-6-6-1 3m-8-5v4m-8-4v4m-9-2 1 3m-9 0 2 3m-9 1 2 3m-9 2 3 3m-8 4 3 2m-8 5 4 2m-7 6 4 1m-4 25 4-1m-2 5 7-3m-6 7 4-2m-2 6 7-4m-13-21h8m41-41v-8m0 99v-8m49-42h-8' transform='translate(-65 8)' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)

[Source](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/At-rules/@media/prefers-color-scheme)

<br />

#### `color-scheme`


Browser Support

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- ![Firefox: 96.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='24' height='24' viewBox='0 0 512 512'%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-b' cx='428.5' cy='55.1' r='501' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.1' stop-color='%23ffbd4f'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%23ffac31'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff9d17'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23ff980e'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23ff563b'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23ff3750'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.7' stop-color='%23f5156c'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%23eb0878'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.9' stop-color='%23e50080'/%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='ff-c' cx='245.4' cy='259.9' r='501' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23960e18'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23b11927' stop-opacity='.7'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.4' stop-color='%23db293d' stop-opacity='.3'/%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23f5334b' stop-opacity='.1'/%3E%3Cstop 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- ![Safari: 13.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink' width='24' height='24' viewBox='195 190 135 135'%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-a' x1='132.6' x2='134.4' y1='111.7' y2='-105.3' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23d2d2d2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.5' stop-color='%23f2f2f2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fff' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-b' gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse' /%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-c' x1='65.4' x2='67.4' y1='115.7' y2='17.1' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23005ad5' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.2' stop-color='%230875f0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.3' stop-color='%23218cee' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.6' stop-color='%2327a5f3' /%3E%3Cstop offset='.8' stop-color='%2325aaf2' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%2321aaef' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3ClinearGradient id='s-d' x1='158.7' x2='176.3' y1='96.7' y2='79.5' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%23c72e24' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%23fd3b2f' /%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='s-i' cx='-69.9' cy='69.3' r='54' gradientTransform='matrix(.9 -.01 .04 2.72 -9 -120)' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-color='%2324a5f3' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%231e8ceb' /%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3CradialGradient id='s-j' cx='109.3' cy='13.8' r='93.1' gradientTransform='matrix(-.02 1.1 -1.04 -.02 137 -115)' xlink:href='%23s-b'%3E%3Cstop offset='0' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%235488d6' stop-opacity='0' /%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='%235d96eb' /%3E%3C/radialGradient%3E%3C/defs%3E%3Crect width='220' height='220' x='22' y='-107' fill='url(%23s-a)' ry='49' transform='matrix(.57 0 0 .57 187 256)' /%3E%3Cg transform='translate(194 190)'%3E%3Ccircle cx='67.8' cy='67.7' fill='url(%23s-c)' paint-order='stroke fill markers' r='54' /%3E%3Ccircle cx='-69.9' cy='69.3' fill='url(%23s-i)' transform='translate(138 -2)' r='54' /%3E%3C/g%3E%3Cellipse cx='120' cy='14.2' fill='url(%23s-j)' rx='93.1' ry='93.7' transform='matrix(.58 0 0 .58 192 250)' /%3E%3Cg transform='matrix(.58 0 0 .57 197 182)'%3E%3Cpath fill='%23cac7c8' d='M46 192h1l72-48-7-9-66 57Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='%23fbfffc' d='M46 191v1l66-57-7-9-59 65Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='url(%23s-d)' d='m119 144-7-9 66-57-59 66Z' /%3E%3Cpath fill='%23fb645c' d='m105 126 7 9 66-57-1-1-72 49Z' /%3E%3C/g%3E%3Cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-linecap='round' stroke-miterlimit='1' stroke-width='1.3' d='m287 278 3-2m-12-17 8-2m-8-3h4m-4-13 8 2m-8 3h4m-1-13 7 3m-4-11 7 4m-2-11 6 6m0-12 6 7m1-11 4 6m4-10 3 7m5-9 2 7m15-7-1 7m10-5-3 7m11-4-4 7m11-2-5 6m16 7-7 4m10 4-7 3m10 6-8 1m8 16-8-2m5 10-7-3m4 11-7-4m2 11-6-5m0 11-5-6m-2 11-4-7m-4 11-3-8m-6 10-1-8m-16 8 2-8m-10 5 3-7m-11 4 4-7m-11 2 5-6m-8 3 3-3m4 8 2-3m5 8 2-4m6 7 1-4m8 5v-4m8 4v-4m9 3-1-4m9 1-2-4m9 0-2-4m9-2-3-3m8-4-3-2m8-5-4-2m7-6-4-1m5-8h-4m4-8h-4m3-9-4 1m1-9-4 2m-1-9-3 2m-2-9-3 3m-4-8-2 3m-5-8-2 4m-6-6-1 3m-8-5v4m-8-4v4m-9-2 1 3m-9 0 2 3m-9 1 2 3m-9 2 3 3m-8 4 3 2m-8 5 4 2m-7 6 4 1m-4 25 4-1m-2 5 7-3m-6 7 4-2m-2 6 7-4m-13-21h8m41-41v-8m0 99v-8m49-42h-8' transform='translate(-65 8)' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)

