article
type: TechArticle
description: Tells the browser which colour schemes your page is designed for. Prevents the white flash that dark-mode users see before your CSS loads, and lets the browser style scrollbars, form controls, and the page background to match.
language: en
is part of: Web Specification Studio
author: Web Specification Studio
publisher: Web Specification Studio
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
date modified: 2026-06-30T00:00:00.000Z
citation: HTML Living Standard — Standard metadata names: color-scheme
  type: CreativeWork
  publisher: WHATWG
citation: CSS Color Adjustment Module Level 1 — the color-scheme property
  type: CreativeWork
  publisher: W3C
citation: MDN —
  type: CreativeWork
  publisher: MDN
citation: web.dev — Improve dark mode default with color-scheme
  type: CreativeWork
  publisher: web.dev

Web Specification Studio
type: WebSite

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type: Organization

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item list element: Home
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  position: 1
  item: https://webspecification.com/
item list element: Spec
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item list element: Foundations
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  item: https://webspecification.com/spec/foundations/
item list element: ListItem
  position: 4
  item: https://webspecification.com/spec/foundations/color-scheme/