A Minimalist Dark Theme for the Slack Desktop App for Mac

How To Install - Slack version 4:

This version utilizes a bash script to automate the theme applciation and update process. Due to changes in the way Slack is bundled in this version, this method also requires homebrew, node.js, npm, and asar be installed on your machine.

Installing the above requirements can be completed by pasting the following commands one by one into a macOS Terminal prompt:

1. Install Homebrew:

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

2. Install node.js and npm (bundled together):

brew install node

3. Install asar package for node:

sudo npm i -g asar

To install the dark theme, paste the following commands one by one into Terminal:

1. Clone this repository to your local machine:

git clone https://github.com/strangelights/slack_dark_theme.git

2. Run script within local copy of repo:

cd slack_dark_theme && chmod +x slack_dark_theme.sh && ./slack_dark_theme.sh

Once completed, Slack should restart automatically with the dark theme now applied. If you do not see the dark theme at this step, please open an issue.

Note: As app updates are released, it's not uncommon for this file to be changed, requiring that the above process be repeated after each new update.

How To Install - Slack version 3 and earlier:

Click to expand legacy steps.

Copy the script within the slack_dark_theme.js file within this repo and append it to the bottom of /Applications/Slack.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar.unpacked/src/static/ssb-interop.js on your local machine, beneath the existing code contained within the file, then restart Slack.

In Finder (Mac), press Shift + Command + G and paste the above path into the field and press Go

Note: As app updates are released, it's not uncommon for this file to be changed, requiring that the above process be repeated after each new update.

Sidebar Customization:

Slack's sidebar can be customized independently of this theme within the Preferences menu. If you would like to use the sidebar theme shown in the image above try these colors:

#363636 #444A47 #D39B46 #FFFFFF #434745 #FFFFFF #99D04A #DB6668

Simply drop this string of hex values into a channel or private message and Slack will display a "Switch sidebar theme" button to do the work for you:

#363636,#444A47,#D39B46,#FFFFFF,#434745,#FFFFFF,#99D04A,#DB6668

Enable Developer Tools:

While not necessary for this process, to enable Slack's developer menu enter the following via Terminal, then restart Slack:

launchctl setenv SLACK_DEVELOPER_MENU true

This developer menu unlocks browser/Electron dev tools to inspect and mock up your own styling preferences and a "Reload Everything" option for a full reload without needing to quit and relaunch the app.

Acknowledgements:

This theme builds on the excellent theme created by @laCour available here: https://github.com/laCour/slack-night-mode

Shell scripting ideas and asar packing solutions borrow heavily from the following sources:

https://github.com/LanikSJ/slack-dark-mode/

https://github.com/smitt04/slack-dark-theme/

https://github.com/caiceA/slack-black-theme