While many people are raving about the functionality and user experience of Roam, some have complained in the past about the aesthetics of the note-taking app, which they found too barebone or not polished enough for their taste. The good news is: you can personalise the look of Roam with a custom CSS theme!
If you’re not comfortable with CSS, or don’t want to spend hours tweaking a CSS file, many Roam users have kindly shared the themes they created for themselves. Follow the instructions to install a CSS theme in Roam, and have a look at our selection of the best ones below.
1. Zenith by Azlen Elza
This is one of the most polished themes out there, if not the most polished one. Zenith features a unique side-by-side page viewer which lets you open as many pages as you want horizontally, which is perfect for big screens. You can also overlay pages on graph view—a great feature for map thinkers. Lots of custom styled components make it a joy to use.
Install2. Better Roam Research by Fabrizio Rinaldi
I love how calm the design feels. If you need to easily switch between a light and dark mode, this is your theme. Better Roam Research supports native light or dark mode based on your OS settings. In addition, Fabrizio improved many little details to make the UI more enjoyable.
Install3. Nord Roam by Elodes
An arctic, north-bluish theme using the Nord palette, with cool touches such as a colour-matched syncing icon. This them will make you feel focused and relaxed.
Install4. Slightly Aesthetic by Al Malecha
Thanks to a nice combination of muted colours such as lavender and light blue, this theme is easy on the eye but not as dark as your typical dark theme.
Install5. Solarized Light by Rob Haisfield
This theme was inspired by Solarized Light in Bear. I love the sepia tones and the big search bar. If you do lots of writing, you may find this theme particularly comfortable.
InstallThere are many more themes you can explore in the Roam Research gallery, but these are the highest quality ones in my opinion. And if you often switch themes, have a look at Roam Themes, a browser extension to manage your themes without CSS.
P.S. Want to learn how to make the most of Roam? Join Roam Essentials, a short course to master 20% of the features that will unlock 80% of Roam’s power.