Signal Desktop

§Signal desktop

§Install using Git

If you are a git user, you can install the theme and keep up to date by cloning the repo:

git clone https://github.com/dracula/signal-desktop.git

The stylesheet you need is at sample/themes.css.

§Install manually

Download using the GitHub .zip download option and unzip it. Copy sample/themes.css from the archive.

§Activating theme

§Windows

1. Install 7-Zip and its asar7z plugin.
2. Open C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Local\Programs\signal-desktop\resources\app.asar with 7-Zip.
3. Go into the stylesheets directory.
4. Copy themes.css into that directory (use the file from sample/themes.css in this repository, named themes.css next to the other stylesheets).
5. Edit manifest.css and add this import at the top: @import "themes.css";
6. Save, close your editor, and restart Signal if it is running.

§Linux (Nix flake)

Add the input:

dracula.url = "github:dracula/signal-desktop";

Add overlays:

overlays = [
  inputs.dracula.overlays
];

Use your NixOS or Home Manager integration for signal-desktop as usual with the overlaid package.

§Linux (other)

Install @electron/asar from npm, for example:

npm install -g @electron/asar

Set variables (adjust SIGNAL_DIR for your install or Flatpak layout):

TEMP=$(mktemp -d)
SIGNAL_DIR="/usr/lib/signal-desktop/resources"

[!NOTE] If you use the Flatpak version, try:

SIGNAL_DIR="/var/lib/flatpak/app/org.signal.Signal/current/active/files/Signal/resources"

Extract the asar into the temporary directory:

asar e "${SIGNAL_DIR}/app.asar" "${TEMP}"

Download the theme file into the unpacked stylesheets folder:

curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dracula/signal-desktop/main/sample/themes.css" -o "${TEMP}/stylesheets/themes.css"

Add the import at the start of manifest.css:

sed -i "1i @import \"themes.css\";" "${TEMP}/stylesheets/manifest.css"

Repack app.asar (you may need sudo to write under /usr/lib):

sudo asar p "${TEMP}" "${SIGNAL_DIR}/app.asar"