[Source](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Properties/color-scheme)

<br />

### The user agent stylesheet

Before I continue, let me briefly describe what a user agent stylesheet is.
Most of the time, you can think of the word *user agent* (UA)
as a fancy way to say *browser* .
The UA stylesheet determines the default look and feel of a page.
As the name suggests, a UA stylesheet is something that depends on the UA in question.
You can have a look at
[Chrome's](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/blink/+/master/Source/core/css/html.css)
(and Chromium's) UA stylesheet and compare it to
[Firefox's](https://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/layout/style/res/html.css) or
[Safari's](https://trac.webkit.org/browser/trunk/Source/WebCore/css/html.css) (and WebKit's).
Typically, UA stylesheets agree on the majority of things.
For example, they all make links blue, general text black, and background color white,
but there are also important (and sometimes annoying) differences,
such as how they style form controls.

Have a closer look at
[WebKit's UA stylesheet](https://trac.webkit.org/browser/trunk/Source/WebCore/css/html.css)
and what it does regarding dark mode.
(Do a full text search for "dark" in the stylesheet.)
The default provided by the stylesheet changes based on whether dark mode is on or off.
To illustrate this, here is one such CSS rule using the
[`:matches`](https://css-tricks.com/almanac/selectors/m/matches/)
pseudo class and WebKit-internal variables like `-apple-system-control-background`,
as well as the WebKit-internal preprocessor directive `#if defined`:

    input,
    input:matches([type="password"], [type="search"]) {
      -webkit-appearance: textfield;
      #if defined(HAVE_OS_DARK_MODE_SUPPORT) &&
          HAVE_OS_DARK_MODE_SUPPORT
        color: text;
        background-color: -apple-system-control-background;
      #else
        background-color: white;
      #endif
      /* snip */
    }

You may notice some non-standard values for the `color` and `background-color` properties.
Neither `text` nor `-apple-system-control-background` are valid CSS colors.
They are WebKit-internal *semantic* colors.

Turns out, CSS has standardized semantic system colors.
They are specified in
[CSS Color Module Level 4](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color/#css-system-colors).
For example,
[`Canvas`](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color/#valdef-system-color-canvas)
(not to be confused with the `<canvas>` tag)
is for the background of application content or documents,
whereas
[`CanvasText`](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color/#valdef-system-color-canvastext)
is for text in application content or documents.
These two should always be used together, never in isolation.

UA stylesheets can use either their own proprietary or the standardized semantic system colors,
to determine how HTML elements should be rendered by default.
If the operating system is set to dark mode or uses a dark theme,
`CanvasText` (or `text`) would be conditionally set to white,
and `Canvas` (or `-apple-system-control-background`) would be set to black.
The UA stylesheet then assigns the following CSS only once, and covers both light and dark mode.

    /**
      Not actual UA stylesheet code.
      For illustrative purposes only.
    */
    body {
      color: CanvasText;
      background-color: Canvas
    }

## The `color-scheme` CSS property

The [CSS Color Adjustment Module Level 1](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color-adjust/)
specification introduces a model and controls
over automatic color adjustment by the user agent
with the objective of handling user preferences
such as dark mode, contrast adjustment, or chosen color schemes.

