Overview
AppFlowy offers extensive customization options to make your workspace truly yours. From themes and colors to fonts and regional settings, you can tailor every aspect of your AppFlowy experience.Customization settings sync across devices when using a cloud workspace, ensuring a consistent experience everywhere.
Theme & Appearance
Light and Dark Mode
AppFlowy supports both light and dark themes:1
Open Settings
Navigate to Settings → Workspace
2
Select Appearance
Choose from:
- Light: Optimized for daytime use
- Dark: Reduced eye strain in low-light environments
- System: Automatically match your OS theme
3
Apply Changes
Changes take effect immediately
Light Mode
Clean, bright interface perfect for well-lit environments
Dark Mode
Reduced blue light and eye strain for comfortable night use
Built-in Themes
AppFlowy comes with several pre-designed themes:- Default: Clean and modern
- Dandelion: Warm and inviting
- Lemonade: Fresh and vibrant
- Community Themes: Additional themes created by the community
Changing Themes
1
Access Theme Settings
Go to Settings → Workspace → Theme
2
Browse Themes
Click the theme dropdown to view all available themes
3
Preview & Select
Select a theme to preview it instantly
4
Customize Further
Adjust individual colors if needed (see Custom Colors below)
Theme selection is immediately applied—no save button needed.
Custom Colors
Document Text Colors
Customize text and background colors in your documents:1
Open Color Settings
Navigate to Settings → Workspace → Theme
2
Customize Text Color
Click on Document Text Color to open the color picker
3
Set Custom Color
- Use the color wheel for visual selection
- Enter a hex color value (e.g.,
#FF5733) - Adjust opacity level (0-100%)
4
Apply to Documents
Your custom color will be used for new text
Cursor and Selection Colors
Personalize your editing experience with custom cursor and selection colors:Custom Cursor Color
- Go to Settings → Workspace → Theme
- Click Cursor Color
- Choose a color from the palette or enter a hex value
- Your cursor will update immediately
Custom Selection Color
- In the same Theme settings
- Click Selection Color
- Choose your preferred highlight color
- Adjust opacity for subtle or bold highlighting
Custom cursor and selection colors help you personalize your editing environment and can improve visibility based on your preferences.
Color Picker Features
Hex Values
Enter precise color codes (e.g., #FF6B6B)
Opacity Control
Adjust transparency from 0-100%
Color Wheel
Visual color selection interface
Recent Colors
Quick access to recently used colors
Font Customization
Workspace Font
Change the default font family for your entire workspace:1
Open Font Settings
Navigate to Settings → Workspace → Workspace Font
2
Browse Fonts
AppFlowy supports hundreds of Google Fonts:
- System Default: Uses your OS default font
- Google Fonts: Extensive library of web fonts
- Custom Fonts: Upload your own fonts (advanced)
3
Select Font
Click on a font to preview it in your workspace
4
Apply Changes
The font updates across all documents immediately
Popular Font Choices
- Roboto: Modern and readable
- Open Sans: Clean and professional
- Lora: Elegant serif for long-form content
- Fira Code: Perfect for code snippets
- Inter: Optimized for screen reading
Font selection affects the entire workspace but can be overridden per-document with inline formatting.
Font Size Scaling
Adjust text size for better readability:- Go to Settings → Workspace
- Look for Text Scale or Font Size
- Choose from:
- Small: Compact view (0.7-0.8x)
- Medium: Default size (1.0x)
- Large: Enhanced readability (1.0x, but mobile supports up to 1.2x)
On mobile, you can scale the app’s display size independently for optimal viewing on smaller screens.
Document Customization
Page Width
Control the maximum width of your document content:1
Open Document Settings
In any document, click More (⋮) → Page Style
2
Adjust Width
Use the slider or select from presets:
- Narrow (600px)
- Medium (800px)
- Wide (1000px)
- Full Width
3
Apply to Document
Changes affect the current document only
Text Direction
Support for right-to-left (RTL) languages:- Navigate to Settings → Workspace → Text Direction
- Select:
- Left-to-Right (LTR): For English, Spanish, Chinese, etc.
- Right-to-Left (RTL): For Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, etc.
- RTL Toolbar Items: Toggle on to optimize toolbar for RTL languages
RTL support includes proper text alignment, toolbar positioning, and menu layouts.
Layout Direction
Control the overall UI layout direction:- LTR (Left-to-Right): Sidebar on the left, standard layout
- RTL (Right-to-Left): Sidebar on the right, mirrored layout
Regional Settings
Date Format
Customize how dates are displayed throughout AppFlowy:1
Open Date Settings
Go to Settings → Workspace
2
Select Date Format
Choose from multiple formats:
- US: MM/DD/YYYY (03/09/2026)
- UK: DD/MM/YYYY (09/03/2026)
- ISO: YYYY-MM-DD (2026-03-09)
- Friendly: Month DD, YYYY (March 09, 2026)
3
Sync Across Devices
Date format syncs across all devices under your account (since v0.9.8)
Date format affects date pickers, database date fields, and document timestamps.
