CSS property · data last changed 10 Nov 2026
color-scheme in email clients
Works in 4 of 21. Not supported in Gmail, Gmail Android, Gmail iOS and 13 more. Untested in Superhuman.
Safe to leave in: where it is not supported, the email renders the same.
caniemail (MIT) via @emailens/engine 0.18.22
What to do instead in Outlook Classic
Declare color-scheme: light dark in your root <style> block on :root or <html>, and pair it with <meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark"> in <head>. Always declare explicit, paired background-color and color on every content table cell to prevent contrast collapse.
There is no drop-in fix for color-scheme in Outlook Classic. Design so the email still reads without it.
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color-scheme is not among the 24 features we have screenshotted on real installs. The ones we have →
All 21 clients, problems first
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Gmail | Not supported |
| Gmail Android | Not supported |
| Gmail iOS | Not supported |
| Outlook 365 | Not supported |
| Outlook (New) | Not supported |
| Outlook Classic | Not supported |
| Outlook iOS | Not supported |
| Outlook Android | Not supported |
| Outlook for Mac | Not supported |
| Yahoo Mail | Not supported |
| Yahoo Mail Android | Not supported |
| Yahoo Mail iOS | Not supported |
| HEY Mail | Not supported |
| Proton Mail | Not supported |
| AOL Mail | Not supported |
| Fastmail | Not supported |
| Superhuman | Untested |
Works in 4: Apple Mail, Apple Mail iOS, Samsung Mail and 1 more. Show all
| Client | Support |
|---|---|
| Apple Mail | Works See caveat 1 |
| Apple Mail iOS | Works See caveat 1 |
| Samsung Mail | Works |
| Thunderbird | Works |
Caveats (1)
- 1. Apple Mail, Apple Mail iOS: Works only the html/root element
Caveats as recorded by caniemail (MIT), one entry per wording.
How color-scheme behaves
The CSS color-scheme property informs supporting email clients that an email is designed to support both light and dark operating system themes (color-scheme: light dark). It signals to rendering engines that custom dark mode styles are provided, preventing aggressive and uncalibrated automatic color inversion.
- Apple Mail (macOS and iOS) respects color-scheme: light dark, but only when declared on the :root or <html> element (it is not supported on nested elements).
- Gmail applies its own proprietary algorithmic color inversion in its Android and iOS apps, frequently overriding color-scheme declarations.
- Outlook Classic completely ignores color-scheme, relying instead on its own Word-engine dark mode translation rules.
Questions
What is the difference between color-scheme and prefers-color-scheme?
color-scheme is a CSS declaration (and meta tag) telling the client which modes the document supports, while prefers-color-scheme is a media query used to apply specific CSS rules when dark mode is active.
Does color-scheme stop Gmail from inverting colors?
No. Gmail mobile apps use aggressive algorithmic color inversion that ignores color-scheme. To preserve branded graphics in Gmail, use transparent PNGs with subtle outlines.
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