The [`color-scheme`](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color-adjust/#color-scheme-prop)
property defined therein allows an element to indicate
which color schemes it is comfortable being rendered with.
These values are negotiated with the user's preferences, resulting in a chosen color scheme
that affects user interface (UI) things such as the default colors of form controls
and scroll bars, as well as the used values of the CSS system colors.
The following values are supported:

- *`normal`* Indicates that the element is not aware of color schemes at all,
  and so the element should be rendered with the browser's default color scheme.

- *`[ light | dark ]+`* Indicates that the element is aware of and can handle
  the listed color schemes, and expresses an ordered preference between them.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Providing both keywords indicates that the first scheme is preferred (by the author), but the second is also acceptable if the user prefers it instead.

In this list, `light` represents a light color scheme,
with light background colors and dark foreground colors,
whereas `dark` represents the opposite, with dark background colors and light foreground colors.

For all elements, rendering with a color scheme should cause the colors used
in all browser-provided UI for the element to match with the intent of the color scheme.
Examples are scroll bars, spellcheck underlines, form controls, etc.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** The `color-scheme` CSS property can be used on `:root` and on individual elements.

On the `:root` element, rendering with a color scheme
additionally must affect the surface color of the canvas (that is, the global background color),
the initial value of the `color` property, and the used values of the system colors,
and should also affect the viewport's scroll bars.

    /*
      The page supports both dark and light color schemes,
      and the page author prefers dark.
    */
    :root {
      color-scheme: dark light;
    }

## The `color-scheme` meta tag

Honoring the `color-scheme` CSS property requires the CSS to be first downloaded
(if it's referenced with `<link rel="stylesheet">`) and to be parsed.
To aid user agents in rendering the page background with the chosen color scheme *immediately* ,
a `color-scheme` value can also be provided in a
[`<meta name="color-scheme">`](https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/semantics.html#meta-color-scheme)
element.

    <!--
      The page supports both dark and light color schemes,
      and the page author prefers dark.
    -->
    <meta name="color-scheme" content="dark light">

## Combine `color-scheme` and `prefers-color-scheme`

Since both the meta tag and the CSS property (if applied to the `:root` element)
eventually result in the same behavior, I always recommend specifying the color scheme
using the meta tag, so the browser can adopt to the preferred scheme faster.

While for absolute baseline pages no additional CSS rules are necessary,
in the general case you should always combine `color-scheme` with `prefers-color-scheme`.
For example, the proprietary WebKit CSS color `-webkit-link`, used by WebKit and Chrome
for the classic link blue `rgb(0,0,238)`,
has an insufficient contrast ratio of 2.23:1 on a black background and
[fails](https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/?fcolor=0000EE&bcolor=000000)
both the WCAG AA as well as the WCAG AAA
[requirements](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/conformance#levels).

I have opened bugs for [Chrome](https://crbug.com/1066811),
[WebKit](https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=209851), and
[Firefox](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1626560)
as well as a [meta issue in the HTML Standard](https://github.com/whatwg/html/issues/5426)
to get this fixed.

## Interplay with `prefers-color-scheme`

The interplay of the `color-scheme` CSS property and the corresponding meta tag
with the `prefers-color-scheme` user preference media feature may seem confusing at first.
In fact, they play together really well.
The most important thing to understand is that `color-scheme`
exclusively determines the default appearance,
whereas `prefers-color-scheme` determines the stylable appearance.
To make this clearer, assume the following page:

    <head>
      <meta name="color-scheme" content="dark light">
      <style>
        fieldset {
          background-color: gainsboro;
        }
        @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
          fieldset {
            background-color: darkslategray;
          }
        }
      </style>
    </head>
    <body>
      <p>
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, legere ancillae ne vis.
      </p>
      <form>
        <fieldset>
          <legend>Lorem ipsum</legend>
          <button type="button">Lorem ipsum</button>
        </fieldset>
      </form>
    </body>

The inline CSS code on the page
sets the `<fieldset>` element's `background-color` to `gainsboro` in the general case,
and to `darkslategray` if the user prefers a `dark` color scheme
according to the `prefers-color-scheme` user preference media feature.