Time Format
Set 12-hour or 24-hour time display:- 12-hour: 2:30 PM
- 24-hour: 14:30
- Navigate to Settings → Workspace
- Find Time Format setting
- Select your preference
- Changes sync across devices
Week Start Day
Customize which day starts the week in calendar views:1
Access Calendar Settings
Go to Settings → Workspace
2
Set Week Start Day
Choose:
- Sunday: North American standard
- Monday: ISO standard, used in most of the world
3
Apply to Calendars
Affects all calendar views and date pickers
Week start day, date format, time format, and language settings all sync across devices since version 0.9.8.
Language
AppFlowy supports multiple languages:English
Full support
Spanish
Español
French
Français
German
Deutsch
Chinese
简体中文
Japanese
日本語
Italian
Italiano
Russian
Русский
More...
25+ languages
Changing Language
- Go to Settings → Workspace
- Select Language from the dropdown
- Choose your preferred language
- Restart AppFlowy to apply changes (if required)
Workspace Icons & Branding
Workspace Icon
Customize your workspace with a unique icon:1
Open Workspace Settings
Navigate to Settings → Workspace
2
Change Icon
Click on the current workspace icon
3
Select New Icon
Choose from:
- Emoji icons
- SVG uploads
- Custom images
4
Save Changes
Your new icon appears in the sidebar and workspace switcher
Page Icons & Covers
Personalize individual pages:- Page Icon: Add an emoji or custom icon to any page
- Cover Image: Add a banner image to documents
- Upload custom images
- Choose from Unsplash integration
- Set solid colors as covers
Advanced Customization
Custom Themes
Create and upload your own themes:1
Download Theme Template
Get the JSON theme template from AppFlowy’s GitHub
2
Edit Theme File
Modify colors, fonts, and styling in the JSON file
3
Upload Theme
Go to Settings → Workspace → Theme → Upload Custom Theme
4
Apply Your Theme
Select your uploaded theme from the dropdown
Community themes are available on GitHub. Check out creations from other AppFlowy users!
Document Padding
Adjust the inner spacing of your documents:- Navigate to Settings → Workspace → Theme
- Find Document Padding setting
- Adjust the slider for more or less whitespace
- Preview changes in real-time
Shortcuts Customization
Customize keyboard shortcuts to match your workflow:1
Open Shortcuts
Navigate to Settings → Shortcuts
2
Find Command
Browse or search for the command you want to customize
3
Set New Shortcut
Click on the shortcut and press your preferred key combination
4
Resolve Conflicts
AppFlowy will warn you if the shortcut is already in use
Access the shortcuts guide anytime by clicking the ? button in the bottom-right corner of AppFlowy.
Sidebar Customization
Sidebar Width
Resize the sidebar to your preference:- Hover over the right edge of the sidebar
- Click and drag to resize
- Double-click the edge to reset to default width
Collapsed Sidebar
Maximize content space:- Click the collapse button (◀) at the top of the sidebar
- Sidebar automatically collapses when window is small
- Setting persists across sessions
Favorites Organization
Customize your favorites section:- Drag to reorder: Click and drag favorite pages (since v0.8.1)
- Group by space: Organize favorites within spaces
- Quick access: Pin frequently used pages
Database View Customization
Custom Icons
Add icons to database views:- Open a database (Grid, Board, or Calendar)
- Click on the view name at the top
- Select Add Icon
- Choose from emojis or upload custom images
View-Specific Settings
Each database view can have independent settings:- Filters and sorts
- Hidden columns
- Column widths
- Compact mode
Since v0.8.5, you can enable compact mode for Grid and Kanban views to display more data per screen.
Mobile Customization
Mobile-Specific Settings
On iOS and Android:- Display Scaling: Adjust app size for your screen
- Page Style: Customize layout, font, and font size per page
- Dark Theme: Improved dark mode experience (since v0.5.1)
Mobile Widgets
iOS Widgets
Quick Page Access, Recent Pages, Favorites
Android Widgets
Recent Pages and Favorites widgets
Troubleshooting Customization
Theme not applying
Theme not applying
- Try restarting AppFlowy
- Check if theme file is valid (for custom themes)
- Reset to default theme and reapply
Custom font not showing
Custom font not showing
- Ensure font is installed on your system
- Verify font name is spelled correctly
- Try a different font to test
Settings not syncing
Settings not syncing
- Ensure you’re using a cloud workspace (not local/offline)
- Check your internet connection
- Try logging out and back in
Custom colors look wrong
Custom colors look wrong
- Verify hex color codes are correct
- Check opacity settings
- Test in both light and dark modes
Next Steps
Plugins
Extend AppFlowy with plugins and integrations
Vault Workspace
Create a private, offline workspace