electron/docs/api/system-preferences.md

systemPreferences

Get system preferences.

const {systemPreferences} = require('electron')
console.log(systemPreferences.isDarkMode())

Methods

systemPreferences.isDarkMode() macOS

This method returns true if the system is in Dark Mode, and false otherwise.

systemPreferences.subscribeNotification(event, callback) macOS

• event String
• callback Function

Subscribes to native notifications of macOS, callback will be called with callback(event, userInfo) when the corresponding event happens. The userInfo is an Object that contains the user information dictionary sent along with the notification.

The id of the subscriber is returned, which can be used to unsubscribe the event.

Under the hood this API subscribes to NSDistributedNotificationCenter, example values of event are:

• AppleInterfaceThemeChangedNotification
• AppleAquaColorVariantChanged
• AppleColorPreferencesChangedNotification
• AppleShowScrollBarsSettingChanged

systemPreferences.unsubscribeNotification(id) macOS

• id Integer

Removes the subscriber with id.

systemPreferences.subscribeLocalNotification(event, callback) macOS

Same as subscribeNotification, but uses NSNotificationCenter for local defaults. This is necessary for events such as:

• NSUserDefaultsDidChangeNotification

systemPreferences.unsubscribeLocalNotification(id) macOS

Same as unsubscribeNotification, but removes the subscriber from NSNotificationCenter.

systemPreferences.getUserDefault(key, type) macOS

• key String
• type String - Can be string, boolean, integer, float, double, url, array, dictionary

Get the value of key in system preferences.

This API reads from NSUserDefaults on macOS, some popular key and types are:

• AppleInterfaceStyle: string
• AppleAquaColorVariant: integer
• AppleHighlightColor: string
• AppleShowScrollBars: string
• NSNavRecentPlaces: array
• NSPreferredWebServices: dictionary
• NSUserDictionaryReplacementItems: array

systemPreferences.isAeroGlassEnabled() Windows

This method returns true if DWM composition (Aero Glass) is enabled, and false otherwise.

An example of using it to determine if you should create a transparent window or not (transparent windows won't work correctly when DWM composition is disabled):

const {BrowserWindow, systemPreferences} = require('electron')
let browserOptions = {width: 1000, height: 800}

// Make the window transparent only if the platform supports it.
if (process.platform !== 'win32' || systemPreferences.isAeroGlassEnabled()) {
  browserOptions.transparent = true
  browserOptions.frame = false
}

// Create the window.
let win = new BrowserWindow(browserOptions)

// Navigate.
if (browserOptions.transparent) {
  win.loadURL(`file://${__dirname}/index.html`)
} else {
  // No transparency, so we load a fallback that uses basic styles.
  win.loadURL(`file://${__dirname}/fallback.html`)
}