With the `<meta name="color-scheme" content="dark light">` element,
the page tells the browser that it supports a dark and a light theme,
with a preference for a dark theme.

Depending on whether the operating system is set to dark or light mode,
the whole page appears light on dark, or the other way around, based on the user agent stylesheet.
There is *no* additional developer-provided CSS involved to change the paragraph text
or the background color of the page.

Note how the `<fieldset>` element's `background-color` changes
based on whether dark mode is enabled, following the rules
in the developer-provided inline stylesheet on the page.
It is either `gainsboro` or `darkslategray`.
![A page in light mode.](https://web.dev/static/articles/color-scheme/image/a-page-light-mode-20033c5b52e57.png) **Light mode:** Styles specified by the developer and the user agent. The text is black and the background is white as per the user agent stylesheet. The `<fieldset>` element's `background-color` is `gainsboro` as per the inlined developer stylesheet. ![A page in dark mode.](https://web.dev/static/articles/color-scheme/image/a-page-dark-mode-db72ce14278ec.png) **Dark mode:** Styles specified by the developer and the user agent. The text is white and the background is black as per the user agent stylesheet. The `<fieldset>` element's `background-color` is `darkslategray` as per the inlined developer stylesheet.

The `<button>` element's appearance is controlled by the user agent stylesheet.
Its `color` is set to the
[`ButtonText`](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color/#valdef-system-color-buttontext)
system color, and its `background-color` and the four `border-color`s are set to the system color
[`ButtonFace`](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color/#valdef-system-color-buttonface).
![A light mode page that uses the ButtonFace property.](https://web.dev/static/articles/color-scheme/image/a-light-mode-page-uses-2d1dbd77e94d4.png) **Light mode:** The `background-color` and the various `border-color`s are set to the [ButtonFace](https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color/#valdef-system-color-buttonface) system color.

Now note how the `<button>` element's `border-color` changes.
The *computed* value for the `border-top-color` and the `border-bottom-color`
switches from `rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847)` (blackish) to `rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.847)` (whitish),
since the user agent updates `ButtonFace` dynamically based on the color scheme.
The same applies for the `<button>` element's `color`
that is set to the corresponding system color `ButtonText`.
![Showing that the computed color values match ButtonFace.](https://web.dev/static/articles/color-scheme/image/showing-the-computed-col-b5a5bb27a14d7.png) **Light mode:** The computed values of the `border-top-color` and the `border-bottom-color` that are both set to `ButtonFace` in the user agent stylesheet are now `rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847)`. ![Showing that the computed color values still match ButtonFace while in dark mode.](https://web.dev/static/articles/color-scheme/image/showing-the-computed-col-fbfce1c6513a9.png) **Dark mode:** The computed values of the `border-top-color` and the `border-bottom-color` that are both set to `ButtonFace` in the user agent stylesheet are now `rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.847)`.

## Demo

You can see the effects of `color-scheme` applied to a large number of HTML elements
in a [demo on Glitch](https://color-scheme-demo.glitch.me/).
The demo *deliberately* shows the WCAG AA and WCAG AAA
[violation](https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/?fcolor=0000EE&bcolor=000000)
with the link colors mentioned in the warning.
![The demo while in light mode.](https://web.dev/static/articles/color-scheme/image/the-demo-while-light-mod-8d16b35fd6de9.png) The [demo](https://color-scheme-demo.glitch.me/) toggled to `color-scheme: light`. ![The demo while in dark mode.](https://web.dev/static/articles/color-scheme/image/the-demo-while-dark-mode-9f130b7310353.png) The [demo](https://color-scheme-demo.glitch.me/) toggled to `color-scheme: dark`. Note the WCAG AA and WCAG AAA [violation](https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/?fcolor=0000EE&bcolor=000000) with the link colors.

## Acknowledgements

The `color-scheme` CSS property and the corresponding meta tag were implemented by
[Rune Lillesveen](https://github.com/lilles).
Rune is also a co-editor of the CSS Color Adjustment Module Level 1 specification.