# Covers and appearance

> Set the theme, the window color and how cards look, and choose what a link's cover shows.

- Page: https://resurf.so/guides/appearance
- Section: Browse and read
- Works on: Mac, iPhone, iPad
- Last checked against the app: 2026-10-17
- Where: Settings → Appearance

## Theme and window color

On Mac:

1. Press `⌘,` and choose **Appearance**.
2. Under **App appearance**, pick a **Theme** (System, Light or Dark) and **Space icons** (Folders or Symbols).
3. Under **Window color**, pick an **App color**. With **In a space**, choose whether a space's own color tints the window.

On iPhone and iPad:

1. Tap **Open sidebar**, then **Settings**, then **Appearance**.
2. Under **App**, pick a **Theme**: System, Light or Dark.

Video: [The Appearance settings with the theme, space icon style and window color changed and set back, the window behind changing to match.](https://resurf.so/guides/clips/clip-appearance.mp4)

Appearance settings apply only to the device you set them on. They don't sync.

## Cards, video and clicks

On Mac, **Settings → Appearance** also has:

- **Cards**: Card size, Spacing and Show names. They're the same settings as Size, Gap and Show names in Display. See [Layouts and sorting](https://resurf.so/guides/layouts).
- **Video previews**: under **On hover**, Scrub shows frames as you move across a video cover, and Play plays it.
- **Library interaction**: **Open captures** with a Single click or a Double click.

## Link covers

A link's cover can be the page's own image or a screenshot of the site.

On Mac:

1. To set the default, go to **Settings → Appearance → Link previews** and pick a **Default cover**: Screenshot or Page image.
2. To change one link, right-click its card and choose **Cover image**, then **Use default**, **Website screenshot** or **Page image**.
3. For more choices, open the capture, show Info and click the cover. You can upload your own image or refresh the cover there.

On iPhone and iPad:

1. In **Settings → Appearance**, pick a **Default link cover**: Website screenshot or Page image.

Video: [A link's cover switched from its page image to a screenshot of the site and back again from the card's right-click menu.](https://resurf.so/guides/clips/clip-covers.mp4)

The menu only lists covers that exist. If a page has no image of its own, the screenshot is what there is.

## Questions

### Why does a link show a screenshot when I chose Page image?

The page may have no image, so the screenshot is all there is. A cover you chose for that capture, or your own uploaded cover, also comes before the default.

### The titles under my link cards disappeared.

On Mac, check Show title under Settings → Appearance → Link previews. Automatic hides titles whenever Show names is off for the layout.

## More guides

- Previous: [Layouts and sorting](https://resurf.so/guides/layouts.md)
- Next: [Open and peek](https://resurf.so/guides/peek.md)
- [Layouts and sorting](https://resurf.so/guides/layouts.md): Choose how the library shows your captures, how big the tiles are, and what order they come in.
- [Open and peek](https://resurf.so/guides/peek.md): Open a capture to read it, open it beside the library, or peek at it without leaving the grid.
- [Move between captures and zoom](https://resurf.so/guides/next-and-previous.md): Step to the next or previous capture without going back to the library, and zoom the whole window on Mac.
- [Read links](https://resurf.so/guides/reader.md): A saved link opens as the live page, and the reader shows the article as clean text at a size you like.
- [PDFs and highlights](https://resurf.so/guides/pdfs.md): Read PDFs on every device, and on Mac, find words, highlight passages and comment on them.
- [Write notes](https://resurf.so/guides/notes-and-highlights.md): Write and format notes in a markdown editor, and on Mac, highlight passages and comment on them.
- [Video and audio](https://resurf.so/guides/video-and-audio.md): Play videos, audio files, voice notes and YouTube links right inside the capture.
- [Comments](https://resurf.so/guides/comments.md): Every capture has a comment thread in Info, and your highlights from notes and PDFs land there too.
- [Command bar](https://resurf.so/guides/command-bar.md): Search your library and run commands from the keyboard: go somewhere, add a filter, switch the theme or open a setting.
- [Every guide](https://resurf.so/llms.txt)