How to use custom chat themes on Google Messages right now

Google Messages is a solid all-around texting app, but it still lacks some pretty basic features, or has only recently added them. One such feature is custom chat themes. In the year 2026, Google Messages is just now rolling out proper theme customization.

As someone who loves tweaking and customizing my Android phone as much as possible, the fact that Google Messages hasn’t supported chat themes until now has been an insane omission. But thankfully, as of late August 2026, chat themes have finally arrived.

If you use Google Messages and want to start customizing your chats today, here’s everything you need to know.

First things first, you’ll want to ensure your Google Messages app is up to date. To do this, open the Play Store, tap your profile icon in the top-right corner, tap Manage apps & device, and tap Updates available. If you have a waiting update for Google Messages, tap the Update button next to it.

Chat themes are live on my Pixel 11 Pro with the Google Messages app on version 20260824_01_RC00. I should note that I’m on the latest beta build of Messages, but chat themes are available on both stable and beta versions.

Additionally, chat themes only work if RCS is enabled in the Messages app. It should already be, but just to confirm, open Google Messages, tap your profile icon in the top-right, tap Messages settings, tap RCS chats, and ensure that Turn on RCS chats is enabled.

With that all out of the way, let’s get to the meat and potatoes. With your Google Messages app updated and RCS chats enabled, here’s how to find the new chat themes option:

1. Open Google Messages.
2. Tap on a conversation.
3. Tap the three dots in the top-right corner.
4. Tap Chat theme.

That’s quite literally all there is to it. Pretty easy, huh?

From this page, you have a few customization options to play with — the first being chat colors. The default selection matches either your system accent color or your custom chat wallpaper, if one is selected. You can also choose from eight other styles. Each color changes your conversation background, chat bubbles, and other UI elements, such as the voice recorder button.

Below that is the biggest new addition: wallpapers. You get a few pre-selected images from Google, organized into categories like Animals, Architecture, Landscapes, and Space. Additionally, if you tap Choose a photo, you can select any image saved on your phone or from Google Photos to set as the chat background.

Any customization options you make are visible only on your end of the conversation, so the person (or group) you’re chatting with won’t see the custom color or wallpaper you choose.

Happy chatting and theming!