# Appearance and visibility

Open **Settings → Appearance** to adjust the interface. Changes apply immediately, so you can compare them against your desktop without restarting.

## Choose a theme

- **Auto** follows the Mac's appearance.
- **Light** keeps opened surfaces light.
- **Dark** keeps opened surfaces dark.

The resting notch and recording band remain dark so they fit the top edge of the display. Changing the theme mainly changes the expanded notch, panels, and Settings.

## Choose a finish

**Top notch** controls the expanded top surface. **Side notch** controls the side panels. Choose **Frosted** or **Solid** where those options are enabled.

Frosted uses platform-specific blur. The current settings control requires macOS 26 or later for that choice and shows an explanation when unavailable. Use Solid when the option is disabled or when a more opaque surface is easier to read. Other platform builds can present different appearance controls.

The interface may briefly open a panel when you change its finish so you can inspect it. This does not change your conversation.

## Show or hide Nock

Visibility preferences live in **Settings → General**, separately from theme. Check **Hide top notch** and **Hide side notch** if a surface seems missing. You can also access Settings through the menu-bar item.

## Troubleshoot a surprising result

Switch explicitly to Light or Dark to check whether Auto is following an unexpected system setting. Try Solid if desktop content behind Frosted makes text harder to see. Appearance preferences do not resize or redesign the notch's shape.

See [quickstart](/nock/quickstart) to open the main surfaces, or [keyboard shortcuts](/nock/keyboard-shortcuts) to open chat without moving the pointer.