WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps available today. Originally only available on Android phones, it is now available on all platforms including iOS, macOS, and Windows. There is also a WhatsApp Web version that can be used directly from any browser. While the desktop version of WhatsApp allows you to do everything you can on the smartphone version, both versions lack the dark mode that is now common in many other messaging apps. However, a recent discovery found an unofficial way to bring dark mode to the WhatsApp program for Windows, and we will explain it to you below.
According to reliable sources, the WhatsApp team has already started testing and experiencing the dark mode in their mobile app. When this phase ends in the coming days, WhatsApp will officially join the list of messaging apps supporting dark mode. However, there is no news regarding the arrival of this mode to the desktop version of WhatsApp on either Windows or Mac. However, a member of the famous XDA Developers forum managed to create a small tool that gives users of the official WhatsApp program on the computer the dark theme, and here is how to use it.
Important Note: This method does not work with the WhatsApp app available on the Microsoft Store. You must download WhatsApp for desktop and manually install it using the executable file (exe).
To start, download the WADark tool that adds the dark mode to WhatsApp. After downloading, extract the contents from the compressed file. Before double-clicking on the tool’s executable file named WADark.exe, make sure to first run WhatsApp and keep it running in the background. When you start the tool, a command prompt window will appear. There is nothing to do except let the tool locate the “app.asar” file of WhatsApp to replace it with another modified file. Once the process is successfully completed and you see the message “…All done“, you can press any key to close the command prompt window.
Congratulations! Once the command prompt window is closed, WhatsApp will automatically start in dark mode as shown in the attached image. It is noteworthy that dark colors are prevalent throughout the program, from chat lists to chat room backgrounds and groups, including option menus… almost every part of the application is affected by the dark mode, which may provide a better experience if you regularly use WhatsApp on your computer instead of the mobile application.
Unfortunately, there is no quick option in the program settings to switch back to the regular mode. If you want to do so, you have two options: either reinstall WhatsApp on your computer or restore the original app.asar file that was replaced to add the dark mode. You can also do this using the WADark tool by running it again on your device and when prompted if you want to restore the backup, press Y then Enter, and within seconds you will see the message “…All done“, indicating that WhatsApp should now operate in regular mode.
That’s all about activating dark mode on WhatsApp on the computer. The idea revolves around replacing the files inside the compressed file “app.asar” (which is stored on your device after installing WhatsApp) with other files that change the colors of the program’s graphical interface. In fact, you can also replace these files yourself using WinRAR or 7-ZIP, but the WADark tool does everything automatically.
